Prisoner Reentry: Facing the Challenges of Returning Home - Expert Chat Webinar, NIJ and Harvard's Government Innovators Network

• NCJ Number: 234736
• Author(s): Stephen Goldsmith; Jeremy Travis; Terry Donahue; Georgia Lerner
• Date Published: November 2005
• Length: 5 pages
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Issue Overview; Instructional Material (Programmed)

Annotation

This is the video and transcript of an online webinar hosted by the Government Innovators Network and the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), which covers the presentations and discussion of the challenges faced by former prisoners in reentering society and finding adequate housing.

Abstract

234736 Prisoner Reentry, Facign the Challenges of Returning Home ANNO This is the video and transcript of an online webinar hosted by the Government Innovators Network and the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), which covers the presentations and discussion of the challenges faced by former prisoners in reentering society and finding adequate housing. ABST The panel presentation by Jeremy Travis - President of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice - documents the prevalence and characteristics of former prisoners who return to their communities. He identifies the domains of their needs as related to public safety, public health, employment, housing, and families and communities. Travis also reports on the recidivism of former prisoners over a span of 3 years after release. A second panel presentation by Terry Donahue - associate director of the Community Capacity Development Office of the U.S. Department of Justice - reports on reentry best practices as derived from evaluations of the successes of the following federally funded programs: the Fort Wayne (Indiana) Reentry Initiative; the Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative (SVORI), which was designed to reflect the effective components of the Fort Wayne Reentry Initiative; and The Weed and Seed reentry initiatives, which focus on controlling violent crime in high-crime neighborhoods. A third panel presentation by Georgia Lerner - associate executive director for program operations at the Women's Prison Association (WPA) - focuses on the immediate and long-term housing needs of women returning to their communities from jails and prisons. Sample housing options for these women are discussed, including emergency housing, transitional housing, and permanent housing. WPA reentry housing programs and resources are briefly described. Also included in webinar products is an annotated listing of publications on prisoner reentry sponsored by the U.S. Justice Department's Offce of Justice Programs.