Spotlight Announcements
This page includes original feature articles produced by the Justice Center, spotlighting a wide variety of reentry issues and information.
If you would like to suggest a topic for a future feature article, please contact us editors@reentrypolicy.org
Date2/26/2009: The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
On February 17, 2009, the President signed into law H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. This stimulus bill provides nearly $4 billion for criminal justice grant programs
On February 25, 2009, the House of Representatives passed an omnibus appropriations bill for the remainder of fiscal year 2009, which includes funding for the Department of Justice, the Department of Labor, and the Department of Health and Human Services.
1/30/2009: Community Safety Through Successful Offender Reentry, A Training Opportunity
The U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), in partnership with the Center for Effective Public Policy (CEPP), announces a training opportunity for state-level corrections and community supervision agencies interested in enhancing their abilities to encourage successful offender reentry from prison to the community.
The Council of State Governments Justice Center today joined Michigan's leaders to release the results of an unprecedented review of crime and corrections data to determine how the state might reduce corrections spending while reinvesting in measures that will make communities safer and stronger.
1/16/2009: The CSG Justice Center Releases Preview of Employment Blueprint
The Council of State Governments Justice Center announced today the release of A Sneak Peek: Advice for State Policymakers on Designing Strategies That improve Employment Outcomes and increase Public Safety.
The Council of State Governments Justice Center announced today the release of Reentry Partnerships: A Guide for States & Faith-Based and Community Organizations, which offers practical recommendations for how state government officials and community-based service providers can better use limited resources to help people released from prisons and jails to successfully and safely rejoin neighborhoods and families.
Despite a general nationwide downturn in reported crime since the early 1990s, police departments and local newspapers in some cities across the country reported in 2007 and 2008 that the per capita violent crime rate in their jurisdictions has begun to creep up; in some areas the rate has increased significantly. To reduce crime, local elected officials have unveiled new crime-fighting strategies that include employment initiatives targeting people with criminal records.
12/11/2008: Second Chance Grant Solicitation Scheduled for Release, March 2009
The Department of Justice is scheduled to release the solicitation for the Second Chance Act grants to state and local government (sec. 101) on March 23, 2009, with applications due by May 21, 2009.
11/17/2008: U.S. Department of Labor Announces $17.3 Million Available for Young Offender Grants
The U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, announces the availability of $17.3 million for Young Offender Grants. The goal of the planning grants is to allow selected localities to develop comprehensive blueprints for serving both juvenile and young adult offenders returning from correctional facilities.
The U.S. Department of Justice Community Capacity Development Office (CCDO) has selected eight "Weed and Seed" sites to participate in a 13-month technical assistance project to build, promote, and sustain a variety of initiatives aimed at helping individuals reenter communities after they are released from prison or jail. The selected sites are Phoenix, AZ; Palm Beach, FL; Indianapolis, IN; San Antonio, TX; St. Louis, MO; Pawtucket, RI; Irvington, NJ; and New Bedford, MA.
The Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center announced today the release of the toolkit, Planning and Assessing a Law Enforcement Reentry Strategy. With support by the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), the kit has been designed as a guide and self-assessment tool for policing personnel and their partners to help reduce repeat crimes and facilitate successful reintegration by the more than 700,000 individuals who return to our communities from prisons each year and the more than 9 million from jails.
8/21/2008: Michigan Governor Creates Statewide Prisoner Reentry Advisory Council
Last month, Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm issued Executive Order No. 2008-18, establishing the Michigan Prisoner Reentry Advisory Council. Members of the advisory council represent several state agencies, including the departments of corrections, community health, labor and economic growth, and human services.
In June the Arizona legislature passed with overwhelming bipartisan support SB 1476, "The Safe Communities Act," which creates a performance funding mechanism for probation departments to employ best practices to reduce crime and violations committed by people under probation supervision.
The Council of State Governments Justice Center unveiled today a first-of-its-kind interactive online tool for state and local government professionals working to make prison and jail reentry safer and more successful. The tool was developed with support from the Bureau of Justice Assistance, U.S. Department of Justice, to familiarize state and local government officials with different assessment instruments used in corrections systems across the nation to gauge the risks and needs of someone admitted to prison or jail.
7/31/2008: U.S. Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey Signals Support for Second Chance Act
During his July 23 testimony before the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, United States Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey expressed his support for the Second Chance Act of 2007, a first-of-its-kind reentry bill that President Bush signed into law earlier this year.
The Council of State Governments Justice Center announced today the availability of an online version of the Repaying Debts report, a first-of-its-kind comprehensive guide that offers recommendations on how policymakers can increase financial accountability among people leaving correctional facilities, improve rates of child support collection and victim restitution, and make individuals’ transition from prisons and jails to the community safe and successful.
6/25/2008: Second Chance Act Slated to Receive $45 million in House bill, $20 million in Senate Bill
On June 25, the House Appropriations Committee completed the mark-up of the 2009 appropriations bill, which reserves $45 million for programs under the Second Chance Act. Last week the Senate Appropriations subcommittee reserved $20 million for Second Chance programs. Full Committee consideration in the Senate is scheduled for this week.
At the beginning of the 2008 legislative sessions, policymakers in Vermont and Rhode Island faced projected growth in their prison populations, spiraling corrections costs and high recidivism rates. Rather than allowing these trends to continue, state officials, with overwhelming bipartisan support, enacted legislation to increase public safety, avert spending on corrections, and reduce recidivism among people released from prison.
5/20/2008: Justice Center Seeks Four Law Enforcement Agencies to Serve as Reentry Learning Sites
The Council of State Governments Justice Center, in partnership with the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), has issued a request for applications from law enforcement agencies interested in participating in a Law Enforcement Reentry Learning Sites Initiative. This initiative will focus on the law enforcement response to the large numbers of individuals returning to the community from prison and jail each year, many of whom are re-arrested for a new crime or re-incarcerated for violating their conditions of release.
5/5/2008: "Corrections Today" Features Reentry, Justice Center Board Members
The April 2008 issue of the American Correctional Association magazine Corrections Today focuses on the benefits of multi-agency collaborations—with several articles promoting reentry partnerships in particular. In his commentary, Justin Jones, director of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections and a Justice Center board member, underscores the importance of truly collaborative efforts to any reentry initiative.