Spotlight Announcement

9/20/2005: International Association of Reentry Holds Inaugural Summit

The inaugural summit of the International Association of Reentry (IAR), held March 13-16 in Columbus, Ohio, laid a foundation for future projects to advance knowledge and competency in the field of reentry. Over 480 people attended the conference and participated in plenary sessions exploring various aspects of reentry, as well as a range of action-oriented committees.

The newly formed International Association of Reentry is committed to moving the reentry agenda forward within the United States, and across national borders," said Reginald A. Wilkinson, President of IAR and the Director of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. "Though the reach of the program is ambitious, it is important to recognize that we are at the start of a movement that is intended to exert a positive impact on reentry well beyond the summit."

The structure of the summit reflected the multi-system nature of the new organization's mission to address comprehensively the issue of reentry. According to Joe Lehman, IAR president-elect and the former Washington State Secretary of Corrections, "IAR's committee structure and membership underscore the collaborative nature of reentry work and define the unique character of the association." Summit attendees broke down into 23 separate committees, addressing issues including employment readiness, community engagement, restorative justice and victims, and probation and parole. Reentry is "not simply corrections- or offender-oriented," Lehman said, "it must include all potential public safety stakeholders." Each committee crafted a mission statement and identified future project commitments. The work of each committee is intended to be ongoing over the course of the year, and facilitated by tools soon to be available through the IAR website (www.reentry.cc).

The summit's plenary sessions helped to frame the issue of reentry and set the stage for the concrete action taken in the committees. Among these presentations were"Prisoner Reentry: People, Place and Programs," presented by Christy Visher, Ph.D. of the Urban Institute; "Reentry: The Federal Government Perspective," presented by Cheri Nolan of the Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice; "Doing Good: A Community and Civic Engagement Model of Reentry," presented by Dennis Maloney of Community Justice Associates and Professor Gordon Bazemore, Ph.D. of Florida Atlantic University; and a "Town Hall Forum on the Report of the Re-Entry Policy Council," presented by Michael Thompson and Elizabeth Nevins of the Council of State Governments.

 

 

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