Reentry Dashboard
Governors and legislatures in many states have established interagency taskforces or councils charging them with guiding the implementation of comprehensive, statewide prisoner reentry plans. Rarely in these or other states, however, do these elected officials or the task forces or councils themselves receive user-friendly reports providing one integrated, comprehensive assessment of the state’s reentry plan. Whatever assessment they do receive is often a one-time snapshot, without indicators that are routinely refreshed with new data to track progress from one report to the next. Under these circumstances, holding individual state agency officials accountable for results is virtually impossible.
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Justice Center Work
The Council of State Governments Justice Center is developing three tools that policymakers can use to assess, monitor, and improve the performance of their state’s prisoner reentry plan: 1) the Reentry Dashboard; 2) the Troubleshooting Guide; and 3) the User’s Manual. |
In the Report
The Report of the Re-Entry Policy Council is a comprehensive guide for policymakers and practitioners interested in addressing the challenges people face when they are released from prisons and jails.
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Reentry in Action
In several states (e.g., Kansas, Hawaii, and Michigan), governors or legislatures have established statewide reentry advisory councils or task forces spanning multiple cabinet offices or state agencies to study, promote, and help carry out effective reentry policies. |
Additional Resources
Check out relevant news clips, publications, legislation, and websites. Most recent additions: 5/17/2009: The Lexington Herald Leader (KY): Lowering the prison return rate 5/17/2009: The News Journal (DE): Taking a one-stop approach to solving re-entry problems |
The Justice Center has received funding support from the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to develop an instrument policymakers and practitioners can use to assess and improve their comprehensive, statewide prisoner reentry plans. To maximize the value of the products that the Justice Center publishes, the Justice Center staff has engaged reentry experts at all levels of government, along with corrections administrators and other state officials.