second chance act

Senator Coburn Memo lays out Reentry Funding

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A memo from Senator Tom Coburn’s office (rep, Ok ), provides a comprehensive picture of Department Of Justice (and other departments) reentry funding.  The memo’s purpose was to expose duplicate funding within the federal government, but in doing so lays out a comprehensive  picture of available federal funds for reentry purposes.

[Note: A valuable document for those researching reentry court funding streams; in particular,  DOJ’s $520 million  Byrne JAG Funding and Department of Labor’s $100 million plus funding for ex-offender reentry):

Second Chance Act

Funded at more than $100 million in FY 2010, the Second Chance Act funds offender-prisoner reentry programs.

DOJ is responsible for allocating $100 million, which breaks down into the following amounts:

· $37 million for grants for adult and juvenile offender state and local reentry demonstration projects,

· $15 million for grants for mentoring and transitional services,

· $10 million for reentry courts,

· $7.5 million for family based substance abuse treatment,

· $2.5 million for evaluation and improvement of education at prisons, jails, and juvenile facilities,

· $5 million for technology careers training demonstration grants,

· $13 million for offender reentry substance abuse and criminal justice collaboration, and

· $10 million for prisoner reentry research.

There are a number of other programs, both within DOJ and at other agencies, which also make money available to states and localities for the purpose of facilitating prisoner reentry, as outlined below.

Department of Justice’s Prisoner Reentry Initiative

DOJ’s Office of Justice Programs-Bureau of Justice Assistance administers the Prisoner Reentry Initiative ($11.7 million in FY 2008), which provides funding to states and federally recognized tribes to develop, implement, enhance, and evaluate reentry strategies. It targets individuals 18 or older that have not been convicted of a violent or sex-related offense and assists them with returning to their communities after periods of incarceration.

According to the Congressional Research Service, the following DOJ programs are also able to be used by states and localities to fund prisoner reentry efforts. (All below was excerpted from CRS Report RL34287.)

· DOJ maintains formula grant programs outlined below that provide assistance to states or local units of government according to legislatively mandated formulas; this funding can be used for offender reentry purposes at the state or local unit of government’s discretion. In addition to these programs, the Edward Byrne Justice Assistance Grant program can also be used by states to support offender reentry activities and initiatives.

· Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS). The COPS program does not expressly authorize funding for offender reentry purposes; nevertheless, under its broad community policing mandate, OJP has used this grant program on occasion to fund pilot offender reentry programs.

· Weed and Seed. The Weed and Seed program can also provide funding for state offender reentry programs. …Offender reentry programs can [qualify for this funding] because funding can be used to provide supervision for ex-offenders in the community, as well as to develop support services. In addition to participating in the [Prisoner Reentry Initiative] program, Weed and Seed is currently collaborating with the Corporation for National and Community Service and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation to create volunteer-driven offender reentry initiatives in communities.

· Juvenile Justice Grant Programs. The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) administers a number of grants that can be used by states and units of local government to provide aftercare services (i.e., offender reentry programs) for juvenile delinquents who are returning to their communities from residential placement (i.e., prison).

· The National Institute of Corrections (NIC). Within the Federal Bureau of Prisons, NIC provides assistance for state and local corrections agencies. …NIC’s offender reentry-related support typically covers programs focused on preparing offenders for offender reentry while they are incarcerated. Specifically, the Office of Correctional Job Training and Placement works to advance the employability of offenders and ex-offenders, which is also duplicative of numerous efforts at the Department of Labor

Department of Labor’s Reintegration of Ex-Offenders

The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 authorized this competitive grant program combines two previous demonstration projects, the Prisoner Reentry Initiative (PRI) ($108 million in FY 2010) and the Responsible Reintegration of Youthful Offenders (RRYO). PRI, funds faith-based and community organizations that help recently released prisoners find work when they return to their communities.

In addition, DOL maintains two programs that provide incentives for companies to hire ex-offenders. The Work Opportunity Tax Credits program provides up to $2,400 in tax credits to companies for every former offender they hire, and the Federal Bonding Program allows companies who cannot obtain bonding or insurance from their own providers to bond ex-offenders for up to $25,000 for up to six months.

