Acting Assistant Attorney General for OJP Mary Lou Leary issued the following statement about the recently released report Lessons from the States: Reducing Recidivism and Curbing Corrections Costs Through Justice Reinvestment.

We are very pleased to announce the results of an important report from the Department of Justice and the Council of State Governments (CSG), highlighting 17 states that have successfully cut corrections costs while reducing recidivism and improving public safety. As you may know, over the past 20 years, state spending on corrections has shot up from $12 billion in 1988 to more than $52 billion in 2011. Declining state revenues and other fiscal factors are straining many states’ criminal justice systems, often putting concerns about the bottom line in competition with public safety.

This new report, Lessons from the States: Reducing Recidivism and Curbing Corrections Costs Through Justice Reinvestment, summarizes the experiences of states participating in the Justice Reinvestment Initiative (JRI) and shows that evidence-based strategies can improve public safety and reduce recidivism, even in an era of reduced resources.

The initiative analyzed statewide crime and corrections data, looking for ways to help officials redirect public funds from expensive prison building projects to more cost-effective programs aimed at ensuring greater public safety.  Based on these analyses, states have put in place legislation and policies which encourage use of risk-based decision making, increase services and support for victims, target grants to law enforcement and establish state-wide standards and training for probation agencies.

In North Carolina and Ohio, for example, JRI analyses led to legislation that focuses resources on high-risk offenders and conserves prison space for the most serious criminals.  Kentucky enacted a law that requires 75 percent of state supervision and treatment expenditures to be evidence-based by 2016.  An analysis in Hawaii found deficiencies in the collection of restitution for crime victims and prompted the state to revise its restitution collection infrastructure.

Through the Justice Reinvestment Initiative, we’re helping state leaders become smarter and tougher on crime and employ data and research to wisely use scarce resources. This approach has shown that states don’t have to choose between safe communities and fiscal solvency.  Both are possible.

Click here for the report and click here to find more information on the Justice Reinvestment Initiative.

The National Reentry Resource Center April 25, 2013 Newsletter features a recap of the Five Year Anniversary of the Second Chance Act.  Other articles include the release of three publications: Lessons from the States: Reducing Recidivism and Curbing Corrections Costs Through Justice Reinvestment; Lessons Learned: Planning and Assessing a Law Enforcement Reentry Strategy; and The Implications of the Affordable Care Act on People Involved with the Criminal Justice System.  Click here for the April Issue of the NRRC Newsletter.

The Council of State Governments Justice Center (CSG Justice Center) released a new report today, Lessons Learned: Planning and Assessing a Law Enforcement Reentry Strategy. Created with support from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), the report highlights how four law enforcement agencies engaged in local-level reentry partnerships in order to reduce crime and increase public safety in their jurisdictions. These four “learning sites” featured in the report applied strategies outlined in the Planning and Assessing a Law Enforcement Reentry Strategy toolkit released by the CSG Justice Center and the COPS office in 2008, which focuses on ten key elements of creating a local reentry initiative.
 
In addition to today’s release of the Lessons Learned publication, an interactive assessment tool will be launched that is a companion to the original Planning and Assessing a Law Enforcement Reentry Strategy toolkit. This online tool allows local sites to assess and plan improvements to their current reentry practices. Housed on the CSG Justice Center website, this tool will be accessible to law enforcement, corrections staff, community corrections professionals, and faith- and community-based services providers who are interested in assessing their current reentry projects and building on law enforcement and community partnerships focused on reentry strategies.
 
“Law enforcement professionals are uniquely positioned to engage their community policing networks of service providers who can help address the needs of those individuals returning from prison or jail,” said COPS Office Acting Director Joshua Ederheimer. “We are pleased by the commitment of these law enforcement executives in the four jurisdictions represented in this report, as they have served as solid examples for the field how local law enforcement can be important partners in the community reentry strategies focused on reducing recidivism, and improving public safety.”
 
In an effort to expand the knowledge base for law enforcement agencies interested in starting or enhancing a reentry effort, the CSG Justice Center selected four agencies to serve as “learning sites” that would implement recommendations and proposed strategies outlined in the law enforcement reentry toolkit. The four agencies that were selected and whose progress is featured in this report include:

• The Las Vegas (Nevada) Metropolitan Police Department,
• The Metropolitan (Washington, D.C.) Police Department,
• The Muskegon County (Michigan) Sheriff’s Department, and
• The White Plains (New York) Police Department.

Click here for more information about the four jurisdictions' challenges and their progress highlighted in the new report.

The March 27, 2013 National Reentry Resource Center Newsletter features a tribute to Colorado Executive Director Tom Clements by NRRC Director Michael Thompson.  Other articles include a link to the just released Planning and Assessing a Law Enforcement Reentry Strategy, a list of Reentry related grant opportunities, and highlights of upcoming webinars.
Click here for the March 27, 2013 Reentry Resource Center newsletter.

The House recently began work on its Fiscal Year 2014 Justice Appropriations bill. As this process kicks off, Congress will prioritize programs with widespread support and it’s important that they be reminded of the critical need for continued funding of the Second Chance Act.
 
Please contact your Members of Congress today and urge that they support the Second Chance Act in 2014 by signing onto Congressman Danny Davis’s “Dear Colleague” letter in support of FY14 appropriations for Second Chance!
 
