Prison reentry programs are an important part of an ex-offenders success upon release from prison. The longer an ex-offender has been incarcerated, the more intensive the services and program may be.
A prison reentry program is designed to offer services, training and education that will help ex-offenders rejoin, and become a productive member of society.
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An ex-offender being released after 10 or more years of incarceration, may have no family able or willing to allow the ex-offender to reside with them. Housing is often a major issue for many ex-offenders.
Below, are the top services offered by prison reentry programs, before and after release. We will also discuss how each service is important to an ex-offender’s successful release from prison.
Housing
As mentioned before, the longer an ex-offender has been incarcerated, the less likely they are to have family or friends who can or will allow them to be released to their residence.
Organizations such as the YWCA and Volunteers of America have housing assistance – often called transitional housing – available for newly released ex-offenders.
Social Services
This category covers most of the services an ex-offender may need. Upon release, an ex-offender often needs access to food, clothing mental and physical health services, drug treatment, assistance with a situation involving their child(ren), and things like prescription drugs – just to name a few.
For any of these types of services, ex-offenders are usually referred to their local social services agency such as DFACS (Dept of Family and Children Services) in Georgia. By calling the United Way at 211, an ex-offender may find the information for their local agencies.
Employment
In the 1990‘s, prisons and jails started removing skills training and education from their programs. As usual, budgets were the blame. Many ex-offenders say the lack of education and skills, and the inability to support their family, was the reason why they engaged in illegal activities – the same illegal activities that led to their arrest.
To address the lack of employment skills , we at LifeChangers, created our Workforce Readiness Workshop. This 4-hour workshop is designed to arm ex-offenders with the knowledge, skills and tools required to obtain and maintain gainful employment.
Why did we create the Workforce Readiness Workshop?
For more information about our workshop, click here.https://lifechangersinc.org/about-us/
It seems to reason that, if an ex-offender did not possess the skills or education to support their family before they were incarcerated, and they did not have an opportunity to receive skills training or education while incarcerated, there is a good chance that the ex-offender will return to the prison system.
When an ex-offender is rearrested, and is sent back to jail or prison, this is called recidivism. The rate of recidivism averages 60% in the United States. That means that, out of every 100,000 people released from jails and prisons, approximately 60,000 will return within three years.
Each inmate costs taxpayers an average of over $16,000 each year. When you do the math, you will see why prison reentry programs are a more cost-effective, and much-needed resource for ex-offenders rejoining society.
The goal of each of these programs is to offer services that will assist an ex-offender with a successful release from prison – housing, social services and employment.
These services help ex-offenders build their new life on a solid foundation. This solid foundation can create a win-win situation for the ex-offender and society.
Have you or a loved one used reentry programs to successfully rejoin society? Would you add anything to this blog post? Please leave your comment below.
Please contact us with any questions.