? The state has been working to help to rehabilitate ex-offenders and keep them from being sent back to prison.

According to a study done in 2006, the Department of Corrections says 39 percent of ex-offenders are reconvicted. But Department of Corrections Commissioner Theresa Lantz says the department offers several programs that help shrink that statistic.The most successful means for ex-offenders to stay out of trouble, according to Lantz, is by enrolling in a halfway house, like Bridgeport's Isaiah House. She says only 24 percent of those in halfway houses end up being reconvicted of another offense.

In addition, communities and churches are pitching in to help keep statistics down.