Prison Issues in the Criminal Justice Field : Reentry

Map it-Reentry guidebook available

Peggy L. Ritchie — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 16:12:00 GMT

The Urban Institute just published a guidebook that provides information on how criminal justice agencies and communities of all types can address prisoner reentry at the local level through mapping and data analysis. Read more about this Reentry Mapping Network (RMN).

Sections of the Guidebook include:

Why Map Prisoner Reentry
Creating Reentry maps
Using Reentry Mapping to Promote Community Well-Being

Are you Ready? Free Public Service Announcement for Reentry

Peggy L. Ritchie — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 15:54:00 GMT

Are you prepared for the the 650,000 released from prisons? Is your community? Your agency? Here's another point of interest from the International Prison and Corrections Association Conference in Vancouver.

Mr. Greg Pease, President of Alaska's community based not for profit, Gastineau Human Services Corporation, has released a FREE Public Service Announcement (PSA) that you can use for creating public awareness of reentry needs and how agencies can help families, services, and communities to "Be Ready" !

Is this something you or your agency can use? Give us feedback. Enjoy and pass it along to your media friends.

Tie a Yellow Ribbon...Singapore's response to offender reentry

Peggy L. Ritchie — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 22:14:00 GMT

Greetings everyone, nice to be back with you after the International Prisons and Corrections Conference in Vancouver. One of the highlights was the Yellow Ribbon Project from Singapore.

In the center of the page "Yellow Ribbon Project 2006" there is a little symbol in the top right hand corner "Watch the video"....do take a snapshot ride on this...it's brilliant.

Tony Orlando and Dawn's hits song, "Tie a Yellow Ribbon 'round the Old Oak Tree" has been used with lyrics re scripted for a theme. What a great theme it is.

They have successfully used a corporate model to "market ex-offenders" reuniting with the community. They have developed a Yellow Ribbon Fund as an external source of continued funding. They host:

walkathons,
poetry contests,
developed a docu-drama TV series,
major concerts that involve the media, professional musicians and ex-offenders in full collaboration for these events.

Family and employers are a major partnership. Check it out! More on the Conference later this week.

Reentry Presentation at the International Corrections and Prison Association

Peggy L. Ritchie — Fri, 20 Oct 2006 14:06:00 GMT

During the week of October 21-27, 2006, the International Corrections and Prison Association is holding a conference in Vancouver, Canada. Check out the program guide for this conference here. A special track at the conference, Reentry: The Challenge of 21st Century Corrections, is being sponsored by the International Association of Reentry (IAR). I will be be presenting there, along with other IAR representatives. See my power point slides attached in the file below and watch for my highlights of the conference when I return in a week!

Elections Are Near- Can Felons in Your State Vote? Reentry Issues Loom

Peggy L. Ritchie — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 14:10:00 GMT

Where does your State stand on felony disenfranchisement policies and laws? The Sentencing Project just released a new report: "A Decade of Reform: Felony Disenfranchisement Policy in the United States".

Has your State restored voting rights? What is your opinion on this?

Do you think this is a major factor in Reentry success? Share your opinion as a corrections practitioner below!

Take a look at this national study:

U.S. Laws remain the most severe globally
73 bills on felony disenfranchisement were introduced in 22 states
More than 5 million Americans won't be able to vote on Election Day
1 in 12 African Americans is disenfranchised

Deal or No Deal:"People, Places, and Things: The Social Process of Reentry for Female Ex-Offenders"

Peggy L. Ritchie — Tue, 19 Sep 2006 17:33:00 GMT

The U.S. Department of Justice released the grant report, "People,Places and Things: The Social Process of Reentry for Female Ex-Offenders" by Andrea Leverentz, University of Chicago, Department of Sociology. The main goal was to "learn about the complex social lives of female ex-offenders and how their release from prison impacts and is impacted by their relationships."

The majority of women interviewed were African American with children and the primary offenses were drug related. To read more about their developmental relationships, marriages, and social bonds, take a look at this report. The reentry issues are provided in detail.

BBC of the United Kingdom had a series on female prisoners; what are the similarities and differences from the US. population?

Have you done similar studies? Are these outcomes of any value to your programming and treatment for reentry? Let us know with a quick response below.

Second Chance Act Passed in the House Judiciary

Peggy L. Ritchie — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 21:37:00 GMT

The House Judiciary Committee marked up H.R. 1704, The Second Chance Act, for the third Wednesday in a row and reported the bill out favorably with bipartisan support. This means that the bill can now be presented to the House as a whole. The bill allocates $176 million for a variety of programs for ex-offenders.

Representative Robert Portman (R-Ohio) is the primary sponsor of this bill. The Senate version S.1034 and the house version are summarized on GOVTrack.us . This bill reauthorized the grant program of the Deparatment of Justice for reentry of offenders and establishes a task force on Federal programs and activities relating to the reentry of offenders into the community.

If you want to track this bill, the Re-Entry Policy Council provides updates.

Reentry Research and Best Practice Links; International Association of Reentry sets 2007 Conference Date

Peggy L. Ritchie — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 17:23:00 GMT

Research on what's working for reentry is beginning to show its face; outcome studies include successful strategies as well as some that are not working. What do we know to date and where is the research coming from? Best Practice Links at the International Association of Reentry: 2007 Conference scheduled for March 18-21 in Baltimore, Maryland.

Reentry Outcome Research

If you have a resource you'd like to share, please comment below.