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Date: April 30, 2024 Tue
Time: 2:12 am
Time: 2:12 am
Results for prisoner reentry (ohio, u.s.)
2 results foundAuthor: Montgomery County (Ohio). Ex-Offender Reentry Employment Work Group. FCFC Economic Self-Sufficiency Outcome Team Title: Ex-Offender Reentry Employment Final Report: October 2007 Summary: “Reentry,” as defined by the Urban Institute Justice Policy Center, “is the process of leaving the prison system and returning to society.” Fashioning a reentry strategy for Montgomery County will require our community to develop a comprehensive, collaborative, and holistic approach that couples services, supports and structure with systemic change—including advocating for the state legislature to eliminate collateral sanctions which are barriers to employment. After spending an average of 2.3 years in prison, sixteen hundred (1,600) inmates will be released from the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (ODRC) and return to Montgomery County during 2007. Prior to release from prison, many inmates are not prepared for the challenges and barriers they will encounter while trying to become productive taxpaying citizens. Research has shown that ex-offenders who return with little or no family and community support, no income, poor job skills, untreated alcohol or drug abuse problems, and no stable place to live, are much more likely to re-offend and return to prison within three years of their release. Although employment is a key component to successful reentry, it is not a stand alone strategy that will reduce recidivism. The concept of providing a continuum of services and support to help ex-offenders return from prison and successfully re-establish themselves in their communities is becoming an important priority for a growing number of cities and counties in the U.S. Montgomery County will spend approximately $110M, which is 69% of its General Fund budget—up from 56% in 2000—on Criminal Justice services during 2007. Three thousand and fifty (3,050) Montgomery County residents are currently incarcerated in Ohio prisons—with fifty percent (50%) returning without supervision from the Adult Parole Authority. Sixty percent (60%) of Montgomery County residents committed to ODRC serve one year or less. In 2006, thirty-one percent (31%) of ODRC facilities were overcrowded. Due to overcrowding and the short lengths of stay, many ex-offenders do not receive the necessary rehabilitation services, (i.e., mental health, drug and/or alcohol treatment, literacy and GED education, job training or job readiness skills) while incarcerated. Thus, most will return to the community with the same employment barriers that they had prior to incarceration. The demographic profile of individuals from Montgomery County committed to and returning from ODRC is both instructive and compelling. Most (87%) of those returning are men. Fifty-four percent (54%) are African-American; forty-six percent (46%) are White. Eighty-nine percent (89%) are single, divorced or separated. Forty-two percent (42%) have less than a high school diploma. Seventy-five percent (75%) reported abusing drugs, and forty percent (40%) reported abusing alcohol during the six months prior to their incarceration. Seventy-four percent (74%) had one or more prior felony convictions before being sent to prison. The rate of recidivism for Montgomery County (44.4%) exceeds both the Ohio rate (39%) and the rates of all of the other five large urban counties in Ohio. The recidivism rate is not without great financial cost—$24,586 to incarcerate one inmate per year—underwritten by the taxpayers of Ohio. Being concerned about the ex-offender’s successful transition from prisoner to contributing, tax paying citizen is in everyone’s self-interest. Considering the negative impact that unsuccessful reentry has on individuals, families, neighborhoods, communities, public safety, state and local government budgets, and the local economy, the Ex-Offender Reentry Employment Work Group believes that the time for action is now. In November 2006, the Family and Children First Council’s Economic Self Sufficiency Outcome Team established the Ex-Offender Reentry Employment Work Group as a subcommittee of their Outcome Team. The Ex-offender Reentry Employment Work Group was given the following charge: • Research and assess the current status of formerly incarcerated individuals reentering Montgomery County; • Conduct analysis of local programs, services and available resources; • Identify barriers to employment and economic self-sufficiency; • Identify and review effective local and national programs and “best practice” models that have overcome barriers and led to stable employment; and, • Recommend to the Family and Children First Council funding, program development and system change that will create increased employability and self sufficiency for ex-offenders returning to the community. Details: Dayton, OH: Montgomery County Ex-Offender Reentry Employment Work Group, 2007. 95p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 18, 2013 at: http://www.mcohio.org/docs/ExoffenderReentry_1.pdf Year: 2007 Country: United States URL: http://www.mcohio.org/docs/ExoffenderReentry_1.pdf Shelf Number: 127997 Keywords: Ex-Offender EmploymentPrisoner Reentry (Ohio, U.S.) |
Author: Moushey, Bill Title: Stories of Transition: Men and Women in the Allegheny County Jail Collaborative’s Reentry Program Summary: The Allegheny County Jail’s Reentry Program is one of a set of initiatives of the Allegheny County Jail Collaborative, a partnership among the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas, the Allegheny County Jail, the Allegheny County Department of Human Services, the Allegheny County Health Department, community organizations and civic leaders. The Jail Collaborative was created in 2000 in an effort to identify creative ways to improve public safety and reduce recidivism. More than 200 people have completed the Reentry Program since its start in 2010, and the Jail Collaborative knows from the outcomes that the program is reducing recidivism. Sophisticated evaluations will tell us more about why it is working and what we can do to make the program better. The Jail Collaborative wants to understand what the experience of reentry is like for the people behind the statistics — the men and women who are in the midst of their transition from jail. It needs to hear their stories, including the struggles, their reflections and their advice for others. To do this, the Jail Collaborative commissioned award-winning journalist Bill Moushey to interview participants in the Reentry Program and write their stories of transition. Moushey, who was an investigative reporter for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, and winner of the National Press Club’s Freedom of Information Award, agreed to this assignment on one condition: that he be permitted to write in his unvarnished way. These are the first two of Bill Moushey’s reports about men and women in transition. Their memories of their experiences in jail are still fresh, and they spoke openly with Moushey about the help they received and the challenges they faced during jail and since their release. Their names have been changed to protect their privacy. Details: Pittsburgh, OH: The Allegheny County Department of Human Services, 2013. 13p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 1, 2013 at: http://www.alleghenycounty.us/uploadedFiles/DHS/About_DHS/Report_and_Evaluation/13-ACDHS-03_StoriesOfTransition_052813.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United States URL: http://www.alleghenycounty.us/uploadedFiles/DHS/About_DHS/Report_and_Evaluation/13-ACDHS-03_StoriesOfTransition_052813.pdf Shelf Number: 129216 Keywords: Jail InmatesPrisoner Reentry (Ohio, U.S.)Recidivism |