National Reentry Resource Center

June National Reentry Resource Center Newsletter

Feature

DOL Secretary Solis, AG Holder, and EEOC Chair Berrien Discuss Commitment to Reentry Issues

On June 21, the U.S. Department of Labor hosted a discussion on workforce development and employment strategies for people with criminal records. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, Attorney General Eric Holder, and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Chair Jacqueline Berrien spoke at the Washington, D.C. event, along with a panel of employers, service providers, academics, policy advocates and formerly incarcerated individuals.

To view a webcast of this roundtable discussion, click here.

The roundtable was the most recent activity supported by thel Reentry Council, an interagency group of Cabinet-level officials led by the Attorney General and including Secretary Solis. In their opening remarks, both Attorney General Holder and Secretary of Labor Solis reiterated the Administration’s commitment to prisoner reentry issues.

“We know that having a job remains central to successfully reentry,” Attorney General Holder said. “Yet, very often, those who’ve paid their debts to society – including many who’ve worked to learn a trade or to earn a degree, and are hoping to get back on their feet – find themselves at the back of the line for employment.”

The Attorney General also unveiled two new reentry toolkits during the event. Created by the Fortune Society and John Jay College of Criminal Justice with funding from the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the toolkits provide practical guidance for reentry agencies and information for employers aiming to develop a competent, culturally diverse workforce. To download the toolkits, click here.

“When someone serves time in our penal system, they shouldn’t face a lifetime sentence of unemployment when they are released,” Secretary Solis said. “Those who want to make amends must be given the opportunity to make an honest living.”

Since the Reentry Council formed in January, its members have shown their commitment to supporting reentry initiatives. For example, last week Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan released a letter encouraging flexible admissions policies at public housing authorities.

The Reentry Council has also published a series of MythBusters in which federal agencies clarify their positions on important reentry issues. Several pertain to employers and potential employees with criminal records. The most recent Reentry MythBuster – released at the Department of Labor event – focuses on Work Opportunity Tax Credits for employers who hire people with a felony conviction. To view these MythBusters, click here.

To learn more about employment as it relates to reentry, click here.

The Importance of Family Support in Reentry

By Margaret diZerega, Director, Family Justice Program, Vera Institute of Justice, and Shawn Rogers, Policy Analyst, Council of State Governments Justice Center

Reentry practitioners agree that stable housing, employment, health care and addiction treatment are among the most important needs that reentry programs must address prior to release. While providing these services, case managers and reentry planners should tap into the individual’s social support network. Working with an individual’s social support network enhances these interventions and increases the likelihood of successful reentry.

Why Ask About Family?, a report recently released by the Vera Institute of Justice, describes the ways corrections professionals can help strengthen an individual’s social networks. For the most part, working closely with families in reentry planning does not require additional resources or expertise. Rather, family-focused work can be incorporated into the services and supports that reentry programs already provide. For example, a corrections professional can talk to the individual to help him or her recognize the importance of his or her natural support system.

Why should corrections professionals prioritize helping an individual identify his or her natural support system? Simply put, these networks provide emotional and financial support. They can help direct the returning individual to prospective job opportunities. If childcare and eldercare is an issue, these networks can help. They also help the individual reconnect and reintegrate with the community at large.

To continue reading this feature, click here.

Grantee Profile: Juvenile Collaborative Reentry Team
Grantee Type: Juvenile Demonstration
Grantee Year: FY 2009
Location: San Francisco, California

The Juvenile Collaborative Reentry Team (JCRT) is a collaboration of the San Francisco Juvenile Probation Department, the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office and the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, a community-based organization that provides a full continuum of services to youth involved with or transitioning from the juvenile justice system. The JCRT provides coordinated and comprehensive reentry case planning and aftercare services for youth returning to the community from out-of-home placement.

The JCRT’s team consists of a juvenile probation officer, public defender, youth advocate, a case management coordinator and a judge. The JCRT works with the youth starting from when the court commits him or her to out-of-home placement. 90 days prior to the youth exiting his or her placement, the JCRT develops an individualized case plan that is presented to the reentry court. The JCRT continues to work with the youth, as well as his or her family, throughout his or her time in the program and upon reentry into the community.

