Webinar / Webcast
The Office of Family Assistance hosted a webinar on Wednesday, July 14, 2021 to explore the role Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs play in supporting mothers as they reenter their community after a period of incarceration. Reentering mothers must overcome unique and difficult barriers to ensure their well-being and reduce their chances of recidivism.
July, 2021
Stakeholder Resource
This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation report is a literature review of studies of family strengthening programs with positive outcomes among children with parents involved in the criminal justice system. The review reflects six focus areas: engaging non-incarcerated caregivers, considering children’s ages and a parent’s gender and role in program design, engaging in cross-system collaboration, implementing strategies to engage parents who are incarcerated and their families, and promoting families’ financial stability.
June, 2021
Profile / Case Study
This report examines lessons learned and strategies adopted for service delivery by social services organizations in Los Angeles County, California that support the needs of homeless individuals (or at risk of becoming homeless) and those involved in the criminal justice system, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The report covers the shift to providing virtual services, including video- and telephone-based care, and the barriers to delivering these services to those lacking technology access.
August, 2020
Webinar / Webcast
The Office of Human Services Policy at the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation will host a virtual training series and offer concrete strategies for organizations working with incarcerated/reentering participants to help them improve their outcomes through building and leveraging social capital. The series will also describe considerations for measuring social capital. The first of these virtual training sessions will be held on August 4, 2020 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET. Subsequent sessions will be held bi-weekly on Tuesdays during the same time slot.
August, 2020
Research-To-Practice Brief
This issue brief from the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation defines “social capital” in the context of human services programs. To illustrate how social capital can be strengthened for incarcerated or reentering persons, the brief identifies lessons learned from three programs: RecycleForce, Hudson Link for Higher Education in Prison, and Prison Fellowship Academy at the Nebraska Correctional Center for Women. The brief also highlights six considerations for implementing models to build social capital among this population.
June, 2020
Stakeholder Resource
The National Association for Welfare Research and Statistics is hosting a series of virtual workshops that address research on topics of interest to human service professionals throughout the summer. Future workshops will cover Machine Learning in Human Services Contexts, Cross-System Collaboration to Serve Justice-Involved Clients, and the Family First Prevention Services Act. Recordings of previously held workshops on TANF Responses to COVID-19 and Domestic Violence during COVID-19 are available.
May, 2020
Policy Announcement / Memoranda
The U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance has announced a grant funding opportunity for state, local, and tribal community supervision agencies to develop and test new or enhanced applications of the swift, certain, and fair (SCF) principles of intervention to reduce recidivism and improve outcomes for individuals under community supervision. The SCF principles of intervention reflect:
• Swiftness—responding to behavior quickly so those under supervision relate the response to their behavior.
April, 2020
Policy Announcement / Memoranda
The U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance seeks applications for technical assistance and training providers for Second Chance Act (SCA) grantees to improve reentry and reduce recidivism. Providers are sought to support site-based SCA grantees in one of the following three categories of technical assistance: Corrections and Community Engagement; Education, Employment, and Community Engagement; and Behavioral Health, Housing, and Family Support. Submissions are due by April 28, 2020.
April, 2020
Policy Announcement / Memoranda
The U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance has announced a grant funding opportunity for projects that establish, expand, and improve treatment for individuals with substance use disorders during incarceration and reentry into the community. Applications are due by April 27, 2020.
April, 2020
Podcast
This podcast, part of the Skilled America Podcast weekly series, offers a field report on how the Center for Employment Opportunities in New York and JEVS Human Services in Philadelphia are addressing increased demand for re-entry services as the jail and prison populations reduce to slow the spread of COVID-19. The podcast includes an interview with a JEVS Looking Forward Philadelphia program participant who shares his experiences in re-entry and what supports returning citizens need now and beyond their current circumstances.
April, 2020