The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) provides programming and support to help ensure that individuals released from federal custody can successfully transition from prison to the community. This transition can be challenging, and many returning citizens ultimately reengage with the criminal justice system at some point. Preparing returning citizens for employment and supporting them through the reentry and employment processes can improve reentry outcomes and strengthen communities. To explore challenges and opportunities associated with improving employment outcomes among BOP releasees, the National Institute of Justice hosted a virtual workshop of BOP staff, community-based reentry service providers, researchers, national employers, and other experts. This RAND Corporation report summarizes discussion points from the workshop and presents a wide-ranging set of needs identified by workshop participants.

Stable employment helps build a solid foundation for youth as they enter adulthood. Some youth involved in the justice system—especially for serious offenses—may face increased barriers to finding and securing employment. This blogpost features the results from a national scan of workforce programs that identify strategies that may help overcome these challenges. The research identifies common features of quality community-based workforce development programs that serve youth and young adults with criminal or juvenile records. The scan also notes common program offerings, promising practices, and marks of a supportive infrastructure. The information collected helps identify the kinds of organizational structures, partnerships and collaboration that are essential to helping young people with records succeed in the workforce.

This podcast highlights the SOAR Program at Tri-County OIC, which is affiliated with the Opportunities Industrialization Centers of America in the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania region. SOAR is a reentry program for young adults (ages 18 to 24) who have been involved in the criminal justice system. The comprehensive program offers customized academic training, vocational training, intense case management, and stackable/portable credentials training. Part of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Voice of Experience video series, the podcast is presented by SOAR Project Manager Christina Johnson.

The University of Wisconsin’s Institute for Research on Poverty will host a webinar on September 15, 2021 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET to explore approaches to better serve children with an incarcerated parent. Presentations will examine the costs of children being separated from their parents due to incarceration, research on how to improve outcomes for children and their parents, and efforts made by law enforcement agencies and their partners to serve these families more effectively. Speakers include Julie Poehlmann-Tynan and Pajarita Charles, both from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, and Dane County (Wisconsin) Sheriff Kalvin Barrett.

This blogpost highlights a new partnership between the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the Chief Probation Officers of California that supports strategies to change juvenile probation in California. The partnership is exploring how county-level probation can work with community partners to connect young people to the guidance, opportunities and support they require to thrive at home. The partnership will include training and other technical assistance to county probation leaders and staff.

The National Association of Workforce Development Professionals will host a webinar on July 27, 2021 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET to discuss how to create, implement, or improve workforce development programs for job seekers with prior criminal justice involvement. Key objectives include learning about best practices for service delivery of holistic evidence-based workforce development programs for this population; the process of networking with community partners, researchers, employers, agencies, and individuals for collaboration; and the importance of establishing trust from these job seekers at the design stage for buy-in and retention. A registration fee is required.

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. In this discussion, a panel of researchers and practitioners provided an overview of the impact of incarceration on children, the needs mothers face upon their release, and various approaches that state TANF programs, Department of Corrections reentry programs, and local non-profit organizations take to support reentering mothers in addressing these needs. Presenters also highlighted success stories and lessons learned from their experience helping reentering mothers and discussed how TANF can partner with community reentry programs to help mothers succeed.

This collection of resources includes research, promising programs, tools, and guides that can be used to support returning citizens and those with a criminal record to enter registered apprenticeships. The compendium features programs targeting returning citizens: the Next Chapter IT Apprenticeships; the Flintridge Center Apprenticeship Preparation Program; Greyston Bakery; the VICE Media Group Media, Production, and Technology Apprenticeships; Jails to Jobs (California); and the Iowa Department of Corrections Apprenticeship.

This collection of Annie E. Casey Foundation-funded resources, which includes blogposts, videos, reports, guidebooks, tools, and tip sheets, offers different models and collaborations to transform the juvenile justice system. Material topics include strategic guidance on reducing youth incarceration, engaging and involving families, and expanding diversion in the juvenile justice system.

This journal article is the result of a qualitative study informed by Arditti’s Family Inequality Framework. The study features interviews with 19 fathers who were recently released from prison and data gathered through a brief background survey. Four main themes identified in the study were parenting from prison, committed fathering, outside influences on parenting, and recreating oneself. The fathers identified factors that created barriers in maintaining contact and communication with their children while being incarcerated, such as personal challenges, systemic barriers (such as housing, employment, and the criminal justice system), and parental challenges.