The JCRT currently works solely with clients of the Public Defender’s Office who have been committed to out-of home placement. Services offered to JCRT youth include (but are not limited to) linkages to housing, substance abuse treatment, mental health treatment, case management, education/vocational support, and community activities.

Initial data has already noted that the JCRT’s clients are less likely to recidivate and fail in their out-of-home placement. In addition, the JCRT has established a large number of community partnerships with organizations such as San Francisco Unified School District, Seneca Connections, Independent Living Skills Program, City Youth Now, the Guardian Scholars Program at San Francisco City College, Foster Youth Services, Legal Services for Children, the John Burton Foundation, Community Options for Youth, Transitional Age Youth as well as many vocational programs.

San Francisco is working to expand the JCRT model to include a dedicated family therapist to work only for JCRT clients and their families. Family therapy will begin prior to release from placement to support the child and family as they prepare for reentry.

To watch a short video about this grantee, click here.

Hill Update

Last week Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Rob Portman (R-OH) introduced the bipartisan Second Chance Reauthorization Act of 2011. First passed in 2007, the Second Chance Act provides resources to states, local governments and nonprofit organization to improve outcomes for people returning to communities from prisons and jails.

The reauthorization bill

Continues targeted funding for reentry programs at the state and local level to reduce recidivism;
Helps ensure that reentry projects use methods proven through testing and review to lead to meaningful reductions in recidivism rates;
Provides funding for the implementation of best practices in prison and jail education;
Enables nonprofit organizations to apply for grants for programs promoting family-based substance abuse treatment and technology career training; and
Requires periodic audits of grantees to ensure that federal dollars are responsibly spent.

To view the Second Chance Reauthorization Act, click here.

To view materials on the bill and a press release from Senator Leahy’s office, visit: http://leahy.senate.gov/press/press_releases/release/?id=92818a73-a890-415a-b28d-b10d24b50a04

To view a press release from Senator Portman’s office, visit: http://portman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2011/6/portman-leahy-introduce-bill-to-help-states.

NRRC Releases FAQ on Victims Issues

The National Reentry Resource Center recently published a FAQ on involving crime victims in reentry efforts. The FAQ discusses why reentry efforts should engage crime victims, how victims can access services, concerns around victims’ rights, and other related topics. The FAQ, which is available online here, complements an NRRC webinar on involving crime victim services to ensure successful reentry. To view this webinar from fall 2010, click here. For a list of other reentry resources products relating to crime victims, click here. This is the fourth in a series of FAQs on key reentry topics; to view the series, click here.

CrimeSolutions.Gov Website Launched

Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs (OJP) launched www.crimesolutions.gov. This website will serve as a central resource to inform corrections professionals and policymakers about what works in criminal justice, juvenile justice, and crime victim services. The site includes a searchable online database of evidence-based programs in these fields. Each program in the database includes an “evidence rating” that identifies it as effective, promising, or having no effect. The purpose of the site is to help practitioners and policymakers incorporate scientific evidence about programs into programmatic and policy decisions.

Funding Opportunities

Second Chance Act Solicitation for Juvenile Offender Reentry Planning and Demonstration Projects, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Department of Justice

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) recently released the solicitation for Second Chance Act grant applications from state and local governments and federally recognized Indian tribes for juvenile reentry planning and demonstration projects (under Section 101 of Public Law 110-199). This funding is available to help jurisdictions plan and implement programs and strategies to reduce recidivism and ensure safe and successful reentry of juveniles released from secure confinement facilities.

The deadline for submitting an application is July 11, 2011 at 11:59 p.m. ET.

To download the solicitation, click here.

To help potential applicants respond to this solicitation, the National Reentry Resource Center held a free webinar on Monday, June 27th, 2011. To watch a recording of the webinar, click here.

