Posts Tagged ‘reintegration’
Bureau of Prisons Seeks Software to Predict Post-Release Outcomes
The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is hoping to find as-yet unrecognized patterns of adaptation and recidivism — which the agency terms “inmate reintegration into the community — by asking software developers to provide information about commercially available software capable of aggregating the various types of data the agency already collects. A request published…
Read MoreProposed Illinois Life Skills Facility to Benefit Prisoners Poised for Release
Providing education and life skills to help prisoners return to society will be the focus of a refurbished facility that once housed juveniles. By Christopher Zoukis Criminal Justice reform has been a major focus for Governor Bruce Rauner of Illinois, and a number of changes have already been made toward the ultimate goal of reducing…
Read MoreInternet provides more education options for inmates—if they can access them
A new online course is being made available to students across a spectrum of backgrounds that holds great promise for prisoners preparing for re-integration into society. Designed to suit the needs of a broad range of populations. Alison, a company based out of Galway, Ireland, has launched a new set of courses for their Advanced…
Read MoreRecidivism and Prisons: A Culture of Failure
By Christopher Zoukis
The American criminal justice system is broken. Wrongdoers go to prison, become hardened by the experience, only to be released and commit additional crimes, thus reentering the criminal justice system. This cycle of crime, punishment, crime, and then back to punishment is often continual, and it is intergenerational, too. According to the latest RAND Corporation/Correctional Education Association study, 43 percent of released prisoners will recidivate within 3 years of their release from prison. While this is in line with several Pew Center on the States’ studies, the Bureau of Justice Statistics actually states that the 3 year recidivism rate is in the 50th percentile. Something clearly needs to be done.
Prisons: The Warehousing of People
While there are many causes for such a high recidivism — or failure — rate, in my mind they all come down to one component: wrongdoers are going to prison and are not being transformed by the experience. This is quite a sad statement considering that the American taxpayers spend tens of thousands of dollars per year to incarcerate each offender. We are essentially paying for the state to house people in concrete and cinderblock rooms, wait the prescribed time, and then release them as the same people they were when they went in in the first place. To call this ineffectual and simpleminded would be a gross understatement.
A Transformational Experience
What is needed is to manufacture a transformational experience for those Americans we incarcerate. We need to come up with some way to change people, not merely warehouse them. The research indicates that prison education, substance abuse and mental health treatment, as well as a structured reintegration plan, will make all the difference in the world. Let’s take each in turn.
Read MoreJ. JONDHI HARRELL WILL DISCUSS RE-INTEGRATION
PHILADELPHIA, PA (USA) – 6 OCTOBER 2013 He is a Thought Leader on Social Justice and Reintegration issues, a dynamic voice in the National Dialogue on Mass Incarceration, and the Founder and Executive Director of The Center For Returning Citizens (www.tcrcphilly.org). He is Mr. J. Jondhi Harrell. Mr. Harrell will be a featured guest on…
Read MoreThe Center For Returning Citizens
CONTACT:
Mr. J. Jondhi Harrell
Executive Director
The Center for Returning Citizens Mr. J. Jondhi Harrell / Photo courtesy philly.com
Telephone: (215) 305-8793
E-Mail: jharrell@tcrcphilly.org
THE CENTER FOR RETURNING CITIZENS TAPPED FOR LEADERSHIP ROLE FOR 2013 INTERNATIONAL MEN’S DAY
PHILADELPHIA, PA (USA) – 12 August 2013 – Each year approximately 35,000 individuals who have been incarcerated in federal, state, and local correctional facilities return to their families and neighborhoods in the City of Philadelphia – the fifth largest metropolitan area in the United States. For these Men and Women, who are often referred to as “Returning Citizens,” the journey of redemption and reintegration is arduous and challenging. The Center for Returning Citizens (“TCRC”) is the brainchild of Mr. J. Jondhi Harrell, a Thought Leader on social justice and the successful reintegration of formerly incarcerated individuals into society. Mr. Harrell serves as the organization’s Executive Director. Under his leadership, the organization offers a myriad of services which comprehensively and effectively addresses the unique issues of formerly incarcerated individuals. A global model for healing and repatriation for formerly incarcerated individuals, TCRC has been selected to assume a leadership role for 2013 International Men’s Day for Returning Citizens and individuals and organizations that provide resources and support services to them throughout the City of Philadelphia.
Own Your Future: New Colorado Program to Reintegrate Ex-Offenders
By Chase Squires College In Colorado has developed an online program to guide felons back into work, life:College In Colorado – a Colorado Department of Higher Education initiative that helps students and families explore careers and plan, apply and pay for college – launches a free online program July 2 – aimed at guiding recently…
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