Bearing in mind that most felons, including most murderers, will eventually be released into society, it's hard to say we'd be better off without such programs - even programs that demonstrate a significant failure or recidivism rate.  

In the bad old days hard-time inmates completing their sentences used to be escorted to the front gate of a prison wearing (maybe) a new suit of clothes and (maybe) with ten or twenty bucks in his pocket, and then left to his own devices.  I can't imagine that method working out very well in 2017 in most places in America.  I'll admit to you that everything can stand improvement, including those programs that seek to reintegrate felons to peacefully live among us.