Second Chance Act Demonstration Field Experiment: Fostering Desistance through Effective Supervision, Bureau of Justice Assistance, U.S. Department of Justice

The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), National Institute of Justice (NIJ), and National Institute of Corrections (NIC) are supporting this multi-site demonstration field experiment (DFE) in an effort to significantly expand the body of evidence associated with improving outcomes for offenders re-entering the community. This DFE will combine a multi-site demonstration of a reentry model with rigorous experimental evaluation in an applied setting. This DFE will consist of a randomized controlled trial where the costs associated with program implementation will be funded by BJA, the costs associated with the evaluation will be funded by NIJ, and a majority of the training, technical assistance, and coaching will be provided by NIC. Applicants are limited to states, units of local government, territories, and federally recognized Indian tribes. To download the solicitation, click here. All applications are due by 11:59 p.m. ET on July 11, 2011.

Solicitations to Replicate and Evaluate Hawaii's HOPE Program, Bureau of Justice Assistance and National Institute of Justice, U.S. Department of Justice

The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) has released a solicitation to fund up to four demonstrations sites to replicate Hawaii’s Opportunity Probation with Enforcement (HOPE) program, and the National Institute of Justice has released a solicitation to fund an evaluation of the program.

HOPE uses swift and certain punishment to help probationers abstain from illegal drug use. An evaluation of the program showed that probationers in the program were significantly less likely to fail drug tests or miss probation appointments than were offenders who followed probation as usual. They also were sentenced to less time in prison from probation revocations.

The deadline for submitting a demonstration application has passed.
The deadline for submitting an evaluation application is July 6, 2011

To learn more about these funding opportunities, click here.

Second Chance Act Solicitation for Adult Offender Reentry Planning and Demonstration Projects, Bureau of Justice Assistance, U.S. Department of Justice

The Bureau of Justice Assistance recently released the solicitation for Second Chance Act grant applications to state and local governments and federally recognized Indian tribes for adult reentry planning and demonstration projects (Section 101 of Public Law 110-199). This funding is available to help jurisdictions plan and implement programs and strategies to reduce recidivism and ensure safe and successful reentry of adults released from prisons and jails back to the community.

The deadline for submitting an application is June 30, 2011 at 11:59 p.m. ET.

To download the solicitation, click here.

To help potential applicants respond to this solicitation, the National Reentry Resource Center held a free webinar on Wednesday, May 25th. Representatives from BJA explained the details of the solicitation and answered questions from applicants. To watch the archived version of the webinar, click here. To download a PDF of the PowerPoint presentation, click here.

Second Chance Act Solicitation for State, Local, and Tribal Reentry Courts, Bureau of Justice Assistance, U.S. Department of Justice

The Bureau of Justice Assistance recently released the solicitation for the FY2011 Second Chance Act Reentry Court Initiative. Funding under this solicitation is available to help state and local government agencies and federally recognized Indian tribes establish state, local, and tribal reentry courts to monitor offenders and provide them with the treatment services necessary to establish a self-sustaining and law-abiding life.

Click here to download the solicitation

The deadline for applications is June 30, 2011 at 11:59 p.m. ET.

To help potential applicants respond to this solicitations, the National Reentry Resource Center held a free webinar on Monday, May 23, 2011. Representatives from BJA explained the details of the solicitations and answered questions from applicants. To watch a recording of the webinar, click here. To download a PDF of the PowerPoint presentation used in the webinar, click here.

Events & Announcements

Jul 07 NRRC Webinar: Providing Effective Family-based Treatment Services for Justice-Involved Individuals

Research indicates the importance of including family members, including children, in the treatment process of a loved one who is incarcerated. Family-based treatment services should be an essential component of any reentry program in order to improve public safety outcomes and recovery in the community. Join us on July 7, 2011 from 2:00 pm to 3:30 pm ET to learn about the essential elements of family-based treatment services, examples of evidence-based family treatment practices, and how these services apply to justice-involved families. This webinar will feature presentations by:

Francine Feinberg, Psy.D., LCSW, Executive Director, Meta House, Inc.
Kathryn Icenhower, Ph.D., LCSW, Executive Director, SHIELDS for Families

When: Thursday, July 7th, at 2:00 p.m. ET

To register for this webinar, please click here.

Jul 17 66th Annual Correctional Education Association Conference

The Correctional Education Association will hold its 66th Annual International Conference from July 17-20, 2011, in Charleston, West Virginia. The conference theme is "Soaring to New Heights: Education for the 21st Century." For more information, go to http://www.ceanational.org/66thConference.htm.

