Rebuilding Lives. Strengthening Communities.

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Establish an information and referral source for formerly incarcerated individuals. Recommendation Issue Information about community resources can provide access to programs and a corresponding sense of direction for prisoners who are reentering society. Formerly incarcerated individuals often need guidance about services and opportunities in their communities for employment, treatment, health care, housing and various other issues. Former prisoners, specifically those who have been away from their communities for a significant period of time, may need assistance determining where services are located and how to travel to these services. It is somewhat unclear how former prisoners get their information. There does not appear to be any consistent, reliable source to guide individuals with criminal records. Word of mouth can be invaluable, but may be limited in terms of depth and breadth of information. MAYORAL POLICY CAUCUS ON PRISONER REENTRY 98 INSPIRATION FROM THE FIELD: THE OSBORNE ASSOCIATION IN NEW YORK The Osborne Association operates a toll-free information hotline for families of incarcerated individuals providing answers to questions about visitation, transportation, transfers, parole and other issues related to a relative’s incarceration. Former prisoners and their families volunteer to staff the hotline and provide additional information, support, and linkages to community services. For their service, the volunteers receive transportation passes, meal allowances, and small stipends. The hotline receives an estimated 200 calls a month; approximately 30 percent are repeat callers. Sources: www.osborneny.org; Eric Waters (Program Coordinator, Family Resource Center,The Osborne Association), interview with Julie Wilen, November 1, 2005. Solution The City should develop an extensive community resource mapping system to identify organizations and programs in each Chicago community that serve formerly incarcerated individuals. After this information has been compiled, the City should, then, develop mechanisms and explore different channels by which to disseminate and share this information. The City should create a “reentry resource guide” containing organizations, programs, services, contact information and transportation options for each community. Hard copies of this guide could be available in a variety of public venues (e.g., parole offices, libraries, health clinics). It could also be distributed to every prisoner through the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) Pre-Start program, with each prisoner’s reentry plan and discharge summary. But this resource guide should be electronically based and accessible through the
Internet. This vehicle allows for increased accessibility to many people, and will enable the database to be updated and maintained regularly. As with any kind of resource guide, it runs the risk of becoming obsolete within months. Consequently, the issue of how, when and who updates and maintains this resource guide and database must be dealt with at the outset. Prisoners could assist with this responsibility. They would be a consistent and low-cost labor force, and would gain invaluable job experience at the same time. Additionally, it would help them learn about organizations, programs and services available to them after their release. In Washington, the Correction’s Clearinghouse (CCH) publishes a Case Management Resource Directory which lists over 2,500 resources in the state—from free clothing to substance abuse treatment—that can steer formerly incarcerated individuals to needed help. CCH coordinated correctional administrators and local college computer instructors to devise a prison industry program for prisoners to assist with designing, editing, maintaining, producing and distributing the resource directory. 53 The resource guide also could be a practical and informative tool for either Chicago’s 311 Call Center or a new toll-free reentry information hotline. The 311 Call Center is often used by Chicago residents to access non-emergency and general information about Chicago’s events, services, and community programs. It handles 3.8 million calls annually, receiving requests or inquiries and forwarding them to the appropriate departments. A toll-free hotline could be established, as an alternative, to provide callers with information on a wide range of issues, including treatment centers, housing resources, and employment agencies. Formerly incarcerated individuals could contact the 311 Call Center or the toll-free hotline if they are unsure about where to go for assistance, and the operators could use the resource guide to provide direction and guidance. Expand housing options for formerly incarcerated individuals. Recommendation Issue Housing is one of the most important elements of a reentry plan for prisoners returning to the community from prisons and jails, but sometimes a stable housing option cannot be found by the time an individual is released. Nationwide, of the approximately 650,000 individuals released from state and federal prisons annually, and the seven million individuals released from local jails, an estimated 10 percent are released into homelessness. 