|
Newark,
NJ – Attorney General Anne Milgram today
announced $3.2 million in grants for state
and county prisoner re-entry programs that
support ex-offenders’ return to their
communities and neighborhoods.
The grants, backed by federal economy recovery
funds and state money, are for re-entry programs
at county jails, mental health discharge screenings,
counseling, and crisis intervention training.
“Helping
those transitioning out of prison through
employment opportunities, counseling, and
other needed services can lower recidivism
among ex-offenders and increase the safety
and security of our neighborhoods,”
Milgram said. “We refuse to accept the
idea that nothing can be done about the revolving
door violent criminals often spin through
at local jails or prisons. We believe effective
and focused programs aimed at breaking that
cycle make a difference.”
The Attorney General’s announcement
came at a re-entry conference in Newark that
centered on best practices for addressing
prisoner re-entry. More than 300 people from
state agencies, community groups, faith-based
organizations and mental health and substance
abuse providers registered to attend the conference,
which was held at Seton Hall University School
of Law.
State Parole Board Chairwoman Yolette Ross
and Department of Corrections Deputy Commissioner
Lydell Sherrer also attended the conference,
which was organized by Wanda Moore, re-entry
director in the Office of the Attorney General.
“There
is no question that effective parole and re-entry
programs work to reduce recidivism and make
communities safer,” Ross said. “The
combination of tough supervision and community-based
rehabilitation is effective. This is borne
out by hard statistics that show lower re-arrest
rates for parolees in specialized programs.
It is also demonstrated by the many success
stories of parolees who have turned away from
crime and become successful students, workers,
family members and citizens.”
Sherrer
said, “The number-one priority of the
New Jersey Department of Corrections has been,
and will continue to be, public safety. That's
why we remain so committed to making certain
that offenders are linked with effective post-release
benefits and services. Quite simply, we improve
public safety by providing offenders with
the tools to ensure that they are equipped
to live their lives as productive members
of society once they are released.”
“The
commitment of funds to county jails reflects
our commitment to expand our re-entry efforts
to the local level,” Re-entry Director
Moore said. “We are also committed to
evidence-based strategies that show real results
in lowering recidivism among the formerly
incarcerated. Today’s conference shows
the broad and diverse nature of prisoner re-entry
and the commitment of our state agencies and
non-governmental partners to working with
ex-offenders.”
Milgram
announced that $1 million in federal economic
recovery funds will be available to specifically
fund county jail-based re-entry strategies.
These funds will be distributed on a competitive
basis with $250,000 the maximum grant to be
awarded.
In
addition, $1.2 million is being awarded to
the Department of Human Services to expand
re-entry services at the Middlesex and Morris
county jails, and to begin new programs at
the Burlington and Monmouth county jails,
which will extend DHS services to a total
of 16 counties.
The
funding helps jail detainees with mental illness
to re-enter their communities through assessments,
pre-release planning and making connections
to social services.
A
separate award of $50,000, from state funds,
is being made to the Division of Mental Health
in the Department of Human Services to support
the Crisis Intervention Team training program,
which trains local police officers in responding
to calls involving individuals who are mentally
distressed.
"We
are very pleased that we will be able expand
our re-entry programs with these dollars,"
Acting Assistant DHS Commissioner Jon Poag
said, "We are even more excited to partner
with the Attorney General on an innovative
and proven initiative to equip police with
the right tools to manage people with mental
illness in a way that gets them the help they
need rather than potentially escalating a
situation towards injury or incarceration.”
The
State Parole Board will receive $750,000 for
“Mental Health PACT,” an initiative
modeled after drug courts to provide specialized
services for mentally ill offenders. The Mental
Health PACT will include localized support
groups called Parole Accountability Conference
Teams, which have been linked with reductions
in recidivism for parolees.
The
Attorney General also announced that the Parole
Board will receive an additional $200,000
for its Female Offender Re-entry Group Effort,
or FORGE, a gender-specific program developed
in partnership with the Nicholson Foundation,
Essex County College and other partners. A
recent Rutgers University study showed lower
re-arrest rates for female parolees associated
with FORGE.
Re-entry
is one of the three major components of Governor
Jon S. Corzine’s Strategy for Safe Streets
and Neighborhoods, which was put into place
more than two years ago to target state resources
against street gangs and violent crime. The
anti-crime plan puts the responsibility for
coordinating law enforcement, prevention and
re-entry programs within the Attorney General’s
Office.
Another
Chance, the signature re-entry program in
the Governor’s anti-crime strategy,
has shown that inmates who receive increased
access to services and counseling while in
prison had a nearly 20 percent lower re-arrest
rate six months after release than a comparison
group of inmates who did not have similar
access to these services.
Similarly,
the re-arrest rate for parolees participating
in the Another Chance program was 9 percent
lower than a comparison group.
The
program is a collaborative effort of the Attorney
General’s Office, the Parole Board,
the Department of Corrections, the Juvenile
Justice Commission, and the Department of
Labor and Workforce Development.
The
conference today featured ten workshops on
a variety of topics related to prisoner re-entry
such as potential changes in the law, community-based
re-entry initiatives, employment training,
at-risk youth and juvenile offenders, halfway
houses, substance abuse and mental health
treatments.
www.nj.gov/oag/crimeplan/reentry
###
|