BACKGROUND
 
The Second Chance Act passed with overwhelming bipartisan support and was signed into law in April 2008. It is a common-sense, evidence-based approach to improving outcomes for people returning to communities from prisons and jails. This first-of-its-kind legislation authorizes federal grants to government agencies and nonprofit organizations to provide employment assistance, substance abuse treatment, housing, family programming, mentoring, victim support, and other services that can help reduce recidivism.

The Council of State Governments Justice Center is pleased to announce the release of “Reducing Statewide Recidivism,” a series of three checklists for policymakers, state corrections administrators, and reentry coordinators to assess state recidivism reduction policies and strategies. The checklists are available at http://www.nationalreentryresourcecenter.org/recidivism-reduction-checklists.

The recidivism reduction checklists are user-friendly sources of information on the many policies and practices that go into a comprehensive, effective reentry initiative. There are three checklists, each tailored to a specific audience: Executive and Legislative Policymakers; State Corrections Administrators; and State Reentry Coordinators.

Produced in partnership with the Association of State Correctional Administrators and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance, the checklists help familiarize state leaders with key issues related to recidivism reduction, and help them honestly evaluate strengths and weaknesses in their reentry efforts through enhanced communication and coordination.

A webinar on the checklists was held on February 21, 2013. This webinar can be accessed at: http://www.nationalreentryresourcecenter.org/training/webcasts.  

For more information about the checklists, please contact Phoebe Potter at ppotter@csg.org.

Funded through BJA, The Council of State Governments Justice Center produced this guide for developing housing options for Reentry.
Click here for the Reentry Housing Guide document.

The Washington State Department of Social and Health Services has developed video training modules, "Working Effectively with Children of the Incarcerated, their Parents and Caregivers," designed to help social workers and other social service providers understand the particular needs of families with an incarcerated parent and learn effective practices in working with children of the incarcerated, their parents and caregivers.

Click here to link to the Washington DSHS web site for the video series.

The National Reentry Resource Center March 4, 2013 newsletter features an article on the recently released Recidivism Reduction Checklists for Corrections Administrators, Reentry Coordinators and Executive and Legislative policymakers.  These checklists can help familiarize state leaders with key issues related to recidivism reduction, and help them honestly evaluate strengths and weaknesses in their reentry efforts through enhanced communication and coordination.

Other information in the newsletter includes Second Chance Act and SAMHSA reentry related funding opportunities; information about a Center for Justice Reform certificate program for workers that serve youth who are involved in the welfare and juvenile justice systems.  Other reentry related publications and news articles are included in the newsletter.   Click here for the March 4, 2013 National Reentry Resource Center newsletter.

This report presents Year 1 findings from the process evaluation, summarizing early implementation characteristics of eight programs. These eight programs are quite diverse, as they vary widely in regional location, the population served, program size, and other design characteristics. During the Year 1 site visits, that were conducted from October 2011 – March 2012, evaluation staff conducted semi-structured interviews with program staff and representatives from partnering agencies and structured observations of court proceedings and pre-court staff meetings. Other data sources for the current report include program implementation plans, policy manuals, and other written program materials.

Click here for the full report.

This survey is part of a cooperative agreement between NIC to The Osborne Association to develop some materials specific to the topic of Televising in correctional institutions.  The main focus is for the development/maintenance of healthy connections between inmates/detainees and children and other potentially supportive family members.  It can also be an avenue to developing appropriate reentry connections
 
Please use this Survey Monkey link for the Televisiting Guides project. https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/BT6VF3Q
 
Please respond to this survey by March 8, 2013.  If you have any questions, please contact Maureen Buell, Correctional Program Specialist at mbuell@bop.gov or 202-514-0121 or to Allison Hollihan from Osborne Associates at 347-505-6631.
 
We appreciate your participation and support of NIC in responding to this survey .

The Vera Institute of Justice (Vera) announced that North Carolina has been selected to participate in the Pathways from Prison to Postsecondary Education Project (Pathways Project). This five-year initiative, directed by Vera, provides funding and technical assistance to selected states to develop a continuum of postsecondary education services for people within two years prior to release from prison through two years after release to the community. North Carolina will receive $1 million in incentive funding to pilot educational programming and reentry support services to male and female adult offenders in seven facilities as well as in Charlotte, Asheville, and Greenville, communities to which many participants are scheduled to return.  Click here for the full Press Release.

The U.S. Department of Veteran's Affairs has two programs targeting support of justice involved veterans returning to the community. 

• Health care for Re-entry Veterans - HCRV provides prison outreach and reentry support.  The program provides:
  • Outreach and pre-release assessment services for veterans in prison
  • Referral and linkages to medical, psychiatric, and social services, including employment services upon release
  • Short term case management assistance upon release

Click here to link to the V.A. HCRV Program web page.

• Veterans Justice Outreach - VJO provides support at the front end of the justice continuum including jail outreach, education of and liason with law enforcement, and linkage and staffing of treatment courts.
  
  Click here to link to the V.A. VJO Program web page.

In addition to these two programs, the U.S. Department of Veteran's Affairs has recently made available a video entitled "Suits: Support for Incarcerated Veterans" to be used in correctional facilities as a resource in preparing Veterans returning to the community.

Click here to link to the "Suits" video.

The National Reentry Resource Center's November 29, 2012 Newsletter features articles including The U.S. Department of Justice new Second Chance Act awards, the MacArthur Foundation briefs about Youth Mental Health, a Reentry success story, and news briefs about reentry from around the country.

Click here for the November 29, 2012 National Reentry Resource Center newsletter.