Jul 17 The Roles of Evidence-Based Risk-Needs Assessments

The International Community Corrections Association, in conjunction with the National Judicial College, the International Association for Correctional and Forensic Psychology, and the American Probation and Parole Association, presents "The Roles of Evidence-Based Risk-Needs Assessments," July 17-20, 2011, in Reno, NV. This meeting will consider the role of evaluation and treatment methodologies in mental health and substance abuse, as well as the applicability of implementation science. For more information, go to https://connect.computility.com/form/index.php?id=c9e83799f1e578b2f7c53237d566b83b.

Jul 24 APPA's 36th Annual Training Institute

The American Parole and Probation Association is holding its 36th Annual Training Institute in Chicago, Illinois from July 24 to 27. To learn more or to register for this event, click here.

Jul 26 Offender Reentry in Indian Country & Native Communities Webinar

Information Sharing & Reentry

This is the fourth in an eight-part webinar series originating from the Strategies for Creating Offender Reentry Programs in Indian Country publication. Sponsors of this series include the U.S. Department of Justice, Indian Health Services, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; and U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services' Indian Country Steering Committee. This webinar trainings will be held from 3:00—4:00 p.m. ET. Registration for the webinar is now open. For more information, e-mail CCDOReentry@usdoj.gov.

Publications & Resource

The Real Costs and Benefits of Change: Finding Opportunities for Reform During Difficult Fiscal Times

Legislators across the country are currently looking at state budgets for areas to cut, and many have already made reductions to juvenile justice programming. Advocates have worked for years to achieve reform, only to see the fruit of their efforts disappear due to funding concerns. This report, published by the National Juvenile Justice Network, offers advocates strategies to use limited money more wisely in the present and the future. These strategies preserve and encourage programs that are proven to successfully rehabilitate youth, strengthen communities, and increase public safety. Substantive strategies offer cost-effective administrative and legislative solutions, whereas tactical strategies provide advocates with specific tools for their work. To download this publication, click here.

The Urban Families Report: The Earned Income Tax Cred & Low-Income Men

The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is a vital support that helps keep low-income workers and their families out of poverty while encouraging and rewarding work. However, for low-income workers without children, the credit has not provided the same level of support that it has extended to low-income workers with children. This Center for Urban Families report examines critical issues related to low-income men and the EITC and concludes with a set of policy options and recommendations for policymakers, community organizations and employers seeking to increase EITC utilization and impact among low-income men. To download this report, click here.

Health Reform for Young Adults to Age 26

This video outlines the benefits offered by the new health reform law to young adults, such as allowing young adults to remain on their parents' health plan until they turn 26. The video features Sara Collins, vice president for the Affordable Health Insurance Program at The Commonwealth Fund. To watch this video, click here.

How Does Health Reform Expand Medicaid, And Who Pays?

Beginning in 2014 the health reform law will expand Medicaid coverage to 16 million Americans. This video explains who will be newly eligible for Medicaid, and how the expense for these new Medicaid recipients will be divided between the federal government and state governments. It features Diane Rowland, executive vice president of the Kaiser Family Foundation and executive director of the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured. To watch the video, click here.

Employing Your Mission: Building Cultural Competence In Reentry Service Agencies

This toolkit, co-published by the Fortune Society and John Jay College of Criminal Justice, addresses several interrelated issues regarding the successful reentry into society of formerly incarcerated men and women. First, it discusses a reentry crisis of unparalleled proportions currently facing communities in the United States. Because incarceration both profoundly impacts those who experience it and disproportionately affects low‐income people of color, the response to it needs to be culturally competent. Second, there is an important employment component to individuals’ reentry experience. While stable employment is critical to the successful reintegration into society of those returning home, the formerly incarcerated nonetheless confront significant barriers to employment, including discrimination based on their conviction records. Finally –and this is the core of this toolkit– one way to address both of these issues is to build “cultural competence” within reentry services by hiring formerly incarcerated men and women to reflect the experiences and realities of the reentry population and provide services more effectively. To download this toolkit, click here.

