Corrections_Today_Fall_2025_Vol.87_No.3

FROM THE ARCHIVES

dollars, provide tools to address substance abuse, mental health and other problems that beset of fenders who are confined behind prison walls, and serve to strengthen families and communities across the country. The comprehensive nature of this proposed legislation encourages states, through demonstration grants and other means, to design a seamless system of reentry transitioning for offenders characterized by support and ac countability. The bill speaks to sound public policy and effective correctional practice. It views reentry from a holistic framework, targets strengthen ing families and seeks to improve communities’ quality of life. Most important, it also focuses on reducing barriers that confront offenders as they seek to return home following a period of confinement. Offender recidivism and public safety It is notable that upwards of 700,000 offend ers will be released annually from state and federal prisons to communities and neighborhoods across the country. What this means is that over the course of the next decade, nearly 7 million former ly incarcerated individuals will return home from confinement. The Second Chance Act of 2005 recognizes that the reentry strategies, initiatives and programs adopted by those in the field matter a great deal to the future well-being of communi ties, victims and offenders. It ·is an unfortunate reality that a majority of offenders released from confinement are likely to re-offend. According to Joan Petersilia, a well known California criminologist, the problem of offender recidivism remains quite serious. As she notes in her book When Prisoners Come Home: Parole and Prisoner Reentry: “From the available evidence ... persons being released from prison today are doing less well than their counterparts released a decade ago in successfully re-integrating into their communities. More of them are being

re-arrested; these arrests are occurring more quickly; and as a group, ex-convicts are accounting for a grow ing share of all serious crimes experienced in the United States.” High rates of recidivism mean pronounced levels of victimization. Viewing reentry holistically It is critical to recognize that correctional systems cannot go it alone. To do so promises to repeat the fail ures of the past and guarantees continued high rates of offender recidivism. The Second Chance Act of 2005 recognizes that the reentry strategies, initiatives and programs adopted by those in the field matter a great deal to the future well being of communities, victims and offenders. The Second Chance Act of 2005 clearly acknowledg es the importance of taking a holistic approach when dealing with offenders returning home. In Ohio, Wash ington and in many other states, innovative initiatives are under way that emphasize building a continuum of services, programming, support and offender account ability that extends from the time of sentencing well beyond release from prison to any period of supervi sion that may follow. 2 The Second Chance Act of 2005 emphasizes that these strategies and initiatives must be developed in collaboration and partnership with community groups, faith-based organizations, service providers, citizens, victims and formerly incarcerated individuals. Their ownership and support at the local level are vital to achieving successful pathways for of fender reentry. In July 2002, the Ohio Department of Rehabilita tion and Correction published a comprehensive report called The Ohio Plan for Productive Offender Reen try and Recidivism Reduction. The “Ohio Plan” views reentry as a philosophy, not a program. Consistent with this framework, the process of planning for reentry be gins immediately at a reception center, not a few weeks, or even a few months, before release from incarceration. Reentry planning draws on a variety of risk and needs assessment tools for prioritizing programming and

Corrections Today | Fall 2025

62