D. Lee, D. Giever, M. Tolbert, and L. Rasmussen, 2012
This report summarizes the findings from a pilot of the revised Correctional Education Data Guidebook and a secure online data collection system. It provides an overview of the project's history and pilot activities, presents information about correctional education drawn from the pilot states' data, and describes the pilot states' experiences collecting and submitting data and the lessons learned from the pilot.
Click here for the report.
Click here to visit the Correctional Education Data Network website.

Edward Latessa, Ph.D., director of the University of Cincinnati’s School of Criminal Justice, has seen the best and the worst of programs in the 30 years that he has been studying what makes offenders stop committing crimes. Latessa and his team have assessed more than 550 correctional programs nationwide ranging from yoga and gardening to boot camps and talk therapy. He is convinced that many treatment programs do not reduce recidivism and that successful treatment programs focus on reducing — rather than just managing — the multiple risk factors of high-risk offenders. Such programs, when well-designed and executed, change offenders’ negative behavior and can be 20 to 30 percent more successful in reducing recidivism than other programs.  Click here for the full NIJ Update

The past generation has witnessed a number of significant changes in the American approach to the twin challenges of reducing crime and administering justice. Arguably the two most important changes in the American criminal justice landscape have been the evolving role of the police and the use of incarceration as a response to crime, which brought with it the subsequent release of millions of people from prison. Much has been written about modern American policing and prisoner reentry individually, yet the intersection of the two has received relatively little attention. This paper explores this intersection and makes the case that there is a role for the police in the prisoner reentry movement.  Click here for the paper from NIJ and the Harvard School of Government.

The October 15, 2012 National Reentry Resource Center Newsletter features an article and link to a newly released database on collateral consequences; information about the CSG Justice Center report Adults with Behavioral Health Needs under Correctional Supervision: A Shared Framework for Reducing Recidivism and Promoting Recovery; and a new policy brief from CSG demonstrating States' success in reducing recidivism.

Click here for the October 15, 2012 Reentry Resource Center Newsletter.

On September 25th, 2012 the Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center’s National Reentry Resource Center (NRRC) released a policy brief highlighting a number of states that are reporting significant reductions in recidivism. The states profiled in the report show significant declines in their three-year recidivism rates based on data tracking individuals released from prison in 2005 and 2007. Texas and Ohio reported reductions of 11 percent, while the Kansas rate fell by 15 percent and Michigan’s rate dropped by 18 percent. Incorporating data through 2010 (and in some cases, through 2011), the report provides some of the most recent data available for statewide three-year recidivism rates.
Click here for the full NRRC Press Release.
Click here for the policy brief.

The fiscal crisis of the past several years has put the nation’s reliance on prisons under intense scrutiny. To reduce costs and improve public safety, states have begun to enact policies based on the large body of research showing that many offenders can be effectively handled within the community using evidence-based practices.

A new report from Vera’s Center on Sentencing and Corrections, in partnership with the Pew Center on the States’ Public Safety Performance Project, examines whether, in light of recent state-level policy changes and ongoing budget deficits, the expected shifts in population and spending from prisons to community corrections between 2006 and 2010 have been realized. The findings of Realigning Justice Resources: A Review of Population and Spending Shifts in Prison and Community Corrections are based on survey responses from 36 state prison agencies and 35 community corrections agencies; follow-up interviews with 24 states; a review of recent sentencing and corrections legislation; and an analysis of population counts from the Bureau of Justice Statistics at the U.S. Department of Justice.

Although Vera’s study demonstrates that there is not always a discernible relationship between population and spending shifts from one part of the system to another, several states—such as, Michigan, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Wisconsin, and Virginia—have successfully implemented policies that curb both prison populations and spending. The authors suggest that economic, political, and structural factors both within and outside the control of policymakers may have stymied many states’ ambitions. More time and research may be needed to observe the true impact of policy changes on correctional populations and spending.

Click here for the report fact sheet.
Click here for the full report.

The National Reentry Resource Center July 3,2012 Newsletter features an article about the new Clearinghouse Resource What Works in Reentry Clearinghouse that provides a user-friendly, web-based, one-stop shop for practitioners and service providers seeking guidance on evidence-based reentry interventions, as well as an invaluable resource for researchers and others interested in reentry.  Other articles include the Federal Interagency Reentry Council Considers Employment Issues for Recently Released Individuals; Second Chance Act and Safer Communities Conference website coming soon, and Reentry Success Stories. Click here for the NRRC July 3, 2012 Newsletter.

Prisoner Reentry Services: What Worked for SVORI Evaluation Participants? presents the results from a secondary analysis of data collected for a large, multistate evaluation of state and local reentry initiatives, called the Serious and Violent Reentry Initiative (SVORI). SVORI funded 69 agencies in 2003 to develop programs to improve criminal justice, employment, education, health and housing outcomes for released prisoners.

Many of the specific services had no effect on housing, employment, substance use outcomes. However, SVORI program participation did affect arrests following release, with SVORI program participation associated with 14 percent reduction in arrests for adult men, 48 percent reduction in arrests for adult females, and 25 percent reduction for the juvenile males over the fixed follow-up periods.

The report is the result of a National Institute of Justice-funded project but was not published by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Click here for the full report.

