Spotlight Announcement

10/24/2005: National Governors Association Releases Policy Brief on Improving Prisoner Reentry through Strategic Policy Innovations

A new policy brief from the National Governors Association's (NGA) Center for Best Practices outlines prisoner reentry issues and challenges facing the states and suggests strategies that governors and other policymakers can employ to initiate long-term improvements. The brief builds on the Report of the Reentry Policy Council and the work of NGA's Prisoner Reentry Policy Academy.

Click here to view "Improving Prisoner Reentry through Strategic Policy Innovations" from NGA.

The policy brief recommends the following steps for governors and other policymakers to promote successful prisoner reentry:

  • - Raising the profile of prisoner reentry as a public safety issue and not solely a corrections issue
  • - Improving the decision making processes by which individuals are sent to prison
  • - Improving how individuals are prepared in prison for release
  • - Improving the process by which individuals exit prisons so that key supports and services are in place during the initial transition
  • - Developing reentry initiatives that build on key social relationships--such as family, friends, and the faith community--and improve access to other community-based supports and services
  • - Targeting and supporting high-risk communities to which the majority of prisoners return

This policy brief is the latest in a series of reentry-related publications from NGA on prisoner reentry. Additional publications include: "Challenges and Impacts of Prisoner Reentry," and "National and Federal Initiatives on Prisoner Reentry." NGA's Prisoner Reentry Policy Academy works with seven states in an effort to help Governors and other state policymakers develop and implement statewide prisoner reentry strategies that reduce recidivism rates by improving access to key services and supports. The seven states participating in the academy are Georgia, Idaho, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Virginia.

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