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Transition from Prison to Community (TPC)

The TPC model encourages strategic system changes to reduce recidivism and future victimization, to enhance public safety, and to improve the lives of communities, victims, and offenders. NIC, along with project partners, has implemented the TPC model in eight states. Six additional states were selected in September, 2009 to receive NIC's TPC technical assistance through the Center for Effective Public Policy and the Urban Institute.

Model Components

Mobilize interdisciplinary, collaborative leadership teams convened by corrections agencies to guide reentry efforts at state and local levels.

Engage in a rational planning process to carefully define goals, develop a clear understanding of reentering offender populations and their rates of recidivism, and review existing policies, procedures, and resources for reentry.

Integrate stages of offenders' processing through the justice/corrections system (beginning at commitment to prison or earlier and continuing through assessment, prison programming, preparation for release, release, and supervision in the community), resulting in a carefully planned process with close communication and collaboration among prison officials, releasing authorities, and post-prison supervision staff.

Involve non-correctional stakeholders (public, private, and community agencies) who can provide services and support as reentry efforts are planned and implemented.

Assure that transitioning offenders are provided basic survival resources such as identification documents, housing, appropriate medications, linkages to community services and informal networks of support before, during, and after they are released from prison.

Implement valid offender assessments at various stages of the offender's movement through the system.

Target effective interventions, based on good research, to address the offenders' risks and criminogenic needs identified by assessments.

Expand the traditional roles of correctional staff beyond custody, security, accountability, and monitoring to include an integrated approach to offender management that engages offenders in the process of change.

Develop the capacity to measure change toward specific outcomes and track information that can be used for planning future improvements.