By Matthew Schwarzfeld, Council of State Governments Justice Center

Earlier this week, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued updated enforcement guidance on employers’ use of arrest and conviction records when making employment decisions. In its guidance, the EEOC cited that hiring policies that include blanket exclusions of people with criminal records have a disparate racial impact, and therefore violate Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

The new rules call for employers to assess applicants on an individual basis rather than excluding everyone with a criminal record through a blanket policy. The guideline states that employers should not reject a candidate because of an arrest without a conviction, as "arrests are not proof of criminal conduct." The new guidance doesn’t prohibit the use of criminal background checks. Rather, it urges employers to consider the "nature of the crime, the time elapsed, and the nature of the job” both in writing a hiring policy and in making a specific hiring decision.

EEOC’s commissioners decided to issue the updated guidance in a bipartisan 4-1 vote. The new guidance supersedes the EEOC’s previous position on the issue of criminal background checks, released in 1987. While confirming the core principles of the earlier policy, this guidance provides significantly more detail and direction for employers. In nearly 60 pages, the EEOC recommends “best practices” for employers, provides a dozen examples that clarify the standards, and answers frequently asked questions.

“The new guidance clarifies and updates the EEOC’s longstanding policy concerning the use of arrest and conviction records in employment, which will assist job seekers, employees, employers, and many other agency stakeholders,” said EEOC Chair Jacqueline Berrien, in a statement.

In its guidance, the EEOC cites extensive social science research and case law supporting the finding that blanket exclusions of people with criminal records violate Title VII. Specifically, the commission cites data indicating that about one in 17 white men are expected to serve time in prison during their lifetime, compared with one in six Hispanic men, and one in three African-American men.

“The ability of African-Americans and Hispanics to gain employment after prison is one of the paramount civil justice issues of our time,” said Stuart Ishimaru, one of the five members of the commission, when announcing the new standard.

The EEOC is the federal agency that enforces the nation’s laws against employment discrimination. Though it provides guidance, it is not a regulatory agency. Therefore, judges hearing employment discrimination cases have discretion whether or not to defer to EEOC guidance. The judge in a 2007 district court case on whether policies that prohibit hiring individuals with criminal convictions discriminate on the basis of race [El v. SEPTA, 479 F.3d 232 (3d Cir. 2007)] wrote that EEOC’s 1987 ruling didn’t provide sufficient research support, and therefore chose not to defer to it.

“The research is really important to this updated policy. It gives heft to the whole thing. That’s why half the document is footnotes. For courts to take the issue of disparate impact seriously, the argument has to be very well reasoned and thoughtful, which in this case it really is. This is clearly a very significant step by the EEOC,” said Maurice Emsellem, Policy Co-Director with the National Employment Law Project (NELP). (To view NELP’s highlights of the EEOC’s guidance, click here.)

Unlike the old policy, the new guidance also provides specific recommendations for how employer criminal record policies should be designed to comply with Title VII. For example, because criminal background checks have a disparate impact on people of color, the EEOC states that employers must show that the screening process is “job related” and consistent with “business necessity.” Specifically, this means that employers must consider the age of the offense, the seriousness of the offense, and its relation to the job in question.

The new policy also urges employers to give applicants a chance to explain their criminal record before they are rejected outright. An applicant might say the report is inaccurate, the conviction was expunged, that he or she has been fully rehabilitated, or that the conviction is unrelated to the job he/she is applying for.

The policy also makes clear how Title VII interacts with other local and state laws. It specifies that federal laws like Title VII generally preempt state laws (and that the Supreme Court has upheld the fact that Title VII does this), and that legislators cannot enact overly broad state and local laws that restrict employment of people with criminal records—as they would then be in violation of Title VII.

“This guidance is doing something very similar to what the Attorney General has been doing on reentry issues,” Emsellem said, referring to the Attorney General's Federal Interagency Reentry Council and recent guidance from the HUD Director on public housing access for ex-offenders and other issues. “It’s saying, ‘Look at your laws, and make sure they’re consistent with federal law.’”

This ruling comes at an important moment in the discussion around employer’s use of criminal background checks. According to a 2010 survey by the Society for Human Resources Management, 92 percent of employers conduct criminal background checks on some or all job applicants, up from 51 percent in 1996. More than two-thirds of states allow hiring and professional-licensing decisions to be made on the basis of an arrest alone.

EEOC has been considering the issue of the disparate racial impact of criminal background checks for several years. Many observers called for an updated policy, citing the fact that at the time of its last ruling, the Internet—and online background check companies, now part of a multi-billion dollar industry—barely existed. In a public hearing on the issue last July, the commission received approximately 300 public comments from prominent organizations, including the NAACP, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Society for Human Resources Management, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, and others.

The EEOC has also recently stepped up its enforcement efforts. It recently publicly settled with Pepsi over the beverage company’s use of a blanket exclusion policy. The commission’s enforcement wing is also currently investigating more than 100 claims of job discrimination based on criminal background checks.

Second Chance Act Funding Under Consideration in the House and Senate

On April 17, 2012 the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Commerce, Justice, and Science released their fiscal year 2013 justice funding bills. In the House, appropriators proposed $70 million for the Second Chance Act, an increase of $7 million from the FY12 funding level. Senate appropriators included $25 million in their bill, while also proposing $6 million for the Justice Reinvestment initiative. The robust funding provided for the Second Chance Act and Justice Reinvestment Initiative reflects continued congressional support for prisoner reentry and recidivism reduction efforts.

