Reentry News Clips

9/19/2009: Steubenville Herald-Star (OH): Program will help offenders find work

Three justices of the West Virginia State Supreme Court have signed an order authorizing a program aimed at rehabilitating some prisoners with drug abuse and mental health issues by helping them to find work and living accommodations.

9/18/2009: Beloit Daily News (WI): For those with felony records, it’s even harder to find work

Beloit resident James Roe is searching for a second chance employers don’t seem to want to give because of one mistake in his past: a felony conviction 12 years ago for a burglary in Illinois.

9/18/2009: Chicago Tribune (IL): Who minds the kids when parents are behind bars?

Formerly incarcerated parents, children whose parents have been arrested and their caretakers will testify at a fact-finding hearing convened at the State of Illinois Building by the state legislature's Youth and Family, Juvenile Justice and Judiciary II committees. They will speak about arrests that leave kids alone, the difficulty of maintaining contact once a parent is in prison and the lack of any kind of system to track the children to make sure they're in a safe place.

9/18/2009: Washington Post (DC): OPINION: Land of the Second Chance

"What returning felons need most, especially in the first months, is a safe transition zone, including housing, addiction treatment, job experience to begin building a résumé and help with family reunification. All this is expensive -- but not as expensive as imprisonment. The Second Chance Act -- signed by President George W. Bush in 2008 -- encourages these services. President Obama proposes to expand its funding. It is the sort of needed spending that should unite the parties," writes columnist Michael Gerson.

9/17/2009: The News & Observer (NC): Another chance for ex-convicts

Gov. Beverly Perdue announced 34 members of the StreetSafe Task Force, which will try to find ways to curb recidivism. Every year, 28,000 people are released from prison into a world where their pasts make it difficult to find a decent job and a place to live. Perdue said keeping people from going back to prison is one of the best ways to keep state residents safe.

9/16/2009: WTVR Richmond (VA): Prison Reform Could Save State Cash

In a meeting with the Virginia State Crime Commission Wednesday, former gubernatorial candidate Mark Earley proposed taking funding away from correctional facilities, and using it instead on programs to cut down the rate of recidivism.

9/15/2009: Shreveport Times (LA): The Kennedy Center of Louisiana receives $499,935 grant

The Kennedy Center of Louisiana, in Shreveport, has been awarded a 2009 Second Chance Juvenile Mentoring Initiative Grant for $499,935 through the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

9/14/2009: Sacramento Bee (CA): OPINION: Recycling firm shows the way to fight prison recidivism

"The principal reason for recidivism is an inexcusable failure to maximize opportunities for prisoners to adapt to life on the outside. We need to correct that failure. And employers can play a vital role," writes California state treasurer Bill Lockyer.

9/14/2009: Pioneer Press (MN): Tough sell — marketing felons in recession

Since 2007, the Minnesota Prisoner Re-entry Project has employed AmeriCorps-VISTA workers to design different aspects of prisoner re-entry programs in corrections settings, nonprofits and county agencies.

9/14/2009: Business Insurance: Ex-convicts in workforce pose liability problems

Many employers, particularly large corporations, have criminal background check policies in place. Employers must contend with myriad state laws limiting how they may use this information as well as concern by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that these checks have a disparate impact on minorities.

9/12/2009: Los Angeles Times (CA): California Legislature OKs state prison cuts

The prisons measure, SBX3 18 by Sen. Denise Moreno Ducheny (D-San Diego), would reduce supervision of low-level offenders on parole so they could not be sent back for violating the terms of their release. It would allow some offenders to earn shorter terms by completing rehabilitation programs.

9/12/2009: Fort Worth Star-Telegram (TX): Ex-cons having a tough time finding jobs

About 6,000 people are released from state and federal prisons back to Tarrant County each year, not counting people emerging from county jail or ones who get deferred adjudication. The recession has slammed some job segments — such as oil fields and construction — known for being more sympathetic to ex-offenders.

9/10/2009: Washington Post (DC): Support and Second Chances: Groups Bring Men Together to Help One Another Leave Troubled Pasts

Around a long table in the basement of an aging building in the District, a group of men comes together every Wednesday seeking recovery and redemption. For most, the weekly reunions, part of a program called Men-in-Motion, mean escaping troubled criminal histories and embracing a future as fathers, sons and friends.

9/8/2009: Statesman Journal (OR): Re-entry program receives funding

A Marion County program intended to help newly-released offenders from jail and prisons transition into the community received federal grants that will expand and sustain the program as much as 75 percent.

9/7/2009: Monterey County Herald (CA): Former inmates pose challenge to health system

The California prison system's health care delivery is so bad, it was deemed unconstitutional by federal judges, who could find no other fix than to order the reduction of the prison population. But because of cuts to already-slim services for ex-cons, there's no guarantee that the sickest parolees will be much better off on the outside.

9/7/2009: Denver Post (CO): Drug aid program benefits mentally ill prisoners

A 2-year-old program designed to provide medication and monitoring to inmates with mental illnesses has shown the potential to dramatically reduce recidivism among those who participate, according to a new study. The program provides free medicine to two different kinds of inmates: those who are being released from prison to community halfway houses and parolees who break rules and are sent to community corrections facilities.

9/6/2009: Washington Post (DC): Shedding the Stigma of Prison

For some ex-offenders, the most important part of reentry is not freedom from a jail cell but making an internal change. For some, that means forgiving themselves for their crimes. For others, it's deciding to stop and listen to the world around them.

9/6/2009: Honolulu Star-Bulletin (HI): Where hope thrives

An Oahu program that has cut drug abuse and new crimes by felons on probation might be used by other states.

9/6/2009: Washington Post (DC): "People's Backs Are Against the Wall": Amid Downturn, a Rise in Jobless D.C. Parolees and Chances of Recidivism

For the first time in nearly a decade, the majority of court-supervised ex-offenders in the District are unemployed.

9/5/2009: Los Angeles Times (CA): Cash-strapped states revise laws to get inmates out

Mandatory sentencing laws are relaxed, parole is accelerated, and time off for good behavior is increased as states scramble to save money.