According to CRS, various Departments of Education, Housing and Urban Development, and Health and Human Services programs may also be used to provide support for offender reentry education efforts, duplicative of efforts at the Department of Justice, including the following:

· Lifeskills for State and Local Inmates Program;

· the Grants to States for Workplace and Community Transition Training for Incarcerated Youth Offenders programs;

· Title II of the Workforce Investment Act, Adult Education and Family Literacy;

· The Perkins State Grant Program;

· HUD’s Community Development Block Grant Program;

· Programs through HHS’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Agency (SAMHSA) and the Office of Community Services; and

· HHS’ Young Offender Reentry Program.

[Download: Council of State Government’s Federal Reentry funding list]

$15 Million for Non-Profit Organizations’ Reentry Mentoring

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‘The Bureau of Justice Assistance has released an RFP to non-profit organizations for mentoring projects, under the “Second Chance Act” mission, of ” providing services and programs to facilitate inmates’ successful reintegration into society”.  BJA will make $15 million available to non-profit organizations for up to $300,000 per grant for a period of up to 24 months. No matching is required but 25%  in-kind contributions are encouraged.

The application deadline is March 18,2010.

Each proposal must include the following program components:

  1. Mentoring offenders during incarceration, through transition back to the community, and post-release.
  2. Transitional services to assist in the reintegration of offenders into the community.
  3. Training regarding offender and victims issues.

Click here for the application: “Second Chance Act Mentoring Grants to Non-Profit Organizations”

Reentry Court Note: These funds should be available to reentry court partners in the non-profit community

Ten Reasons to Build A Reentry Court in 2010

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The Reentry Process is nothing new to the Drug Court Practitioner. Drug court has always been a reentry mechanism; a seamless process for returning the drug offender from arrest and criminal adjudication , through community-based rehabilitation and monitoring, to the offender’s reintegration into the community. What is different in 2010, is the immediate need to expand drug courts into next-generation comprehensive reentry/drug courts. Consider the following reasons to expand your drug court into a reentry/drug court in 2010:

1.       There has been a sesmic shift in the nation’s attitude toward imprisonment and prisons. The entire nation seems desperately focused on the prison problem, and its financial and social costs,  New, untested (or tested and failed) reentry systems are positioning themselves as reform champions and therefore, recipients of prison reform funding (leaving the courts out in many instances).

3.       The Drug Court has been tested, evaluated, and analyzed over the past twenty years on an unparalleled scale. The scientific community has concluded that the drug court provides the most effective means to rehabilitate, hold accountable, and reintegrate the “high risk”, non-violent, drug involved offender back into the community. ( Doug Marlowe: A Sober Assessment of Drug Court). Reentry courts are, in fact, Drug Court models.

4.      The federal government  appears to recognize the success of the Drug Court model, when they encourage programs providing “evidence-based practices”, such as the seamless transitioning from custody to community, and graduated sanctions and incentives. Drug courts in large part pioneered those practices.

5.       The “Second Chance Act”, and other federal and state initiatives specifically emphasize the need for community-based “task forces”, that work collaboratively in integrating the offender into the community and sharing resources and funding streams to make the process truly a community-wide effort. Most Drug Courts have been engaged in community-wide collaborations since their inception.

6.       Reentry/Drug courts represent the future of the drug court field; a next  generation, comprehensive drug court that works with “high-risk, non-violent, drug involved offenders. The Conference of Chief Justices (CCJ) and the Conference of State Court Administrators (COSCA), have  endorsed drug court on four separate occasions, since 2000, as the lynchpin of future court systems, emphasizing their effectivenesss in dealing with issues such as “recidivism”. (see CCJ Resolution 22/COSCA Resolution 4)

7.       Rather than re-inventing the wheel, the nation’s Reentry Reform Movement can take advantage of over two thousand drug courts already in existence. The court-based mechanisms that insure accountability, the trained personnel, the structure and community relationships are already in place. Decision-makers, from drug court practitioners,  to state drug court coordinators, to policy makers in the judicial, legislative, and executive branches need to be made aware of this, evidence-based, scientifically proven and cost-effective alternative.