Recently, 82 Members of Congress signaled their support for the Second Chance Act in two letters sent to leading appropriators responsible for determining funding for justice programs. In the House, 59 Members of Congress signed a bipartisan letter circulated by Representatives Howard Coble (R-NC-6) and Danny Davis (D-IL-7). A similar letter in the Senate, led by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), collected 23 signatures.

At a time when Congress is increasingly focused on reducing spending, these letters, and the Commerce, Justice, Science Subcommittees’ decision to provide strong funding for the Second Chance Act, demonstrated that this important program remains a priority for many lawmakers. The Second Chance Act was passed by Congress in 2008 and supports evidence-based strategies proven to reduce recidivism.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan sent a letter clarifying HUD’s position on whether ex-offenders can live in HUD-subsidized properties. The letter, which was co-signed by HUD’s Acting Assistant Secretary for Housing/Federal Housing Commissioner Carol Galante, was sent to private rental property owners of HUD-assisted properties. Donovan and Galante called on owners “to seek a balance between allowing ex-offenders to reunite with families that live in HUD subsidized housing, and ensuring the safety of all residents.”

To view this letter, which also enumerates the specific cases when property owners do not have discretion regarding whom they rent to, click here.

This letter was sent to a vast number of property owners representing a broad segment of the rental housing market; nationwide, there are over a million units of HUD-assisted housing. It expands on a similar letter sent by the secretary last June to executive directors of public housing authorities (PHAs), in which the secretary clarified his agency’s position regarding people with criminal record’s eligibility for public housing.

While the impact of the secretary’s letters to PHA directors and landlords is hard to gauge, the National Reentry Resource Center did learn of a situation in which the earlier letter influenced local policy. A public housing resident in Birmingham, AL—who is also a participant in a reentry program run by the Alabama Justice Ministries Network (AJMN), a Second Chance Act (SCA) grantee—received a notice of eviction stating that his public housing building had a “no felon, no exception” policy. The resident alerted his AJMN program coordinator, who shared the secretary’s letter with the local PHA director. The PHA director, indicating that this was his first time seeing the letter, said that he was not only willing to reconsider the resident’s circumstances, but also initiated a process to formulate a new policy for the area. Within a month, HUD coordinated a seminar of over 140 PHA directors to explain the secretary’s position that flexibility is expected regarding access to public housing for people with felony records.

The recent letter from Secretary Donovan and Acting Assistant Secretary Galante builds on a series of federal efforts to address barriers to reentry. Under the leadership of Attorney General Eric Holder, various federal agencies have come together as the Federal Interagency Reentry Council.

This week Congressman Howard Coble (R-NC-6), Danny Davis (D-IL-7) and Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) are circulating letters in support of funding for Second Chance programs.  It is crucial that their letters reflect widespread national support for Second Chance. Please contact your Congressional delegation to urge that they sign onto the Davis-Coble letter in the House and the Leahy letter in the Senate in support of funding for the Second Chance Act in FY13.
 
WHAT YOU CAN DO

1.      Contact your Congressional Delegation TODAY to ask them to sign on to the Davis-Coble and Leahy letters in support of FY13 funding for Second Chance.
 
2.      Share this information with others in your state and community and enlist them to do the same.
 
TIMING

Congress is in the process of submitting their appropriations priorities for FY 2013. Please contact your members of Congress IMMEDIATELY and send a letter of support by visiting http://www.capwiz.com/csgjusticectr/home/ to ask them to make funding the Second Chance Act one of their top FY 2013 appropriations priorities and to sign on to the “Dear Colleague” letters.

BACKGROUND

The Second Chance Act passed with overwhelming bipartisan support and was signed into law in April 2008. It is a common sense, evidence-based approach to improving outcomes for people returning to communities from prisons and jails. This first-of-its-kind legislation authorizes federal grants to government agencies and nonprofit organizations to provide employment assistance, substance abuse treatment, housing, family programming, mentoring, victims support, and other services that can help reduce recidivism. Recently, President Obama released his Fiscal Year 2013 budget, allocating $80 million for the Second Chance Act.

December 13, 2011 09:29 PM EST

 The American people are rightly frustrated by Washington’s partisan bickering.

With every passing day, there seem fewer issues where Republicans and Democrats can find common ground. But when it comes to high recidivism rates among released prisoners, elected officials from both parties agree: We can pursue smart policies that drastically reduce the likelihood of repeat offenses. This can make our communities safer and reduce costs for our criminal justice system, saving money for taxpayers.

Nearly 700,000 inmates are released from state and federal prison every year. Yet nearly 50 percent are reincarcerated within three years, according to the Justice Department. The impact on our society from this recidivism is clear, and not new: lost opportunity, more crime and communities in crisis.

But high rates of return to prison also affect the bottom lines of state governments during difficult financial times. From 1988 to 2008, state spending on corrections rose faster than spending on nearly any other budget item — more than quadrupling from $12 billion to $52 billion a year.

The Second Chance Act, which passed Congress in 2008 with significant bipartisan support, created a national framework for federal, state and local governments to take on prisoners’ re-entry into the larger community and ensure fiscally sound corrections policies. These tough economic times demand nothing less.

Click here for the full Statement from Senators Portman and Whitehouse.

Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) is on the Senate Budget Committee and was an original author of the Second Chance Act when he served in the House. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) is on the Senate Judiciary Committee and served as a state attorney general.

Cheyenne – Wyoming Department of Corrections Director Bob Lampert has announced the formation of a new statewide task force that focuses on supporting the productive reentry of offenders into communities.

