Opportunities for Change

The urgency of the problem may seem stunning, its scope overwhelming, and the potential solutions hopelessly impractical, especially given the dwindling resources available to state and local officials. In fact, this situation has generated an unprecedented level of attention to an issue that has persisted for as long as jails and prisons have existed. And, with this level of attention, innovative programs and creative policies have emerged, some with an evidence base which confirms their efficacy.

Other developments have brought additional resources to bear on this problem. Since 2001, the federal government, through the US Department of Justice, has made available over $100 million in grants to states to promote the development or expansion of reentry initiatives. Researchers' understanding of who is in prison and jail, the communities to which they return, and the issues that contribute to their successes and failures in the community upon release has also improved dramatically in recent years.

Perhaps most important is the increasing appreciation among community leaders and service providers in non-criminal justice sectors like public health, workforce development, and housing, that offenders, while incarcerated and after their release, are not the responsibility of corrections administrators alone. In fact, recognizing that reentering populations are part of their clientele presents extraordinary opportunities to those working in other service areas.

For instance, public health authorities trying desperately to contain the spread of highly infectious diseases are gradually appreciating the value of partnering with corrections officials. Indeed, those passing through prison or jail account for a significant share of the total population infected with HIV or AIDS, Hepatitis B and C, and tuberculosis: in 1997, nearly one-quarter of all people living with HIV or AIDS, nearly one-third of people with Hepatitis C and more than one-third of those with tuberculosis in the US had been released from a prison or jail at some point during the year.[22]

The majority of people released from jail or prison also does not have a job lined up, making this population, upon their return to the community, the clients of state and local Workforce Investment Boards, One-Stop centers, and other publicly financed employment and job training services charged with lowering unemployment.[23] Some of these organizations are beginning to appreciate the captive audience that this population provides for education and job training. Similarly, employers seeking to hold employees accountable for tardiness, unauthorized absence, illicit drug use, or irresponsible behavior, are slowly recognizing the tremendous asset that probation and parole officers-and the conditions of release they enforce-offer.

Housing officials at the city, state, and federal level committed to reversing the rising tide of homelessness have begun to identify prisoner reentry as an issue that requires their attention. In a survey of city officials in 36 cities on hunger and homelessness, prison release was identified by six cities (Cleveland, Denver, New Orleans, Phoenix, Seattle and Washington, DC) as a major contributor to homelessness.[24] In fact, 12.8 percent of those released from prison in 1998 used a homeless shelter within one year of their release. A study done of New York State releasees found that over half of those who entered a shelter in the first two years after their release from prison did so in the first month.[25]

In general, social service systems are also beginning to recognize that the demand for treatment and other supports in prison and jail presents opportunities to expand the capacity of their community-based providers. At the same time, many corrections administrators are concerned that if these community-based systems do not capitalize on this opportunity, it will exacerbate the existing problem; state and local officials will then be encouraged to expand the behind-the-walls capacity of corrections systems to treat mental illness, provide comprehensive health care, and educate and train offenders, making prisons and jails only a stronger magnet for populations unable to get the supports and services they need in the community.

These pressures have pushed corrections administrators, other criminal justice officials, and community-based service providers closer together. This Report provides numerous examples of exciting joint ventures on reentry that have percolated in pockets of the country, demonstrating how valuable, and how achievable, close coordination among these various, independent interest groups can be.

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