Spotlight Announcement

8/12/2009: More Governors Form Statewide Reentry Task Forces

In recent months, governors in at least four states – Delaware, North Carolina, Kentucky and South Dakota – established statewide task forces to tackle issues associated with the growing numbers of adults released from prison and returning to communities. In each case, the governors cited continually increasing corrections costs as a reason for establishing the task forces.

In Delaware, Governor Jack Markell (D) issued an executive order creating, among other things, a cabinet-level council to coordinate state agency efforts to help people safely and successfully transition from prison to the community. Cabinet-level positions that will be represented on the council include the Commissioner of the Department of Correction, the Director of the Delaware State Housing Authority, and the Secretaries of the Department of Labor, the Department of Education, the Department of Health and Social Services and the Department of Services for Children, Youth, and Their Families. The executive order calls for these agencies to begin developing individual reentry plans that will address substance abuse issues and help newly released people find jobs and secure housing.

According to Governor Markell, “most of the people in our prisons will someday get out. We can simply turn them out without a plan for success and hope that they will not commit another crime, or we can help them find the right path to become productive citizens. The first choice likely ends in more crime and the enormous costs of reincarceration. The second, which is the path this plan clearly set us on, helps cut costs and hopefully helps cut crime.”

North Carolina Governor Bev Perdue (D) established the “StreetSafe Task Force to Stop Repeat Offenders,” which comprises representatives of community and faith-based organizations, local and state government agencies, and business leaders and members of the community. Led by Attorney General Roy Cooper and Correction Secretary Al Keller, the task force will develop a comprehensive plan that according to Governor Perdue will “prevent ex-offenders from repeating crimes and provide them with the support they need to restart their lives.” The plan will coordinate pre- and post-release activities, and will address issues such as job training and education, housing, and substance abuse.

Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear (D), noting that “better preparing inmates to re-enter their communities has critical public safety, fiscal and social impacts,” appointed a 50-member reentry task force. The task force includes several state cabinet secretaries, representatives from both chambers of the state’s legislature, and representatives from faith-based organizations. Justice and Public Safety Secretary and task force member J. Michael Brown said, “not only is this an essential first step in our goal of curbing prison population and reigning in costs, but we can deter individuals from going deeper into the criminal justice system and becoming career criminals.”

In South Dakota, Governor Mike Rounds (R) established a “Reentry Council” to study and to implement programs and strategies aimed at helping the state halve its recidivism rate over the course of the next five years. The 14-member council includes several cabinet secretaries (e.g., Secretary of Corrections, Secretary of Health, Secretary of Labor), as well as local government leaders (e.g., Mayor of Rapid City, Mayor of Sioux Falls). According to Governor Rounds, the “Reentry Council will provide transition planning and resources to help former prisoners move back into normal, everyday lives and become law-abiding citizens.”

In the last two years reentry newsletters have highlighted efforts by other governors, such as Michigan’s Governor Granholm and Oregon’s Governor Kulongoski, to set up similar task forces. To read the feature about Governor Granholm’s effort, click here. To read the feature about Governor Kulongoski’s effort, click here. And, lawmakers in various states, such as Oklahoma and Kansas, have led the way to formally establish multi-agency (and multi-branch) processes to develop recommendations to reduce recidivism. For more information, click here.