WASHINGTON, DC. Late last week, the Senate passed by unanimous consent and sent to the President for signature the "Reducing Recidivism and Second Chance Act [Second Chance Act]". The bipartisan reentry legislation, supported by the Administration and sponsored in the Senate by Senators Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (DE), Arlen Specter (PA), Sam Brownback (KS) ,and Patrick J. Leahy (VT), was previously passed (347-62) by the House of Representatives in November 2007. The House bill was originally sponsored by Representatives Danny Davis (IL) and Chris Cannon (UT). The legislation establishes new programs to improve reentry services, target reductions in recidivism, and increase emphasis on treatment, employment, and family supports, as well as incorporating aspects of the President's Prisoner Reentry Initiative, making amendments to the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 and the Adult and Juvenile Offender State and Local Reentry Demonstration Projects.

Adult and Juvenile State and Local Reentry Demonstration Projects. In reauthorizing federal reentry demonstration projects, the Second Chance Act strongly emphasizes roles for every level of government, including by requiring explicit support for applications from the jurisdictional CEO and a description of the role of partner systems and community stakeholders. The legislation also identifies research and strategic planning as key steps for federal, state, and local officials and partners. A reentry strategic plan is required from applicants, with identification of evidence-based methodologies and annual and 5-year outcome measures, a long-term strategy and implementation schedule, identification of future budget resources, and completion of an independent evaluation. A reentry task force is to be convened, in part to examine ways to pool resources and funding streams to promote lower recidivism rates for returning offenders and collect data and best practices in offender reentry from demonstration grantees and other agencies and organizations. Funding in outyears will be in part dependent on the applicant's ability to demonstrate progress under the reentry plan toward a 10 percent reduction in the rate of recidivism over a 2-year period. Residential substance abuse treatment is also expanded for states.

"For years we've understood that those coming out of the back doors of prisons and jails were coming in the front doors of homeless programs without supports or services, increasing homelessness with few resources to respond," indicated United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Philip Mangano. "This Congressional initiative now joins the Administration's reentry resources in supporting initiatives to offer better connections to housing, employment, and treatment, all of which will reduce recidivism and prevent and end homelessness."

Among the findings of the legislation are that "released prisoners cite family support as the most important factor in helping them stay out of prison," and that "studies have shown that between 15 percent and 27 percent of prisoners expect to go to homeless shelters upon release from prison." The findings also take note of the results of the federal Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative which provided $139,000,000 in funding for State governments to develop and implement education, job training, mental health treatment, and substance abuse treatment for serious and violent offenders, setting a goal to build upon the innovative and successful State reentry programs developed by SVORI, which ended in FY 2005.

Demonstration Grants. New demonstration grants to state and local governments will be used to promote the safe and successful reintegration into the community of individuals who have been incarcerated, including by providing during pre-release those identification documents, referrals, prescriptions, training certifications, and benefits information that can help achieve a successful transition. Funds may be used for structured post-release housing and transitional programs, including group homes for substance users, and securing permanent housing after a stay in a transitional program. Funds may also be used for employment services, substance abuse treatment, family programming, mentoring, and victims services.

New and innovative programs that are addressed include state and local reentry courts, grants for comprehensive and continuous offender reentry task forces, prosecution drug treatment alternative to prison programs, grants for family substance abuse treatment alternatives to incarceration, prison-based family treatment programs for incarcerated parents of minor children, and grant programs relating to educational methods at prisons, jails, and juvenile facilities. The legislation contains provisions for developing case management for incarcerated veterans and encouraging employment and workforce partners to employ former offenders. Drug treatment grants for demonstration initiatives to reduce drug use and recidivism in long-term substance abusers are included, as are demonstration grants for training for technology careers and grants to states for improved workplace and community transition training for incarcerated youth offenders.

Federal Prison Reentry Initiative. The legislation provides guidance to the Bureau of Prisons for enhanced reentry planning procedures. Specific information on health, employment, personal finance, release requirements and community resources shall be provided to each inmate released. A new elderly nonviolent offender pilot program is created. Reentry Research. The U.S. Justice Department's National Institute of Justice and the Bureau of Justice Statistics are authorized to conduct reentry-related research, including to study parole or post-incarceration supervision violations and revocations and the needs of children of incarcerated parents. The Bureau of Justice Statistics may conduct research on offender reentry, including an analysis of special populations (including prisoners with mental illness or substance abuse disorders, female offenders, juvenile offenders, offenders with limited English proficiency, and the elderly) that present unique reentry challenges. National Adult and Juvenile Offender Reentry Resource Center. A new national resource center is established to collect and disseminate best practices and to provide training on and support for reentry efforts.

The bipartisan Second Chance Act draws on legislative proposals and the Administration's Prisoner Reentry Initiative. Following are excerpts of statements on the Second Chance Act and the Prisoner Reentry Initiative from both Congressional leaders and the President.

"This year, some 600,000 inmates will be released from prison back into society. We know from long experience that if they can't find work, or a home, or help, they are much more likely to commit crime and return to prison . . . I propose a four-year, $300 million prisoner re-entry initiative to expand job training and placement services, to provide transitional housing, and to help newly released prisoners get mentoring, including from faith-based groups . . . America is the land of second chance, and when the gates of the prison open, the path ahead should lead to a better life. " President George W. Bush, State of the Union, January 2004

"We shouldn't be surprised that the prison door is, more often than not, a revolving door. . . . The only way to close the revolving prison door is to open another one." Senator Joseph Biden, Senate sponsor

"These men and women deserve a second chance. Their families, spouses, and children deserve a second chance. And their communities deserve a second chance. A second chance means an opportunity to turn a life around, a chance to break the grip of a drug habit; a chance to support a family, to pay taxes, to be self-sufficient." Representative Danny Davis, House sponsor

"The Second Chance Act takes direct aim at reducing recidivism rates by improving the transition of ex-offenders from prison back into our communities. Through common sense and cost-effective measures, it offers a second chance for ex-offenders and the children and families who depend on them." Senator Arlen Specter, Senate sponsor

"Everybody - the ex-offender, the ex- offender's family, and society at large - benefits from programs that equip prisoners with the proper tools to successfully reintegrate into life outside of the prison walls. I am hopeful that with this legislation we will begin to see tangible results as governments and non-profit organizations work together to help ex- offenders." Senator Sam Brownback, Senate sponsor

"While I believe strongly in securing tough and appropriate prison sentences for people who break our laws, we must also do everything we can to ensure that when these people get out of prison, they enter our communities as productive members of society . . . We must reverse the dangerous cycles of recidivism and violence. After many years of hard work to find the right compromise on this bill, we can begin that important work." Senator Patrick Leahy, Senate sponsor

"The average cost to house a federal inmate is over $25,000 a year. A modest expenditure to help transition offenders back into the community can save taxpayers thousands of dollars in the long run. Beyond the numbers, the Second Chance Act will give hope to those who feel that crime, unemployment, and addiction is the destiny of the next generation. Nothing in this bill will shorten sentences or ameliorate punishment. The work of this bill begins the day someone steps outside of the prison gates." Representative Chris Cannon, House sponsor

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