The greater Response to Reentry

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Alameda County Reentry Network

• The greater Response to Reentry

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Presentation Overview

• Reentry in Alameda County
• Responding to Reentry
• Role of the Reentry Network
• Outlook, Opportunities and Expectations

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Reentry in Alameda County

• Understanding the reentry population
• Population size
• Geographic distribution
• demographics
• service needs

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Reentry Continuum
Incarceration period while incarcerated before
pre-release planning has begun
Pre-Release planning phase leading up to release
OUTSIDE INSIDE
Release - Released from institution and
transition to community, ideally in accordance
with pre-release plan
Reentry establish long- term solutions for
health, housing, employment etc.
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Understanding Reentry

• The reality of mass incarceration translates
  into the reality of reentry - Jeremy Travis,
  John Jay College of Criminal Justice
• Over 90 of people who are incarcerated are
  released
• There are now 2.3 million people in U.S. prisons
  and jails, a fourfold increase in the
  incarceration rate since 1980.
• An estimated 700,000 people in the US are
  released from incarceration each year

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Impact of Reentry on Communities

• A University of California, Berkeley study
  attributes most of the black-white difference in
  AIDS infection to racial disparities in
  incarceration.
• Among children born since 1990, 4 percent of
  whites and 25 percent of blacks will witness
  their father being sent to prison by their
  fourteenth birthday.

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Reentry in Alameda County

• In 2007 Alameda County had
• ___ people return from State prisons
• _____ people return from County Jail
• As of June 2007 Alameda County had 20,092 adults
  under criminal justice supervision
• 1 in 100 persons in Alameda County are currently
  under criminal justice supervision

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Reentry Population Demographics

• Alameda County parolee population is
• Overwhelmingly male (91)
• Under 50 years old (97) with the largest
  proportion in the 30-40 age range
• People of color (84) with African Americans
  comprising the largest ethnic group constituting
  67 of the parolee population

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Reentry Population Service Needs

• Income Employment sufficient income to handle
  the transitional period between release and a
  first pay check.
• Education access to education including GED,
  basic literacy skills and other needed education.
• Health Care continuity of care from
  incarceration to community especially for persons
  with chronic conditions.
• Substance Abuse treatment, support groups and
  other substance abuse services

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Reentry Population Service Needs

• Housing a safe and sober place to live that
  adheres to the terms of release.
• Social Services access to and information
  concerning available public benefits for which a
  person may qualify.
• Family Services access to services to help with
  family reunification, parenting, spousal
  relationships, etc.
• Case Management case manager to identify
  potential services and to facilitate service
  delivery.
• Legal services information and services
  concerning rights, record cleaning/expungement,
  restitution and child support payments, etc.

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Reentry

• The need to address reentry has been widely
  recognized and funding for programming and
  improved community corrections collaboration has
  been increasing (e.g. 2nd Chance Act)
• Reentry programs make our streets safer, our
  communities more vibrant and our cities more
  livable and appealing to economic development
• Successful models of county wide systems for
  addressing reentry are scarce

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Responding to Reentry

• Alameda County Reentry Network
• A Needed Response to a rising demand

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How are we responding to Reentry?

• Alameda County and its cities have recognized the
  need to address reentry and are currently
• Increasing police presence
• Funding services and programs
• Addressing policy barriers
• Planning, cooperation and coordination has been
  noticeably absent from our response to reentry
• We arent out numbered, we are out organized
  Arnold Perkins, former Alameda County Public
  Health Director

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A County Wide Response

• The Alameda County Reentry Network brings Reentry
  stakeholders from across the county together to
  address Reentry as the county wide problem that
  it is
• Enables county wide planning, data collection,
  resource development and collaboration

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Theoretical Foundation of Reentry Network
Desired Outcome Recidivism is the result of Method to address recidivism
Reduce recidivism in order to increase public safety Ineffective service and support systems to manage pre-release planning and reentry Develop a manage a system to ensure/track supply services and to evaluate outcomes of services
Reduce recidivism in order to increase public safety Lack of connection to social networks capable of providing support Establish connections to community social networks prior to release
Reduce recidivism in order to increase public safety Lack of a healthy values system prior to, during and after incarceration Programming during incarceration that promotes healthy values
Reduce recidivism in order to increase public safety Inadequate human capital Increase education and job training during incarceration including a plan for employment and training after release

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What is the Reentry Network?

