Program Examples
The recommendations in the Report of the Re-Entry Policy Council include examples of programs from around the country that are translating policy into practice. These programs are cataloged below and can be filtered by location. In addition, you may search the database using specific keywords, such as "substance abuse."
These examples highlight promising efforts that may provide valuable ideas for policymakers to consider or build upon as they develop their own initiatives. However, the Justice Center does not promote or endorse any of these programs as "best practices."
Justice Center staff are currently working to expand this section to include other reentry programs that have been brought to our attention. If you would like to suggest a program for inclusion, please contact us at editors@reentrypolicy.org
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Program Name | State
Illinois: Adult Transition Centers (ATCs)
Safer Foundation
Adult Transition Centers (ATCs) offer selected Illinois offenders job training and placement prior to their release from custody as part of an integrated transitional program.
California: Amity In-Prison Therapeutic Community
Amity Foundation and California Department of Corrections
Amity Foundation operates therapeutic communities in four California correctional facilities.
Hawaii: Being Empowered and Safe Together
Maui Economic Opportunity, Inc. and the Department of Public Safety
Being Empowered and Safe Together (BEST), administered by Maui Economic Opportunity, Inc. in collaboration with the State of Hawaii Department of Public Safety (DPS), is designed to serve individuals who are preparing to return to the community from Maui Community Correctional Center (MCCC).
New York: Center for Employment Opportunities
The goal of the Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO) is to provide immediate, comprehensive, and effective employment services for men and women returning from prison and those under community supervision in New York City.
California: Community Re-Entry Program
Veterans Administration and Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department
Outreach staff from the Community Reentry Program assess inmates with military service records in the LA County Jail prior to their release and provide links to needed services, including but not limited to services provided by the Veterans Administration itself.
Indiana: Community Transition Program
Indiana Department of Correction
In 1999, the Indiana state legislature enacted a law providing that state inmates can be transferred to a community corrections program or a program of supervision by a county probation office 60 to 180 days prior to their release date.
California: Conservation Camp Program
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, Los Angeles County Fire Department, and California Department of Correction
Working for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, prison inmates respond to conservation emergencies such as wildfires and flooding. Inmates are housed in conservation camps throughout the state and receive intensive fire prevention training. Nonemergency relief work assignments consist of repairing roads and aqueducts and maintaining state parks and trails.
California: Cornerstone Program
San Fernando Valley Community Mental Health Center
The Cornerstone Program provides housing, mental health, and benefit-identifying services to adult homeless offenders coming out of Los Angeles County Jail who have a severe and persistent mental illness.
Arizona: Data Link Project
Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office and Value Options
The Data Link Project allows Value Options, the Maricopa County Regional Behavioral Health Authority (RBHA), access to the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office booking information in order to identify individuals who may be eligible for diversion from the criminal justice system.
Florida: Day Reporting and Re-Entry Division
Broward County Sheriff’s Offi ce
The Day Reporting and Reentry Division provides case management and transitional services to individuals who are serving time in the Broward County jail. The Division also has two specialized tracks: (1) a Community Service Work Program for repeat misdemeanants as an alternative to jail; and (2) an Aftercare Program for the successful graduates of the in-custody Military Training Unit (boot camp).
Illinois: Day Reporting Center Re-entry Program
Behavioral Interventions
The Day Reporting Center (DRC) provides a continuum of intense supervision, monitoring, treatment, and educational services for program participants immediately upon release from prison with the aim of reducing recidivism and thereby increasing public safety.
California: Delancey Street Foundation
The Delancey Street Foundation acts a residential education center that assists individuals released from prison or jail, former substance abusers, and people who were formerly homeless to acquire basic and employment-oriented skills and to achieve economic independence.
Iowa: Distance Learning
Iowa Department of Corrections
The Iowa Department of Corrections offers inmates the option to enroll in online courses offered by community and private colleges.
Indiana: Employment Academy
Blue Jacket, Inc.; Allen County Community Corrections
Blue Jacket, Inc. is a nonprofit organization that was created by and runs under the auspices of Allen County Community Corrections. The organization offers pre-employment job training, transitional job placement and support services for ex-offenders.
California: Ex-Felon Employment Initiative
San Francisco District Attorney’s Office and National Economic Development and Law Center
To improve job placement for first-time, low-level drug offenders, the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office commission the National Economic Development and Law Center (NEDLC) to determine which industries had the best record of employing ex-offenders. NEDLC’s research culminated in a report.
District of Columbia: Father to Child Programs
Hope House
Nearly 10,000 inmates from Washington, D.C. are serving their sentences in federal prisons across the United States. Hope House provides programming to help men who are incarcerated in prisons outside the Washington, D.C. area to stay connected to their families.
California: Get Connected
Centerforce, Inc.
Get Connected is a multiservice demonstration project focused on health issues for inmates and their families at San Quentin Prison and the Central California Women’s Facility.
Georgia: Health Services
Georgia Department of Corrections
In addition to providing health care during the period of incarceration, the Department of Corrections writes up medical summaries and, in some cases, makes postrelease medical appointments for individuals being released to the community. Patients are also given a two-week supply of medication at the time of their discharge.
Connecticut: Jail Diversion Project
Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services
The Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS) operates jail diversion programs in all 22 geographical area courts across the state. These programs work with the courts to link to treatment services people with mental health and co-occurring substance abuse disorders arrested on minor offenses.
Florida: Jail Educational and Vocational Programs
Orange County Jail
The Orange County Corrections Division provides intensive educational and vocational programming for most inmates in its 3,300-bed jail.