NIJ-supported research has shown that there is no one-size-fits-all model for successful reentry. However, NIJ-supported researchers have evaluated reentry programs with effective and ineffective attributes, and these studies have identified some efforts that could actually be counterproductive.
Pre-release handbook that focuses on topics including housing, employment, health, and financial needs. Resource includes worksheets to assist individuals in determining their individual needs.
Jails and prisons may find this checklist useful for guiding reentry planning and helping to ensure the safety of employees and people who are returning to their communities.
This online toolkit, created by National Correctional Industries Association (NCIA) and the National Institute of Corrections (NIC), outlines key components of successful reentry programming. Definitions and key practices associated with each component are provided. These components are: incorporate strategic planning; maintain financial stability; recruit, develop and retain staff; engage stakeholders; replicate private industry environment; provide certified technical skills training; maximize job opportunities for incarcerated individuals; and create a culture of employment readiness and retention for incarcerated individuals.
Individuals committed to jails have diverse risks and complex health and human service needs, and their length of incarceration in jail is brief when compared to prison. In addition, many inmates released from jails lack community connections to treatment and/or supervision organizations to address their reintegration issues.
Improving safety and health for correctional workers and people who are incarcerated are widespread yet separate initiatives. Correctional workers and people who are incarcerated experience similar challenges involved with poor workplaces and living conditions, including mental health crises, violence, stress, and chronic health issues, and the available resources lack integration with respect to safety and health promotion. This scoping review sought to contribute to an integrated approach for correctional system safety and health resources and identify studies of correctional resources that address health promotion among correctional workers and people who are incarcerated. Guided by PRISMA, a search of gray literature, also termed peer-reviewed literature, published between 2013–2023 (n = 2545) was completed, and 16 articles were identified. Resources primarily targeted individual and interpersonal levels. At every level of intervention, resources improved the environment for both workers and those incarcerated, with trends of less conflict, more positive behaviors, and improved relations, access to care, and feelings of safety. The corrections environment is impacted by changes from both workers and people who are incarcerated and should be examined using a holistic approach. Future health and safety resources should target the larger correctional environment by utilizing practices, policies, and procedures to improve safety and health for incarcerated people and workers.
Maintaining an inmate’s health can serve as a challenge due to unhealthy background, risky behavior, and long imprisonment. This study aimed to analyze the prevalence of participation in health promotion activities among Israeli inmates and its association with their physical activity levels and subjective health status.
This tool offers recommendations and resources to help providers identify and develop sustainable, strategic partnerships for creating successful reentry education programs.
The objective of this document is to detail a set of practices that correctional administrators can implement to remove barriers that inhibit children from cultivating or maintaining relationships with their incarcerated parents during and immediately after incarceration. This handbook contains ten chapters: partnership building; training and core competencies; intake and assessment; family notification and information provision; classes and groups; visitor lobbies; visiting; parent-child communication; caregiver support; family-focused reentry.
With 68% of prisoners recidivating within a three year period, designing and implementing innovative programming within the corrections setting is a necessity. The transient nature of the jail population begets difficulties for its successful implementation and maintenance. Since incarcerated females represent a smaller portion of the population, women, who face different challenges than their male counterparts, often receive less opportunity for programming, especially within the jail setting. Parenting, Prison & Pups (PPP), a program which weaves together an evidence-based parenting curriculum, integrated with the use of Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT), serves as a model for how to implement innovative programming within the jail setting at both the federal and county level for female prisoners. This paper outlines strategies to employ and discusses challenges that arise during program creation, implementation, and evaluation, which all require consideration prior to starting a new jail-based program. Despite a multitude of challenges, well-developed strategies can advance program goals and outcomes.