Funded and administered by the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ’s) Office of Justice Programs (OJP), Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), the National Reentry Resource Center (NRRC) is the nation’s primary source of information and guidance in reentry.
Document Author: National Reentry Resource Center
This brief from the National Reentry Resource Center highlights advancements made in state and local governments’ approaches to reentry and reducing recidivism since the passage of the Second Chance Act in 2008. It underscores the involvement of diverse constituencies and systems in these efforts, the field’s increasing understanding and application of what works to reduce recidivism, and promising recidivism outcomes in a number of states. Finally, this brief points to the critical work that is still ahead to transform systems, continue to improve reentry for people returning to the community after incarceration, and reduce recidivism in state and local jurisdictions across the country.
This web-based resource shares personal experiences and insights from returning individuals about their transition related to community reintegration, securing housing, mental health services, substance use disorder treatment, employment, healthcare, family reunification support. The conversations, a unique partnership between American Institutes for Research (AIR) and JustLeadershipUSA (JLUSA), featured a series of facilitated group discussions with individuals returning to the community from across the United States that occurred between August and October 2022. In the final segment of the group discussions, the topic turned to each person’s experiences with integration into their community. This segment was an opportunity for the participants to reflect on the reasons they have been successful as well as to identify the kinds of supportive services they felt were missing that would have been helpful. We also invited the participants to share whether they experienced any barriers related to a sense of stigma associated with their convictions. Here we present a series of themes that emerged from the participants’ collective responses. Each theme (a bulleted statement in boldface) is supported by direct quotes from the participants.
This web-based resource shares personal experiences and insights from returning individuals about their transition related to community reintegration, securing housing, mental health services, substance use disorder treatment, employment, healthcare, and family reunification support. The conversations, a unique partnership between American Institutes for Research (AIR) and JustLeadershipUSA (JLUSA), featured a series of facilitated group discussions with individuals returning to the community from across the United States that occurred between August and October 2022.
CSG Justice Center staff spoke with four Second Chance Act (SCA) Innovations in Reentry Initiative grantees—New York City’s Harlem Reentry Court; the Executive Office of the Governor of Delaware’s Individual Assessment, Discharge, and Planning Team (I-ADAPT) Program; the Indianapolis, Indiana, Department of Public Safety Second Chance Act Offender Reentry Project; and the Alameda County, California, Transition Day Reporting Center (TDRC) Demonstration—about their experiences fostering effective partnerships between criminal justice practitioners and the researchers evaluating their programs. These programs span the country and the justice system, serving clients within courts, prisons, jails, and in the community.
Every organization struggles with change. Fostering a culture that supports change in a corrections organization can be particularly challenging. Staff require strong leadership, structure, and clear policies and practices that help them succeed at their jobs. When any one of those factors changes, it is not unusual to see reactions ranging from mild anxiety to rigid resistance.
This web-based resource shares personal experiences and insights from returning individuals about their transition related to community reintegration, securing housing, mental health services, substance use disorder treatment, employment, healthcare, family reunification support. The conversations, a unique partnership between American Institutes for Research (AIR) and JustLeadershipUSA (JLUSA), featured a series of facilitated group discussions with individuals returning to the community from across the United States that occurred between August and October 2022. In the final segment of the group discussions, the topic turned to each person’s experiences with integration into their community. This segment was an opportunity for the participants to reflect on the reasons they have been successful as well as to identify the kinds of supportive services they felt were missing that would have been helpful. We also invited the participants to share whether they experienced any barriers related to a sense of stigma associated with their convictions. Here we present a series of themes that emerged from the participants’ collective responses. Each theme (a bulleted statement in boldface) is supported by direct quotes from the participants.
Many programs struggle to develop and maintain case plans that assist their participants in reducing their risk for recidivating and advancing their goals for recovery. However, the web-based tool Collaborative Comprehensive Case Plans: Addressing Criminogenic Risk and Behavioral Health Needs can help criminal justice and behavioral health professionals better integrate critical behavioral health and criminogenic risk and needs information into collaborative comprehensive case plans that actively engage the participant. The National Reentry Resource Center will host a series of webinars to discuss how corrections and behavioral health professionals can use this web-based tool and highlight different agencies as lead case planners that oversee the case planning process. The first webinar in this series focuses on a correctional agency as the lead case planner and features the reentry program of the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) in Greenfield, Massachusetts. The webinar provides a conceptual overview of the FCSO reentry program and discusses the program’s processes in three key areas: (1) interagency collaboration and information sharing; (2) staff training; and (3) screening and assessment as part of their collaborative comprehensive case plan process. Video Run Time: 1 hr., 27 mins.