Strategic Plan: FY2021 - FY2026

The Iowa Department of Corrections is committed to moving from being a good correctional agency to becoming a national leader in how a state delivers corrections. To achieve this, the Department is focusing on three core priorities and five target areas, all designed to ensure that our work is understandable, actionable, and measurable.

This approach allows every team member to see how their contributions align with our larger goals. By staying focused, the Department is on track to meet an ambitious five-year objective: increasing Iowa’s Reentry Success Rate (RSR) by 10 percentage points.

Today, Iowa’s RSR stands at 60.2%. By the end of FY2026, our goal is to raise it to at least 70%. Achieving this milestone will not only make Iowa a safer place—it will also elevate the state’s RSR ranking from 25th to among the top 10 in the nation.

The three Core Priorities are foundational for the Department. However, if they are not specifically measured, they can get overlooked. Each of these three core priorities have symbiotic relationships with one another.

The five Core Priorities are:

When improvements are made in one of the Core Priorities, it leads to improvements in the other two.  As we identify, set goals, measure progress and make improvements in these three priorities, the department’s mission can be accomplished.

While taking specific steps to improve upon the three Core Priorities will be important, the Department will also focus on very specific Target Areas that will individually fuel improvements that will feed into the Core Priorities. These Target Areas are clear, actionable, achievable, and measurable.

The Target Areas are: