Reentry and State/Local Governments
More than 700,000 individuals were released from state and federal prisons in 2007,1 and approximately 9 million people are released from jails every year.2 States, counties, cities, communities, and policymakers are working to develop policies and practices that will increase the likelihood that these returning individuals will make safe and successful transitions back into their communities.
- West, H.C. & W. Sabol. Prisoners in 2007. NCJ 224280. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2008. www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/p07.pdf.
- Beck, A.J. The Importance of Successful Reentry to Jail Population Growth. Presented at the Urban Institute's Jail Reentry Roundtable, June 27, 2006. www.urban.org/projects/reentry-roundtable/upload/beck.PPT.
Key Resources
-
Report of the Re-Entry Policy Council, Council of State Governments Justice Center (2005)
This report was authored by the Council of State Governments and ten project partners. It reflects the results of a series of meetings among 100 of the most respected workforce, health, housing, public safety, family, community, and victim experts in the country. -
Mapping Prisoner Reentry: An Action Research Guidebook, Urban Institute (2006)
This guidebook provides information on how interested parties can understand and address prisoner reentry at the local level through mapping and data analysis. -
Life After Lockup: Improving Reentry from Jail to the Community, Urban Institute (2008)
This report synthesizes the findings of several BJA-commissioned papers, a Reentry Roundtable, two national meetings, and interviews of dozens of practioners from around the country. -
Reentry for Safer Communities: Effective County Practices in Jail to Community Transition Planning for Offenders with Mental Health and Substance Abuse Disorders, National Association of Counties (2008)
This publication, based on the national study by NACo, features effective practices implemented at six sites around the country for transition planning for incarcerated individuals with co-occurring disorders. These programs differ in the focal points of their reentry efforts, but exhibit strong partnerships between the jail and the community, treatment and transition planning within the jail, and some level of follow-up after release. -
Call to Action: How Programs in Three Cities Responded to the Prisoner Reentry Crisis, Public/Private Ventures (2007)
This publication chronicles how individuals, community organizations, faith institutions, businesses and officials in Jacksonville, FL; Memphis, TN; and Washington, D.C., mobilized to build partnerships to address escalating numbers of ex-prisoners returning to their communities.