Second Chance Act Adult Offender Reentry Demonstration Projects: Collaboration and Reentry Partnerships

• NCJ Number: 251752
• Author(s): Janeen Buck Willison; Shelli B. Rossman; Christine Lindquist; Jennifer Hardison Walters; Pamela K. Lattimore; Travis Reginal; David Leitson; Jennifer Yahner
• Date Published: June 2018
• Length: 29 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2012-RY-BX-0001
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical); Report (Study/Research); Report (Grant Sponsored); Program/Project Evaluation; Program/Project Description; Program Description (Demonstrative); Legislation/Policy Analysis
• Award: Evaluation of the FY2011 Bureau of Justice Assistance Second Chance Act Adult Offender Reentry Demonstration Projects (Focus Area 2)

Annotation

This report - one in a series from the Cross-Site Evaluation of the Bureau of Justice Assistance's FY 2011 Second Chance Act (SCA) Adult Offender Reentry Demonstration Projects (AORDPs) - describes collaboration and coordination within seven AORDP projects that implemented adult reentry programs with SCA funding.

Abstract

The premise for this assessment of collaboration among criminal justice agencies and community service organizations is that effective collaboration is vital for effective reentry programming. Overall, the analysis of stakeholder interview and survey data collected for the study's process evaluation indicates that the seven AORDP grantees share common and strong collaborative structures. These structures are characterized by coordination, decisionmaking, and information-sharing at the policy (executive leadership), agency (organizational), and program (staff/client) levels. Within these collaborative structures, however, there were differences in operational patterns. In two of the seven AORDP grantee sites (California and Pennsylvania), social and human services agencies led the sites' reentry projects. Three of the AORDP reentry projects were led by corrections agencies (Connecticut, Minnesota, and New Jersey). In the remaining two sites, the leaders for the reentry efforts were the county criminal justice commission (Florida) or the police department (Massachusetts). Not all of the grantees established new programs. Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Jersey reentry programs expanded upon existing reentry models and collaborative partnerships. Across sites, partnerships varied in size, composition, and functioning, generally reflecting the sites' reentry program models. 7 figures, 4 tables, 21 references, and appended summaries of AORDP projects and the SCA logic model