PAROLING RATES have risen in Massachusetts, and the new chair of the Parole Board doesn’t see the increase as a negative.
“Our paroling rates are up, and we have a lot more lifers being released. We also, our staff — like I mentioned — we redistricted, so 35 to 50 is the average caseload,” Parole Board Chair Angelo Gomez said on Monday.
“So it looks like we’re up about 3.5%. And that has to do with various factors: mandatory release, medical releases, paroling rates. So our numbers are going up, but it’s not a negative,” he added.
The 2024 paroling rate in Massachusetts was 68%, according to a presentation by Gomez to the Commission on Correctional Consolidation and Collaboration. The body of lawmakers, stakeholders and officials has been tasked with determining options for collaboration and consolidation among the Department of Correction, county sheriffs, the Parole Board and the Office of Community Corrections. It has to file a report by Sept. 30.
The board conducts parole release hearings, supervises parolees in their communities, and provides reentry services to people leaving custody. Gomez said its Field Services Division averages 32,000 community contacts a year. Recidivism rates are 11 to 12% annually, which he said is “not a great number, but given the amount of contact and our paroling rates, I think the science is working with supervision efforts that we have in the community.”
In 2024 there were just over 2,000 total releases to supervision, 1,858 of which were releases specifically to Massachusetts supervision. The agency supervised 2,993 Massachusetts committed parolees in 2024, per its overview.
Now in his fourth month on the job, Gomez said parole work has “evolved” since he started around 2012 and 2013, to be less punitive in nature.
“The populations we service, if you are detained, our statistics show you have at least three or four opportunities — meaning graduated sanctions before we actually take you into custody,” Gomez said. That doesn’t include cases that are “serious” in nature, he added, but cases such as substance use disorder or behavioral issues that can be addressed in the community.
In 2023, there were 1,176 active parolees on continued supervision and 1,191 were successfully discharged from parole supervision. In 2024, there were 1,280 active parolees on continued supervision and 1,174 successfully discharged, according to the overview.
There can be between 1,600 and 1,800 people actively on parole being supervised at any given time, Gomez said, and 400-plus are people facing life sentences. The Parole Board held 2,810 institutional release hearings in 2024 for incarcerated individuals housed in Department of Correction and House of Correction facilities.
A release plan usually consists of a home plan, work development plan and treatment in the community, which Gomez said are generally predetermined when someone’s released. The agency works with various programs through other agencies, the sheriffs, support centers and community groups to help get people on their feet once they’ve been granted parole, Gomez explained.
“If there is a gap, the gap is that there’s not enough. Both for services — we’re working on delays for mental health and Medicaid,” Gomez said when asked if there are noticeable gaps for people coming out of incarceration. Programs and beds also have wait lists, he added, despite venturing “into every hall that you can imagine to try to place people in the community.”
Senate Co-chair Will Brownsberger asked Gomez for participation and outcome statistics to understand how many people granted parole are engaging with housing and employment programs. Commission members also requested a breakdown of people who are refusing parole.
“We’ve seen an uptick in people refusing parole because they want to wrap up and they don’t want to go out with supervision,” Hampden County Sheriff Nick Cocchi, who attended the meeting virtually, said. “And there’s really nothing we can do about that other than just identify it. Have you seen that as well, over the course of your tenure?”
The number of people who will decline parole is “anywhere from over 1,000 people,” Gomez said, citing 2023 data. “When you look at the Department of Corrections, that number dwindles. It’s probably 250 that postpone or deny their own parole. So when you combine the numbers, it’s in the 20%, 23% of the population, for one reason or another, is deciding to not go forward with their hearings. It’s not a small number.”
Among other research collaborations, the Parole Board is working with UMass Law & Psychiatry on a Delays in Parole Release Project, which Gomez said is looking into why people are refusing parole.
The commission is in the process of touring correctional facilities, co-chair Rep. Dan Hunt noted, and its next hearing is set for March 9, when it plans to hear from impacted and incarcerated individuals.