More than 650,000 prisoners are released annually in the United States. The Urban Institute conducted this four-year study to understand challenges of prisoner reentry in Cleveland, Ohio. This brief provides the results from interviews with 300 prisoners 12 months after release. The study includes information on the ability of returning prisoners to find stable housing and employment, reunite with family after release, and avoid substance use and recidivism.

In 2002, the number of prisoners returning to society was 600,000 per year. This report provides an overview of how three cities, Jacksonville, Memphis, and Washington D.C., were dealing with reentry difficulties prior to joining the Ready4Work Initiative. The Ready4Work program is a large scale systematic response across the country to help local communities address the needs of the reentry population.

This article from the Urban Institute provides community organizations with information on effectively disseminating reentry mapping and analysis. Based on the experience of Reentry Mapping Network sites, this brief offers recommendations on how the needs of returning prisoners can best be met.

This article provides a cost-benefit analysis of the Maryland Reentry Partnership Initiative, and compares outcomes of prisoners who received the program, and those that did not. The Urban Institute evaluated the program’s outcomes by looking at the prevalence of criminal justice contact after release.

Welfare Peer TA network designed the Bringing Hope to Children of Incarcerated Parents Roundtable. The first Roundtable was held in Denver, CO in November 2003. This second Roundtable, held in Nashville, TN, showcased promising practices from around the country, and provided time for participants to think strategically about how to design and implement these programs as well as opportunities to learn about and discuss “what works” in serving this population. Participants included representatives from the States of Tennessee, Florida, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. Roundtable speakers included State and local government agencies, service providers, practitioners, Federal personnel, and leaders of national organizations.

This Web resource provides a wide range of resources on homelessness prevention for prisoners that include publications, best practices and programs, and policy and legislation briefs. One of the featured programs is entitled Polk County Decategorization that works in conjunction with the Iowa Department of Corrections and administers the youthful offender portion of the Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Grant. The program provides a supportive and cohesive transition for juveniles aging out of the juvenile system and returning to the community.

In 2002, 2.3 million youth were arrested for committing crimes. Specifically, low-income urban neighborhoods experience higher rates of juvenile delinquency. These high-risk youth experiences problems in school, in the workforce, and developing healthy relationships. To reduce the impact of delinquency on youth, this article reviews mentoring as a deterrent to high-risk youth engaging in risky behaviors.

The Mentoring Partnership of Southwestern Pennsylvania provides resources to mentoring programs and supports mentoring programs by presenting best practices and delivering training and technical assistance to staff of local programs.

 

Authored by Jessica Pearson. Report prepared by the Center for Policy Research and was supported by a grant from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.

This newsletter, from the Family and Youth Services Bureau, gives information on how youth in tribes are often best served through culturally-specific programs. Currently, more than a third of the Native American community is under the age of 18, which makes it important to work with the tribal youth. Tribes are currently working with Family and Youth Services Bureau in an effort to better serve Native youth and families.