The mission of the group will be an orchestrated effort statewide to improve offender reentry services and resources through the collaboration of community leaders and stakeholders.

The task force will be supported by six distinct work groups composed of group members and other outside experts. Those work groups will work to develop systems and plans on how to positively impact offender reentry in six areas. Those six areas of need will include:

• Housing
• Employment and education
• Treatment
• Improving positive supports (mentoring, family reunification)
• Front-end programming in jail
• Effectively sharing resources, services and data

The work groups will meet regularly to develop relevant, working ideas for implementation, which will be presented to the task force as a whole for consideration on a quarterly basis.

The task force is composed of multiple agencies, each of which has expertise and experience in assisting with the reentry of offenders. The agencies include:

The Wyoming Department of Corrections previously had a similar task force to develop processes and programs internally to help offenders succeed during reentry.

 “Our internal task force has outgrown its own success and we have reached the point where, to continue to be successful, we need to include outside agencies and make this a statewide endeavor,” Lampert said. “Through our coordinated efforts we can make a positive impact on offender reentry while making our communities safer.”

“Each of these agencies bring unique knowledge and experience to the challenges offenders have and will face in transitioning back to their communities,” he said. “Together, we can develop systems and structures that will help them get the education, jobs, treatment and other support they need to be successful, law-abiding citizens.”

 

On Monday, November 14, 2011, House and Senate conferees released the “minibus” appropriations report, which includes Fiscal Year 2012 Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) spending. The conference report, a consolidated appropriations bill for several agencies including the Department of Justice, provides $63 million for the Second Chance Act.

The compromise appropriations bill resolves differences in Second Chance Act funding between the House, which allotted $70 million for the program, and the Senate, which provided no funding. The bill is expected to go to the full House and Senate for consideration this week.

"The Second Chance Act is having a tremendous impact nationally. It has changed the way state and local leaders think about prisoner reentry and it's demonstrating how we can reduce recidivism, which not too long ago many thought was impossible. Continued funding is a victory for every community seeking to increase public safety and to help families and neighborhoods receiving people released from prison and jail," commented Justin Jones, Director of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections.

The bill provides $2.2 billion for state and criminal justice programs, including:

• $63 million for Second Chance Act programs;
• $9 million for Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act programs;
• $470 million for Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grants;
• $6 million for comprehensive criminal justice reform and recidivism reduction efforts by states, also known as Justice Reinvestment;
• $35 million for drug courts;
• $10 million for residential substance abuse treatment programs;
• $20 million for Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act programs;
• $12.5 million for prison rape prevention and prosecution, and other programs.

In addition, the package contains a continuing resolution that funds other federal operations until December 16, 2011 – or until Congress completes the remaining nine FY 2012 appropriations bills.

Click here to see the legislative text approved by the conferees.  To read the conference report, click here.

Attorney General Eric Holder has announced that 118 programs have been selected to receive funding in 2011 under the Second Chance Act (SCA). Grantees include both local and state governments and nonprofit organizations.

The selection process was highly competitive. According to Laurie O. Robinson, Assistant Attorney General in the Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs, DOJ received more than 1,000 applications for Second Chance funding this year.
These grant awards are posted at the Office of Justice Programs web site

• Fiscal Year 2011 Grant Awards Office of Justice Programs' program grants funded through the Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2010, Public Law 111-117. Click here to view all the awards ordered by state, and here to view all the awards ordered by solicitation title.

To see the list of Second Chance Act grant recipients, click on one of the specific grant tracks listed below.

Mentoring Grants

Funding under this section helps nonprofit organizations and federally recognized Indian tribes implement mentoring projects to promote the safe and successful reintegration into the community of adults and juveniles who have been incarcerated.

• Adult Mentoring
  
• Adult Mentoring, “Promoting Successful Reentry Through Responsible Fatherhood/Motherhood”
  
• Juvenile Mentoring
  

Demonstration Grants

Funding under this section helps state and local agencies implement projects and strategies to reduce recidivism and ensure the safe and successful reentry of adults and juveniles released from prisons, jails, or youth detention facilities back to the community.

• Adult Implementation
  
• Adult Planning
  
• Juvenile Implementation
  
• Juvenile Planning
  

Family-Based Substance Abuse Treatment Grants

Funding under this section helps state and local government agencies and federally recognized Indian tribes establish or enhance residential substance abuse treatment projects in correctional facilities that include family supportive services.

• State and Local
  
• Tribal
  

Adult Offenders with Co-Occurring Substance Abuse and Mental Health Disorders

This section’s funding helps state and local government agencies and federally recognized Indian tribes establish or enhance residential substance abuse treatment programs in correctional facilities that include aftercare and recovery supportive services.

• All grantees
  

Reentry Courts

This section’s funding helps state and local government agencies and federally recognized Indian tribes establish state, local, and tribal reentry courts monitor offenders and provide them with the treatment services necessary to establish a self-sustaining and law-abiding life.

• All grantees
  

Technology Careers

Funding under this section helps state and local governments and federally recognized Indian tribes to establish programs to train individuals in prisons, jails, or juvenile residential facilities for technology-based jobs and careers during the three-year period before their release.

• All grantees
  

In addition to these awards, other reentry research and technical assistance Second Chance Act awards were announced.

Attorney General Eric Holder convened the second meeting of the federal interagency Reentry Council on September 27, 2011 to address ways to ensure those returning from prison become productive, law-abiding citizens.