• A network of committees, task forces and forums
  that address the full spectrum of reentry
  Stakeholders
• Reentry Network only created 2 new committees the
  others were built from the meetings and groups
  that were already meeting around these issues

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ALAMEDA COUNTY REENTRY NETWORK
Decision-Makers Committee
Community Forums
Implementation Committee
Coordinating Council
Networking and Professional Development
Committee
Task Forces
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Decision Makers Committee

• Composed of elected officials, city/county agency
  heads, correctional administrators and foundation
  leadership
• Approves the Annual Plan for the upcoming year
  and then six months later to receives a Mid-Year
  Review from Coordinating Council
• Works with Coordinating Council to take policy
  action and allocate resources based on Annual
  Plan

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Coordinating Council

• Representative of Reentry Network and Reentry
  stakeholders
• Hub of the Reentry Network through which new
  information is disseminated
• Coordinates various components of the Reentry
  Network to ensure a cohesive vision

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Implementation Committee

• Brings together staff from current reentry
  initiatives
• Works to expand effective initiative-level
  reentry efforts
• Composed of service providers and city/county
  agency staff working on initiatives (e.g. Measure
  Y)

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Networking and Professional Development

• Composed of servicer providers and community
  organizations
• Provides regular professional development
  activities to meeting the needs of reentry
  service providers
• Offers opportunities for networking and sharing
  of best practices between reentry service
  providers

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The Role of Reentry Network

• How Does the Reentry Network Function and what
  does it provide?

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The Reentry Network Provides S.A.F.E.T.Y.

• Strategy
• Advocacy
• Facts
• Efficiency
• Teamwork
• Yardstick

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Strategy

• A comprehensive county wide plan for providing
  effective services to the formerly incarcerated
• Forum for new programs to learn about current
  work in Alameda County and identify where they
  would best support the work already happening
• Coordinating Council provides birds eye view to
  ensure ongoing planning across Reentry Network

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Advocacy

• Develop policy, services and funding
  recommendations that will benefit Alameda
  Countys reentry population and their families
• Include recommendations in Annual Plan and
  Mid-Year Report
• Reentry Network works with members and
  county/city leadership to be efficient in
  advocacy activities

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Facts

• Current data and information on best practices
  and tools that inform policy makers, providers,
  the police and the general public
• Data is posted on website and sent out throughout
  the Network to ensure accessibility
• Collaborative works as a whole to obtain data
  reducing the burden on city, county and state
  agencies to fulfill multiple data requests

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Efficiency

• A county wide collaborative in place and prepared
  to address reentry related issues as they arise
• A county wide collaborative capable of responding
  to potential funding opportunities that require a
  quick turnaround
• Establishes a clear system for communication
  among reentry stakeholders to keep one another
  informed of important events, opportunities and
  issues

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Teamwork

• Collaboration, cooperation and coordination
  between reentry programs, initiatives and
  providers
• Creates networking opportunities for identifying
  new partnerships and generating new ideas
• Mechanism for connects wide range of stakeholders
  with one another to develop new partnerships and
  opportunities

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Yardstick

• A county wide set of measures to evaluate
  outcomes
• Regularly updates progress in Annual Plan and
  Mid-Year Report
• Provides new programs, funders, policy makers
  and others with an understanding of the various
  measures that impact Reentry

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Reentry Network is a Promoter

• Vehicle for promoting what works
• Gives Alameda County a more cohesive voice to
  ensure that the needs of the formerly
  incarcerated are prioritized

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Outlook, Opportunities and Expectations

• The Future of the Alameda county reentry network

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