8.       Probation or Jail-Based Reentry Courts (sometimes called Pre-entry Courts) represent the simplest solution to prison-overcrowding and reentry issues. The best way to deal with jail-overcrowding and reentry issues, is not to sentence the non-violent, high-risk drug offenders to prison in the first place, but  place those who would otherwise go to prison, under state court and probation jurisdiction, in next-generation, comprehensive reentry/ drug courts (see Reentry/Drug Court Model)

7.       Although somewhat more problematic ( as jurisdiction typically lies with the executive branch), prison-based reentry courts are being piloted in many states. Relying on innovative structures such as split-sentencing, or collaborative  sentencing systems that engage the returning offender in a seamless transition into the community, they appear to be an effective means  to hold ex-prisoners accountable as they engage in the reintegration process. (see Ten Prison-Based Reentry Models)

9.      While federal funding for drug courts increased substantially this year, state and county funding is being cut back in many jurisdictions. Reentry funding  on the other hand is expanding rapidly. The “Second Chance Act” alone, increased its funding four-fold to $100 million plus over last year. With an almost zealous intensity, state and federal authorities are determined to reduce funding for prison and prisoners, while seemingly intent to increase funding for prison alternatives and  reentry reform at an  increasing rate in the coming years.

10.    The impact of drug courts have been limited to little more than 5% of drug-involved offenders. It’s time for drug courts and their practitioners to step up and assert their place in the reentry process ( and in “reentry task forces” being formed in their communities), as the proven, and most successful approach to the “high-risk”, non-violent, drug-involved offenders that populate our jails and prisons. The opportunity to do so may not come again.

Fed “Second Chance Act” Funding: $37 Million for Reentry Demos

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The DOJ’s Bureau of Justice Assistance  (BJA) released it’s RFP under Sec.101 of the “Second Chance Act”, providing $37 million in funding for Adult and Juvenile Reentry Demonstation Grants on December 22nd, (with an application deadline of March 4, 2010). We can expect more grants to come on line in the coming weeks and months. This year alone, funding under the “Second Chance Act” has increased nearly 400% to $100 million.

Dr. Gary L. Dennis, Senior Policy Advisor for Corrections, at BJA (and administrator of the “Second Chance Act”), advises  that  reentry courts are elligible as applicants for 2010 Reentry Demonstartion Grants. Even so, it may be prudent for reentry courts to accesss critical resources through government agency partners that may be more attractive applicants to BJA; such as  jails, prisons, probation, parole and rehabilitation services (remember that the 2010 “Second Chance Act” provides $10 million for reentry courts alone).

Don’t forget grant applicability to jail-based reentry courts or pre-entry courts

The  recently enacted “Second Chance Act” and other federal reentry legislation recognize the critical importance of keeping the non-violent offender out of prison in the first place. Whether called reentry/drug court, pre-entry court, or jail-based reentry court; a probation-based reentry court that places sentenced felons in custodial programs rather than prison, may access Sec.101 reentry demonstration project funds. [see Reentry/Drug Court Model]

Key Criteria For Reentry Demonstration Project funding:

1. Applicants are limited to state and local government agencies

2. Each grantee must have an active “task force” representing diverse community interests.

3. Applicants must provide description of the role of corrections agencies in reentry

4. Applicants must have a comprehensive, long-term reentry strategy

5. Applicants must provide information on how outcomes will be monitored and tracked

6. Priority  is given to applicants focused on areas with large numbers of returnees

7. Priority given to applicants providing effective case management in reentry processes.

8. Priority is given to applicants using graduated sanctions and Incentives as conditions of release or probation

[see BJA’s Complete Reentry Demomonstration Project Application/Critereia]

$10 Million Reentry Court Funding Passes Congress

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EXTRA/EXTRA

On Decemeber 13th, Congress appropriated $10 million dollars for Reentry Courts under “Section 111” of the Second Chance Act.  In all, a total of $100 was appropriated under the  “Second Chance Act”.  Additionally the Department of Justice (DOJ)  provided $14 million for reentry initiatives within the Federal Bureau of  Prisons, and the Department of Labor earmarked $108 million for work/training related services. (see Reentry Policy Council press release)

“Second Chance  Act” funding is up four-fold from a year ago.   It should be noted that reentry courts and their community partners may be able to appropriately access far more than the funds made specifically available to “reentry courts”. Much of that money will be available to community based coalitions made up of government, non-profit, and  other community organizations. There may be more than $300 million available during fiscal year 2010 for community-based  coalitons that have a reentry  court as one of its partners.


CSAT Reentry Funding

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BREAKING NEWS: NOV.2, 2009

A $13 million grant program was announced by the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment today. The grant’s purpose is to support 17  Juvenile and Adult Offender Reentry Programs across the nation. The funds appear to be aimed at persons leaving correctional settings, although not necessarily focused on reentry drug court as a grantee partner ( neither do they appear to exclude them.)

Further information can be found at: CSAT REENTRY GRANT

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