The federal Reentry Council meeting was attended by Department of Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan and Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council Melody Barnes. In addition to those agencies, the Federal Reentry Council, which meets semi-annually, also includes representatives from the Department of Interior, Department of Agriculture, Department of Education, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Office of National Drug Control Policy and several other federal agencies. Its mission is to reduce recidivism and victimization; assist those returning from prison, jail or juvenile facilities to become productive citizens; and save taxpayer dollars by lowering the direct and collateral costs of incarceration.

Click here for the full press release about the Reentry Council meeting.

Last week the Senate Appropriations Committee eliminated funding for the Second Chance Act in the fiscal year (FY) 2012 Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations bill. In contrast, the House Appropriations Committee provided $70 million in their FY12 funding bill. (The Second Chance program was originally funded at $100 million in FY 2010, but that was reduced to $83 million in 2011). Although no funding for Second Chance was included in the bill, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy pledged to work to restore funding when the House and Senate Appropriations Committees attempt to resolve differences between the two spending bills.

The bill also provides $9 million for the Mentally Ill Offender Act (the legislation that authorizes the Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program) for FY12. Overall it provides $2.3 billion for state and local law enforcement programs, including:

$9 million for the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act
$0 million for the Second Chance Act
$395 million for Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grants
$21 million for Byrne Competitive Grants
$35 million for Drug Courts
$10 million for Residential Substance Abuse Treatment

Status of Federal Appropriations

Committee approval is only the first step in the appropriations process. The appropriations bills must be passed by the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, as well as the full House and Senate.

Click here for the summary of the legislation approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Click here for the bill report language.

Get Involved Today — Help Restore Second Chance Act Funding
Members of Congress need to hear from you immediately about the importance of Second Chance Act funding.

How You Can Help

• Please contact your members of Congress (link to sample letter) and ask them to support funding for the Second Chance Act in FY 2012.
• Sign the national sign-on letter in support of Second Chance Act funding.
• Share this information and ask your colleagues and friends to help protect funding for the Second Chance Act.

The National Institute of Justice has released a new InShort that examines research on the effectiveness of electronic monitoring in reducing recidivism in community supervision.

NIJ InShort: Electronic Monitoring Reduces Recidivism (pdf, 4 pages)
A summary of “A Quantitative and Qualitative Assessment of Electronic Monitoring” by William Bales, et al.

The study, which examined data gathered from supervisees in Florida between 2001 and 2007, found that electronic monitoring reduces offenders’ risk of failing to meet the terms of their probation and monitoring by 31 percent.

Read the full research report.

The Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center announced today the release of a guide for policymakers committed to reducing the likelihood that probationers will reoffend. A Ten-Step Guide to Transforming Probation Departments to Reduce Recidivism provides probation leaders with a roadmap to overhaul the operations of their agencies so they can increase public safety in their communities and improve rates of compliance among people they are supervising.  Click here to download the report.

The first section describes how officials can engage key stakeholders, evaluate agency policies, and develop a strategic plan for implementing reform; the second section provides recommendations for redesigning departmental policies and practices; and the final section includes steps for making the department transformation permanent. The report provides numerous examples of how these steps were used in one probation department in particular (Travis County, Texas). Since transforming its operations between 2005 and 2008, the Travis County probation department has seen felony probation revocations decline by 20 percent and the one-year re-arrest rate for probationers fall by 17 percent (compared with similar probationers before the departmental overhaul).

Geraldine Nagy, Director of Travis County’s adult probation department and one of the authors of the report, said, “Probation leaders across the country share the conviction that probation administrators play a key role in community safety. In Travis County, we’ve made preventing crime and reducing reoffending the focus of our mission statement. Everyone, at all levels of our agency, along with judicial leaders, sees recidivism reduction as our shared and topmost priority. The Ten-Step Guide captures the key lessons we learned in reforming our agency.”

While probation officials in every state are experiencing cuts to their budgets, the number of people they are supervising is increasing. According to a recent study by the Pew Center on the States, more than five million people are currently on probation or parole in the U.S., representing an increase of 59 percent over the past 20 years. Facing high expectations and intense public scrutiny, probation officials should revisit their agency’s goals, processes, and measures for success. The Ten-Step Guide is designed for these community corrections officials and policymakers responsible for funding and overseeing probation.

North Carolina State Representative David Guice (R-Transylvania County), who is a member of the board of the CSG Justice Center and worked as a probation officer for over 30 years, said, "As a member of my state’s General Assembly, I worked diligently with fellow lawmakers to author legislation to overhaul the probation system across North Carolina. I believe it's important to realize how state governments can position probation staff to go beyond 'trailing and nailing' probationers who don't comply with conditions of release, and actually work to change behaviors among this population so they commit fewer crimes. The Ten-Step Guide is a critical tool for any state lawmaker who wants to help accomplish these same goals in their state."

Work on the guide was supported by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance, Pew Center on the States Public Safety Performance Project, Texas Department of Criminal Justice-Community Justice Assistance Division, and the Travis County (TX) Community Supervision and Corrections Department.

The National Forum on Recidivism was held in Washington D.C. on December 8, 2011.  It included policymakers from all 50 states to focus on improving success rates for people released from prison. The event positioned states to set goals, or to expand on existing goals, for reducing recidivism through cost-effective strategies in their communities.

Photos of the State representatives in attendance at the National Forum on Recidivism.