54 For those with mental illness, approximately 20 percent are homeless in the months before and after incarceration. 55 In Chicago, approximately 1,200 formerly incarcerated individuals are discharged from state prisons to homeless shelters each year because they have no other place to go at the time of their release. 56 Homelessness, literally being back on the streets, makes it difficult to comply with parole conditions and contributes to the cycle of recidivism. New research has emerged on the relationship between incarceration and homelessness, which suggests that “homelessness contributes to a higher risk for incarceration and that, inversely, incarceration contributes to an increased risk of homelessness.” 57 Data from a New York study showed that 6.5 percent of prisoners had used homeless shelters in the two-year period prior to entering prison; 45.1 percent of these individuals had subsequent shelter stays and 42 percent had subsequent prison stays. 58 MAYORAL POLICY CAUCUS ON PRISONER REENTRY 99
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Rebuilding Lives. Restoring Hope. S
Page 3 and 4:
Message from the Mayor The issue of
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Introduction The Reality of Reentry
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Communities Too many communities ar
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A National Movement, A Nonpartisan
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The Mayoral Policy Caucus on Prison
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Theresa W. Theresa W. is a 25-year-
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Ramon C. is a 51-year-old Real Life
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Chapter 1: Employment Formerly inca
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The current need for IDOC’s educa
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Ensure pre-release vocational train
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Restructure and expand Illinois Cor
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While the passage of this legislati
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IDOC is currently re-examining the
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Solution To increase employment opp
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Solution To be most effective, educ
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Issue Encourage more “demand-side
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Promote and support transitional jo
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Promote and support social enterpri
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Foster more opportunities for entre
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(e.g., expungement, sealing of reco
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Sandra S. is a 38-year-old African-
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Marvin A. Marvin A. is a 64-year-ol
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Chapter 2: Health By most measures,
Page 49 and 50: “This is the best chance to locat
Page 51 and 52: Similar to substance abuse treatmen
Page 53 and 54: Solution Connections to community-b
Page 55 and 56: Solution Initially, the State shoul
Page 57 and 58: Medicaid does not pay for services
Page 59 and 60: To ensure the greatest return on in
Page 61 and 62: Solution Diversion programs and alt
Page 63 and 64: Create more positive social structu
Page 65 and 66: Margaret M. is a 55-year- old Latin
Page 67 and 68: Sam J. is a 41- Real Life year-old
Page 69 and 70: Chapter 3: Family Having a supporti
Page 71 and 72: Improve visitation facilities and p
Page 73 and 74: Issue Facilitate contact between pr
Page 75 and 76: Review policies regarding child sup
Page 77 and 78: Reforms with Citywide Impact Suppor
Page 79 and 80: Improve reunification services at C
Page 81 and 82: Support more mentoring and other so
Page 83 and 84: Billie H. is a 41-year-old Real Lif
Page 85 and 86: Shannon G. is a 33-year-old African
Page 87 and 88: Chapter 4: Community Safety Prisone
Page 89 and 90: Ensure that prisoners have appropri
Page 91 and 92: Expand capacity and number of Adult
Page 93 and 94: However, with the dramatic increase
Page 95 and 96: N City of Chicago 2004 Inmate Exits
Page 97 and 98: Solution The goal of “justice rei
Page 99: Solution The City, in partnership w
Page 103 and 104: Solution The City should work with
Page 105 and 106: Solution Local “reentry resource
Page 107 and 108: For example, in Oregon, Deschutes C
Page 109 and 110: A Note of Thanks Many people worked
Page 111 and 112: Ms. Ellen A. Meyers, Office of Illi
Page 114 and 115: Endnotes Introduction MAYORAL POLIC
Page 116 and 117: Introduction (cont.) 46 Bush, Georg
Page 118 and 119: Chapter 1: Employment (cont.) MAYOR
Page 120 and 121: Chapter 1: Employment (cont.) MAYOR
Page 122 and 123: Chapter 2: Health (cont.) MAYORAL P
Page 124 and 125: Chapter 2: Health (cont.) MAYORAL P
Page 126 and 127: Chapter 3: Family (cont.) MAYORAL P
Page 128 and 129: Chapter 4: Community Safety (cont.)
Page 130 and 131: Chapter 4: Community Safety (cont.)
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