The ER team has pilot projects to create training curriculum for recently released juveniles and young adults returning back into society from incarceration. These trainings include employment readiness hard skills, such as Management Information Systems, CDL's, Horticulture, Carpentry, Forklift certifications. Soft skills training will also be offered such as Interpersonal Communication, MRT (Moral Reaction Therapy), Anger Management, Time Management, Goal Setting, Parenting, Conflict Resolution and how to obtain resources (ID’s, Drivers License, Gold Cards, Temporary SNAP Benefits, Housing, rental assistance, clothing vouchers, etc.) offered under city/county Re-entry programs. ER's vision is to create an employable and coachable mindset of returning citizens. Once established, it will allow the nonprofit to further sustain its mission and expand its impact to more parts of the community.

Research shows that several dynamic risk factors – namely health, employment, housing, skill development, mentorship, social networks, and organization type – significantly affect the success of reentry. Thus, community-based organizations aiming to facilitate successful reentry and reduce recidivism rates should place special emphasis on addressing these risk factors.

I. HEALTH

Community-based organizations should prioritize providing reentering citizens with quality health care that properly addresses any mental health, physical health, and substance abuse conditions. Although community-based organizations typically have limitations to providing formal healthcare services, many have successfully addressed health needs through support groups and counseling services. Community-based organizations should work with correctional institutions and the state government in this area especially because governments typically have access to data on the health needs of incarcerated individuals. In particular, female reentering citizens often have greater health-related needs than the general reentering population. Thus, organizations should specifically target services to women, especially in the form of trauma and counseling services, as practiced by STRIVE in Waco, TX.

II. EMPLOYMENT

We find that community-based programs that provide training and placement services to returning citizens using a holistic approach in which they focus on both training and job placement are the most effective in ensuring returning citizens’ successful reentry into society. Given the importance of long-term employment on recidivism rates, community reentry programs must emphasize placement into high quality jobs with upward potential. Ways to do so include through educational, particularly vocational and GED-based, and entrepreneurship programs. Additionally, though reentry programs may offer job training and placement programs, the success of these services depends largely on the job opportunities available in the neighborhoods into which their clients are reentering, which makes reentry particularly difficult for people of color. One way to navigate this issue is for community organizations to partner with prisons to better advise incarcerated individuals on which neighborhoods to return to.

III. HOUSING

Although state programs predominantly account for housing services, there are a few community-based organizations that offer transitional housing, with the end goal of eventually securing an independent living situation. Many successful programs also provided housing in combination with other services, such as employment services, health services, socio-emotional development, and more. It is important for such programs to have a specialized focus on communities with the highest risk of homelessness, namely women, Black and Hispanic individuals, and the elderly. Additionally, since many reentering women fill the responsibility of caring for children who also need shelter, housing for reentering women must be more than just transitional shelters, in terms of safety, security, and affordability.

IV. SKILL DEVELOPMENT (Education)

Community-based organizations should provide a variety of educational programs, such as employment training programs, college enrollment assistance and referrals, GED preparation and testing referrals, and vocational training (on site and referrals). Educational programs must be tailored to the unique education needs of different age demographics. For example, youth tend to prefer GED programs are often better served through case management and tailored educational programs based on the specifics of each juvenile’s school records.

*Interpersonal Skills

Programs that specifically develop interpersonal skills (such as anger management, time management, goal setting and parenting) and target antisocial peer relationships are most important for successful reentry, as these factors, if neglected, have the highest indication for post-release failure. In addition, cognitive behavioral programs that target the attitudes and perspectives individuals may have for criminal lifestyles have proven to be quite effective in reducing recidivism.

V. MENTORSHIP

Community-based organizations that offer reentry services should also prioritize mentorship programs. Matching reentering citizens with mentors who share similar backgrounds has also been shown to significantly reduce recidivism rates. Additionally, youth and adults generally have different priorities upon reentry, as adults usually need more support with vocational training and job attainment and retainment whereas same gender mentor-mentee pairings, and even same-gender group mentoring sessions, have been shown to be more effective than mixed-gender mentoring. Pairing mentors based on similar racial/ethnic identities is also important, particularly for African American males. Youth tend to benefit more assistance with family problems, and mental health treatment, and thus organizations should modify the environment and purpose of the mentoring for optimal utility to the mentee based on their age.

VI. SOCIAL NETWORKS

Community-based organizations should specifically and strategically emphasize the role of family connection and cohesiveness as organizations which combine services such as transitional living assistance with long-term family support have proven to be successful. It is particularly important to promote familial support among young reentering individuals, as family is generally more central to their social interactions and responsibilities. Moreover, given women’s predominant role as primary caretaker of children, both before and after incarceration, reentry programs should specifically address such needs through services that support building stronger familial ties and provide them with therapy, mentorship, life skills training, domestic violence education, and safe homes. While strong family ties have been shown to ease reentry, as reentering individuals often rely on family support upon release, income level can affect the ability for strong family connections to be formed and maintained between families and their incarcerated members. Therefore, programs that subsidize or cover travel and communication costs would greatly aid incarcerated individuals in maintaining close relationships with their families.

A. INSTITUTIONAL INTERVENTION

Given that government programs and community-based organizations often have different priorities in their reentry services, the two should work together, complementing each other’s strengths and weaknesses in order to help facilitate successful reentry. For example, while government organizations are also ideal for collecting data that can guide community organizations in their work, as well as referring recently released individuals to community reentry programs, community-based programs are better able to tailor their interventions to the specific subset of reentering individuals they serve.

*SUCCESSFUL REENTRY: A COMMUNITY-LEVEL ANALYSIS (December 2019)

***The Harvard University Institute of Politics Criminal Justice Policy Group provides further analysis and evidence to support these recommendations and examples of community organizations that put these principles into practice.