Rebuilding Lives. Strengthening Communities.

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Recommendations Reforms with Statewide Impact • Develop a standard discharge planning process that connects formerly incarcerated individuals with reentry services in or near the community to which they will return. • Ensure that prisoners have appropriate identification (or documents with which to obtain a state identification card) at the time of their release. • Expand capacity and number of Adult Transition Centers for a more gradual transition from prison to the community. • Restructure parole supervision to better facilitate connections to and delivery of reentry support services. • Generate an annual report of returning prisoners for municipalities to encourage needs-based assessment of local resources. • Explore options to stimulate justice reinvestment. Reforms with Citywide Impact • Design and conduct a comprehensive awareness and outreach campaign. • Establish an information and referral source for formerly incarcerated individuals. • Expand housing options for formerly incarcerated individuals. • Establish community-based “Reentry Resource Centers” in neighborhoods with the highest concentration of returning prisoners. • Incorporate restorative justice principles into the criminal justice system and reentry process. Chapter 4 • Advocate for revision of the methodology of the U.S. Census, which currently counts incarcerated individuals as residents of the prisons instead of their home communities. 84Community Safety
Chapter 4: Community Safety Prisoner reentry affects not only the individuals who are returning home, but also the community to which they are returning. 1 At the same time, the characteristics of the community may affect an individual’s reentry success. For instance, the availability of jobs and housing and the accessibility of social services are likely to influence the transition process. 2 In 2001, 97 percent of all men and women released from Illinois prisons returned to communities within the state. 3 About 75 percent of these individuals went back to only six counties (Cook, Winnebago, Lake, St. Clair, Peoria and Will). 4 And 53 percent returned to the City of Chicago. 5 That means, in 2001, approximately 15,488 formerly incarcerated men and women returned to Chicago alone. Just three years later, in 2004, that number had already increased to 18,320. 6 A large number of prisoners who locate to Chicago are concentrated within just a few communities of the city. In 2001, for example, 34 percent of prisoners transitioned back to only six of Chicago’s 77 communities—Austin, Humboldt Park, North Lawndale, Englewood, West Englewood and East Garfield Park. 7 These communities are ill-equipped to absorb these former prisoners given the high percentages of poverty, unemployment, and femaleheaded households within those areas. 8 Prisoners who return to communities lacking the necessary resources to meet the challenges they face have higher rates of recidivism, and communities affected by elevated levels of incarceration and reentry may experience higher crime rates. 9 Indeed, in Chicago, the communities with the highest number of formerly incarcerated individuals have some of the city’s highest crime rates. In areas experiencing both high rates of people going to prison and high rates of people returning from prison, relationships among residents become precarious, families experience greater stress, the image of the neighborhood suffers, and financial investment in the community declines. 10 The public safety issues associated with incarceration and reentry tend to be exacerbated in neighborhoods already experiencing significant disadvantage. But when formerly incarcerated individuals return to a life of drugs and crime, all of Chicago’s communities suffer. Families are destabilized, and neighborhoods are characterized by fear and distrust. Businesses close their doors and move elsewhere. The scarce opportunities for advancement diminish still further. Children entering their teenage years lose hope. Developing ways to increase the chances of successful reentry—and simultaneously enhance public safety overall—is a pressing need. MAYORAL POLICY CAUCUS ON PRISONER REENTRY 85
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Rebuilding Lives. Restoring Hope. S
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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
Page 35 and 36: Promote and support transitional jo
Page 37 and 38: Promote and support social enterpri
Page 39 and 40: Foster more opportunities for entre
Page 41 and 42: (e.g., expungement, sealing of reco
Page 43 and 44: Sandra S. is a 38-year-old African-
Page 45 and 46: Marvin A. Marvin A. is a 64-year-ol
Page 47 and 48: 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: Shannon G. is a 33-year-old African
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 and 100: Solution The City, in partnership w
Page 101 and 102: Internet. This vehicle allows for i
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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