Reentry – Page 3

Document Category: Reentry

Correctional Industries: A Guide to Reentry-Focused Performance Excellence

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.

Transition from Jail to Community (TJC) Topic Page

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.

Prison Sentencing and Criminal Activity: A Dynamic Model

The idea that offenders respond to the costs and benefits of crime dates to the eighteenth century, following Beccaria and Bentham. Becker [1968] provided the first modern and mathematical treatment of the subject, giving a new impetus to the school of thoughts initiated in the 18th century. The main levers of criminal law are the probability of being caught and the severity of the sanction. It is widely accepted that the probability has an influence on crime level (Garoupa [1999]; Polinsky and Shavell [2000]). In this context, an increase in police forces has a negative influence on crime level (Marvell and Moody [1996]; Levitt [1997]). The impact of the severity of the sanction appears to be more undermined.

Theme: Community Integration

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.

The Effects of Incarceration and Reentry on Community Health and Well-Being

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine convened a workshop on June 6, 2018. The workshop’s mission was to investigate the connection between incarceration and health inequities to better understand the distributive impact of incarceration on low-income families and communities of color. Topics of discussion focused on the experience of incarceration and reentry, mass incarceration as a public health issue, women’s health in jails and prisons, the effects of reentry on the individual and the community, and promising practices and models for reentry. The programs and models that are described in this publication are all Philadelphia-based because Philadelphia has one of the highest rates of incarceration of any major American city. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions of the workshop.

Correctional Industries: A Guide to Reentry-Focused Performance Excellence

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.

Data Sharing between Jail and Community Health Systems: Missing Links and Lessons for Re-entry Success

Data sharing and interoperability between jail systems and
community health providers are critical for successful re-entry of incarcerated individuals into the mainstream community. Using a case study approach, we present an account of interoperability efforts between jail and community health systems in the County of Orange (California, USA), including the overall infrastructure comprising of the jail management system, jail health system, and the communuty health system. We also describe outcomes and lessons from the Jail to Community Re-entry Program implemented in the County of Orange, along with recommendations and common data elements required for effective care transitions from custody to community.

The Foundation and Practical Application of Risk, Need, and Responsivity in the Age of COVID-19 and Justice Reform

Risk-need-responsivity (RNR) assessments have been administered in the criminal justice system for decades but often have not influenced professional decision-making in intended ways. Although these assessments should improve outcomes by matching individuals to indicated services, information derived from these tools has often been ignored or has been connected to increased incarceration rates and unfair racial and ethnic disparities. For example, people classified as high risk may be more likely to be detained pretrial or to receive a jail or prison sentence, when almost no tools have been developed or validated for this purpose. Most commonly used tools were created to set community-based conditions of treatment and supervision in lieu of detention. Especially in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic and discussions around criminal justice reform, practitioners and policy makers must understand what RNR is and how it should be applied correctly to enhance both public health and public safety. This webinar, hosted by the National Institute of Corrections seeks to define the core principles and practical application of Risk-Need-Responsivity along with strategies to create and maintain critical collaborative relationships to achieve reentry goals. Especially in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic and discussions around criminal justice reform, practitioners and policy makers must understand what RNR is and how it should be applied correctly to enhance both public health and public safety. This webinar, hosted by the National Institute of Corrections seeks to define the core principles and practical application of Risk-Need-Responsivity along with strategies to create and maintain critical collaborative relationships to achieve reentry goals. Video Run Time: 1 hr., 32 mins

How Correctional Agencies Can Develop and Implement Collaborative Comprehensive Case Plans

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.

ES TTA Webinar: Using Evaluation Findings to Improve Service Delivery in Reentry Programs

In this 60-minute webinar, presenters from RTI International, Center for Court Innovation, and the Primary Care Research Institute at the University of Buffalo share strategies for how to use evaluation results to improve and sustain reentry programs. Strategies for using evaluation data in both a formative manner, to guide ongoing, continuous program improvement; and a reflective manner, to gain deep insights at the conclusion of the program to inform decisions about program sustainability and replication, will be shared. The webinar also presents an example of real-world application shared by the Erie County Jails New Dawn Initiative team, including the perspective of the research partners and Program Director. Webinar attendees had the opportunity to engage with presenters to learn more about how to best leverage evaluation data and findings to improve their reentry programs. Video Run Time: 1 hr.