Reentry in the News

Articles from newspapers around the country covering issues related to reentry can be found on the National Reentry Resource Center website. Some recent articles, with excerpts, are posted below.

Honolulu Star-Advertiser (HI) — Convicts called too poor to pay

6/27/11 — Most of Hawaii's criminal offenders have not paid the restitution they owe their victims, a problem that won't improve unless key players in the criminal justice system place a greater emphasis on collecting the money, victims advocates say.

Dayton Daily News (OH) — Criminal records keeping millions of Ohioans jobless

6/25/11 — Justin Gannon has a drawer stuffed with medals for meritorious service in Kosovo and post-Katrina New Orleans. He has a 2009 honorable discharge certificate from the Army National Guard. There’s just one thing he doesn’t have: a job. Gannon fears that’s because of a 2003 misdemeanor assault conviction resulting from a bar fight in Beavercreek. On several occasions, he said, he has actually landed a job only to have the offer rescinded after they learn about his record.

Nashua Telegraph (NH) — Mentoring program helps women serving time

6/22/11 — Good Bridges is a mentoring program that helps Nashua, Manchester and Concord women with criminal backgrounds find work and transition back into their community. A program through Goodwill Industries of Northern New England, Good Bridges came to fruition through a two-year $300,000 Second Chance Act grant from the U.S. Department of Justice. A similar Second Chance-funded program is already in place for women re-entering communities in Merrimack County.

Lawrence Journal-World (KS) — Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback pushes faith mentors for state prison inmates

6/21/11 — Gov. Sam Brownback on Tuesday announced an expansion of his faith-based initiative, saying that he wants to match state prisoners with faith-based mentors. Brownback has already given the green light to a new faith-based division in the state’s welfare agency. Now, the Kansas Department of Corrections is ready to roll out Mentoring 4 Success, he said. The state prison system will work with Prison Fellowship Ministries, Reaching Out From Within and the ecumenical Spiritual Advisors to help inmates succeed when they are released from prison, he said.

The Oklahoman (OK) — Program aims to reduce the number of repeat firearms offenders

6/17/11 — The Probation and Parole Reentry Program's goal is to reduce the high number of repeat offenders for firearms offenses in Oklahoma by educating participants of the consequences.

Daily Progress (VA) — Support group gives hope to female former inmates

6/13/11 — A new support group has been formed for women who have spent time in jail or prison. The purpose of A Gift of Hope is to give women a safe place to discuss what they are thinking, said Darlisha Williams, one of the group’s facilitators.

Ventura County Star (CA) — New jail program shows success in battling recidivism

6/13/11 — Two of the most commonly cited flaws in America's criminal justice system are its treatment of the mentally ill and the staggering rate at which released inmates wind up back in jail. A new Ventura County program is tackling both at once, and the early results appear promising. The Ventura County Sheriff's Department's Discharge Planning Program offers counseling, training, psychiatric care and other services to people before and after they're released from the county's jails. It debuted in August with a small group of inmates participating, and the people running the program have released the findings of an in-depth study.

Rohnert Park Patch (CA) — Local nonprofit spearheads effort to reduce recidivism rates

6/8/11 — As cities throughout California brace for a possible influx of 40,000 inmates to local jails and community-based parole programs, one Rohnert Park nonprofit has already spearheaded a program to reduce recidivism rates in Sonoma County. Sonoma County Adult and Youth Development, a community-based service organization that provides counseling to kids, teens, and adults, as well as homeless outreach, job training and education — all located in a small trailer behind the shuttered Mountain Shadows Middle School — has already graduated their first class of formerly violent offenders from a new anger management program.

WBEZ (IL) — Women's Treatment Center keeps inmates with their children

6/7/11 — From the outside, you’d never guess that inmates lived at The Women’s Treatment Center. It’s right in the middle of Chicago on Lake and Ashland Streets. There aren’t high walls or guard towers, and during the day, the doors aren’t even locked. The program, now in its eighth year, is an alternative for women who would otherwise live in prison. Instead, the women living at the center receive drug treatment while going to school or working. But perhaps the most striking part of the program is that the women’s children can live at the Center with them.

Audiences

Tools & Resources