Victims

The release of any particular individual from prison or jail will likely have an immediate and direct impact on many people in the community, including victims, neighbors, friends, and family members. Information collected during intake to the facility about prisoners' personal relationships and responsibilities, and the risks that they may present to victims and others, can inform individual programming plans for the period of incarceration and release.

Key Resources

Victims & Reentry Webinar, National Reentry Resource Center (2010)
This webinar discussed promising and replicable practices and program models for involving crime victims and victim services in offender reentry planning processes. Although reentry planning has long focused on the needs of offenders, there has often been a lack of attention paid to the needs of the crime victims, who are potentially re-traumatized when their offenders prepare to reenter their communities. This webinar helped participants identify ways to assess and address victims’ needs, invite and include victim services in reentry planning conversations, and develop victim-offender programming that focuses on offender accountability.

To view this webinar, please click here. To download a PDF of the PowerPoint slides used in this presentation, please click here.
Repaying Debts, Council of State Governments Justice Center (2007)
Repaying Debts, policy statement 4, recommends strategies for ensuring that victims receive the restitution they are owed.
Report of the Re-Entry Policy Council: Victims, Council of State Governments (2005)
The Report of the Re-Entry Policy Council, chapter 11 recommends providing notification and appropriate information to victims regarding a prisoner's release and reentry process and offering couseling and support to victims as they prepare for an individual's release into the community.
The Three "R's" of Reentry, Justice Solutions (2002)
This report highlights the importance of reparative justice, relationships, and responsibility in strengthening the reentry process from a "victim-, family-, and harm-centered perspective."
The Victim's Role in Offender Reentry: A Community Response Manual, American Probation and Parole Association (2001)
This report offers guidance to policymakers interested in identifying barriers and developing solutions to victim involvement in the reentry process.