The Reentry Program strives to enhance public safety by bringing together the public & private resources of Douglas County to help ex-offenders successfully re-enter their neighborhoods as accountable, self-sufficient & law-abiding citizens.
History
The concept of a Reentry Program evolved from Sheriff McGovern's request to the National Institute of Corrections Jail Center (NIC) to conduct a Justice System Assessment of the correctional facility and its operations along with reviewing local criminal justice system practices. The on-site technical assistance occurred from March 14th-16th, 2006. Recommendations included:
Linking inmates to community services upon release;
Improving data management systems;
Consider design and development of intermediate sanction options.
Upon completion of the assessment, a reentry committee community planning summit was held April 17th, 2006 that included local law enforcement agencies, community mental health and substance abuse treatment providers, residential housing intervention agencies, the University of Kansas' School of Social Welfare, and the 7th Judicial (Douglas County) District Court. A core steering committee emerged and met for approximately 1 1/2 years to review how NIC's recommendations, including identified barriers that face inmates upon release, may evolve into a locate inmate reentry program.
Reentry
The core platform for reentry is to increase public safety within the community. In order to safely reenter the community, the reentry program:
Identifies and targets the high risk and needs of the inmate;
Incorporates existing programs & community services into a reentry plan;
Integrate evidence-based correctional practices with staff and inmates; and
Sets goals and tasks for transition into the community.
In October 2008, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office was
selected as one of two sites to pilot the National Institute of Corrections’ Transition from Jail to Community (TJC) initiative . TJC
is a model that develops, implements and evaluates a systems-wide collaboration
of partnerships across a wide-range of networks: From the jail to the
community, through the criminal justice system, social service providers and
intervention programs that affect the overall public safety of inmates
transitioning from incarceration.
The reentry program relies heavily on the established Programs and Volunteers division to target programming directly to the identified risks and needs of the inmate. A reentry plan focusing on a continuum of services is then developed with the inmate to reduce the transitional gaps that occur upon release.
