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Reentry - Employment & Housing
Best Practices for Increasing Access to SSI/SSDI upon Exiting Criminal Justice Settings
“The Social Security Administration (SSA), through its Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) programs, can provide income and other benefits to persons with mental illness who are reentering the community from jails and prisons. The SSI/SSDI Outreach, Access and Recovery program (SOAR), a project funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, is a national technical assistance program that helps people who are homeless or at risk for homelessness to access SSA disability benefits...
Integrated Reentry and Employment Strategies: Reducing Recidivism and Promoting Job Readiness
“Employment providers are already serving large numbers of individuals released from correctional facilities or who are required to find jobs as conditions of their probation or parole. Yet the corrections, reentry, and workforce development fields have lacked an integrated tool that draws on the best thinking about reducing recidivism and improving job placement and retention to guide correctional supervision and the provision of community-based services. To address this gap, this white paper presents a tool that draws on evidence-based criminal...
Guidelines for the Successful Transition of People with Behavioral Health Disorders from Jail and Prison
The Behavioral Health Framework developed to “help professionals in the corrections and behavioral health systems take a coordinated approach to reducing recidivism and advancing recovery” is explained (p. 2). Sections of this publication cover: building effective partnerships through a shared vision; health care reform and opportunities for expanded access to behavioral health services; prioritizing enrollment to facilitate transition; the risk-need-responsivity (RNR) model; implications for successful transition and reentry; Guidelines 1 and 2-Assess; Guidelines 3 and 4-Plan; Guidelines 5 and 6-Identify...
The Federal Bonding Program: A US Department of Labor Initiative
“Failure to become employed after release is a major factor contributing to the high rate of recidivism. Having a record of arrest, conviction or imprisonment functions as a significant barrier to employment since employers generally view ex-offenders as potentially untrustworthy workers and insurance companies usually designate ex-offenders as being “not bondable” for job honesty ... The bonds issued by the FBP [Federal Bonding Program] serve as a job placement tool by guaranteeing to the employer the job honesty of at-risk...
Reducing Recidivism and Improving Other Outcomes for Young Adults in the Juvenile and Adult Criminal Justice Systems
This brief, from the CSG Justice Center, is designed to help state and local officials better support young adults in the justice system. It identifies these young adults’ distinct needs, summaries the limited research available on what works to address these needs, and provides recommendations for steps that policymakers, juvenile and adult criminal justice agency leaders, researchers, and the field can take to improve outcomes" (website). Part I-How Young Adults Are Developmentally Different from Youth and Older Adults: how young...
Best Practices in Green Re-Entry Strategies (2011)
Green for All (Oakland, CA).
"Re-entry programs that prepare individuals with little work experience or marketable skills for employment, implemented at scale, have the potential to salvage generations of potentially productive members of society. This paper considers the unique opportunities that the green economy - and green re-entry programs - can offer this chronically underserved population to find gainful employment necessary to escape a cycle of poverty, crime and recidivism. Jobs in the burgeoning green economy, we argue, hold the promise of not just employment prospects but greater accessibility to career jobs that pay sustainable wages" (p. 4).
Correctional Industries: A Guide to Reentry-Focused Performance Excellence (2015)
National Correctional Industries Association (NCIA) (Baltimore, MD) and the National Institute of Corrections (NIC) (Washington, DC).
This guide "is specifically designed to empower each Correctional Industries organization, no matter the size or structure, to design and implement its program with an emphasis on maximizing system impact. The model supports implementing effective strategies through the context of work. The results are focused on increasing an individual’s success after release."
Reentry and Barriers to Employment: Lessons From Casey’s Investments (2016)
Annie E. Casey Foundation (Baltimore, MD).
“This report covers the challenging terrains of incarceration, reentry and work. It draws on expert interviews, dozens of resources and two decades of strategic investments by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Readers will learn what employment barriers people commonly face after exiting prison or jail and how to help these individuals pursue - and maintain - family-supporting jobs.”
Opening Doors: How to Develop Reentry Programs Using Examples from Public Housing Authorities (2017)
Bae, John, Finley Kate, Margaret diZerega, and Sharon Kim. Vera Institute of Justice (New York , NY).
“A growing number of public housing authorities (PHAs) across the country are implementing reentry programs and changing their policies to help formerly incarcerated people secure housing. This report highlights 11 PHAs doing this work and examines best practices and lessons learned from their experiences—including key factors of program design and implementation (such as partnerships, program model, and funding), as well as ways to sustain programs once implemented. This guide is intended to serve as a resource for PHAs that are considering their own...
Back to Business: How Hiring Formerly Incarcerated Job Seekers Benefits Your Company (2017)
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Trone Private Sector and Education Advisory Council (New York, NY).
"The report details the ways companies can combat the ills of decades of mass incarceration, while at the same tapping into the potential energy of a workforce of millions ... The report lays out how by reducing barriers to employment and implementing fair hiring practices, companies can better provide employment opportunities to formerly incarcerated people to the benefit of all.'
Myths & Facts (2017)
CareerOneStep Business Center (Washington, DC).
"Each year, more than 700,000 men and women are released from prisons, and when we encourage these individuals and adjudicated youth to take advantage of services that help them become viable and successful in the workplace, everyone in the community benefits. One of the greatest challenges for many employers is trying to sort through myths and facts about these returnees. Below are several of the more common myths that have been highlighted and addressed" regarding life experience, soft skills, occupational training, and workplace advantages.
Mentoring as a Component of Reentry: Practical Considerations from the Field (2017)
Umez, Chidi, Jan De la Cruz, Maureen Richey, and Katy Albis. Council of State Governments Justice Center (New York, NY).
“This publication offers five broad, field-based practical considerations for incorporating mentoring into reentry programs for adults.”
Assessing Housing Needs and Risks: A Screening Questionnaire (2017)
Council of State Governments Justice Center .(New York, NY).
"Used in conjunction with other housing tools and services, this questionnaire can help reentry service providers improve clients’ housing success and create a foundation for improved reentry success and reduced likelihood of recidivism."
One Strike to Second Chances: Using Criminal Backgrounds in Admission Decisions for Assisted Housing
Walter, Rebecca J., Jill Viglione, and Marie Skubak Tillyer. Housing Policy Debate 27, no. 5 (2017): 1-17.
“Many public housing authorities have not updated their admission policies for using criminal backgrounds and still adhere to the one strike philosophy. In response to new guidance from HUD, housing agencies are trying to find a balance between screening practices to identify demonstrable risk but avoid discrimination and violation of the Fair Housing Act. This research examines several questions critical to assisting housing providers to address the new guidance from HUD (p. 1).”
Work and Opportunity Before and After Incarceration (2018)
Looney, Adam, and Nicholas Turner
Brookings Institution (Washington, DC)
“In this paper, [the authors] offer a more comprehensive view of the labor market opportunities of ex-prisoners in the U.S. by linking data from the entire prison population to earnings records over a sixteen year period. These data allow us to examine employment and earnings before and after release and, for younger prisoners, their family income and neighborhood in childhood. After release, only 55 percent of former prisoners have any earnings and those that do tend to earn less than the earnings of a full-time job at the minimum wage” (p. iii).
Integrated Reentry & Employment Strategies: Pilot Project Process Evaluation Report (2019)
The IRES Pilot Project Process Evaluation Report details findings from the implementation of strategies to improve recidivism and job readiness for people returning to two communities from incarceration. Corrections, reentry, and workforce development administrators and practitioners from across the country can use these takeaways to facilitate conversations with key stakeholders about their own ability to integrate the efforts of corrections and workforce development systems to meet the reentry and employment needs of people returning from incarceration.