Washington, DC — Teams of policymakers—which include the heads of the department of corrections, legislative leaders, judges and governors’ staff from all 50 states—are meeting in Washington today for an extraordinary forum on improving success rates for people released from prison.   The purpose of the results-oriented event is to position states to set goals, or in some cases expand on existing goals, for reducing reincarceration rates for individuals committing new offenses or violating the conditions of their release.

Republican and Democratic leaders in Congress, as well as representatives of the U.S. Department of Justice, are joining the state leaders to highlight how the federal government can work in partnership with them to pursue cost-effective strategies that provide a strong return on their investments in public safety.

“Federal, state and local governments are working together to promote public safety and reduce recidivism in our communities.  Helping offenders return to their communities as productive members of society ultimately improves their lives, and saves money for the communities in which they live.  Reducing recidivism, through programs like those funded by the Second Chance Act, keeps us all safer,” said Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT).

Click here to read the full press release.

WASHINGTON — On Dec. 8., the Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs (OJP) sponsored a forum of policymakers from all 50 states to focus on improving success rates for people released from prison. The event positioned states to set goals, or to expand on existing goals, for reducing recidivism through cost-effective strategies in their communities.

In partnership with the Council of State Governments, the Association of State Correctional Administrators, the Public Welfare Foundation and the Pew Center on the States, OJP’s Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) is working with all 50 states to identify and pursue cost-effective strategies on their investments in public safety. Following the forum, participants will begin setting measurable goals for reducing recidivism; creating plans to achieve these goals by drawing on the latest research and experiences from the field; and identifying benchmarks state and federal policymakers can use to track progress.
 
A Pew Center on the States report presented on Dec. 8 demonstrated that reducing states’ recidivism rates by just 10 percent could collectively save states more than $635 million a year in averted prison costs. Experts pointed to research showing how certain strategies can help reduce recidivism, including concentrating supervision and treatment resources on those most likely to reoffend.

U.S. Department of Justice: www.justice.gov
Pew Center on the States: www.pewcenteronthestates.org

December 13, 2011 09:29 PM EST

 The American people are rightly frustrated by Washington’s partisan bickering.

With every passing day, there seem fewer issues where Republicans and Democrats can find common ground. But when it comes to high recidivism rates among released prisoners, elected officials from both parties agree: We can pursue smart policies that drastically reduce the likelihood of repeat offenses. This can make our communities safer and reduce costs for our criminal justice system, saving money for taxpayers.

Nearly 700,000 inmates are released from state and federal prison every year. Yet nearly 50 percent are reincarcerated within three years, according to the Justice Department. The impact on our society from this recidivism is clear, and not new: lost opportunity, more crime and communities in crisis.

But high rates of return to prison also affect the bottom lines of state governments during difficult financial times. From 1988 to 2008, state spending on corrections rose faster than spending on nearly any other budget item — more than quadrupling from $12 billion to $52 billion a year.

The Second Chance Act, which passed Congress in 2008 with significant bipartisan support, created a national framework for federal, state and local governments to take on prisoners’ re-entry into the larger community and ensure fiscally sound corrections policies. These tough economic times demand nothing less.

Click here for the full Statement from Senators Portman and Whitehouse.

Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) is on the Senate Budget Committee and was an original author of the Second Chance Act when he served in the House. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) is on the Senate Judiciary Committee and served as a state attorney general.

This national, invitation-only, one-day Forum was made possible through support from the Bureau of Justice Assistance Assistance, the Pew Charitable Trusts, and the Public Welfare Foundation.  The goal of the Forum was to build on progress made over the last decade in the area of prisoner reentry, which has become a fundamental organizing principle of corrections organizations everywhere.

Teams of corrections leaders from all 50 states gathered last week in Washington for a conference on reducing recidivism.  The event sought to solidify recidivism reduction as a key goal of corrections agencies and to share effective policies and practices.  It was organized by the Council of State Governments Justice Center and co-sponsored by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the Public Welfare Foundation, and the Pew Center on the States.
 
At the conference, the Pew Center on the States' Public Safety Performance Project released two products designed to educate policy makers and the public about evidence-based strategies to lower recidivism rates and produce a better public safety return on taxpayers’ investment in corrections.

• An issue brief in Q&A format with five state corrections directors who discuss how they are overcoming barriers that complicate their recidivism reduction mission.
• A video that offers a concise look at four core strategies to stop the revolving door.  It runs 5 minutes and highlights risk assessment, evidence-based programs, swift and certain sanctions, and fiscal incentives for community supervision agencies.

The Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs (OJP) today sponsored a forum of policymakers from all 50 states to focus on improving success rates for people released from prison.   The event positioned states to set goals, or to expand on existing goals, for reducing recidivism through cost-effective strategies in their communities.

“In this time of economic challenges, we must continue to use every tool and strategy at our disposal to protect the American people while reducing costs to taxpayers,” said Attorney General Eric Holder. “Today’s national forum demonstrates the Justice Department’s firm commitment to working with its partners in the states and non-governmental organizations to improve public safety by supporting efforts to assist formerly incarcerated people as they return to their communities to become productive members of our society.”

In partnership with the Council of State Governments, the Association of State Correctional Administrators, the Public Welfare Foundation and the Pew Center on the States, OJP’s Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) is working with all 50 states to identify and pursue cost-effective strategies on their investments in public safety.   Following today’s forum, participants will begin setting measurable goals for reducing recidivism; creating plans to achieve these goals by drawing on the latest research and experiences from the field; and identifying benchmarks state and federal policymakers can use to track progress.

Click here for the full Press Release.