Spotlight Announcement

9/20/2005: New Book Spotlights Importance of Reentry

But They All Come Back: Facing the Challenges of Prisoner Reentry, a new book by Jeremy Travis, the President of John Jay College, argues that the reality of mass prisoner reentry and the need to reintegrate these individuals into society can create a new common ground for the development of criminal justice policy.

Travis, a former director of the National Institute of Justice and senior fellow at the Urban Institute (a partner organization of the Reentry Policy Council) is often credited with coining the term "reentry" to describe the process and challenges faced by the vast numbers of people released from prison and jail each year. His new book explores the nexus between the modern reentry phenomenon and the nation's policies on employment, public health, families and children, housing, community strengthening, and civic participation. He lays out guideposts or yardsticks that practitioners, community leaders, policymakers, and advocates can use to reorganize criminal justice processes to improve the odds that reentry will succeed. Travis also puts forth politically realistic legislative reforms that would reorient the criminal justice system to support successful reentry.

"We live in an era of tight budgets, so the first imperative in a fiscally responsible reentry initiative should be to align existing resources to meet the reentry needs of returning prisoners at the time of highest risk, right when the prison gates close," says Travis,. "Transitional housing, drug treatment, continuity in health care and medication, employment opportunities, and support networks should all be redirected to the moment of release."

Click here to order But They All Come Back. Click here for more publications from the Urban Institute.