Corrections_Today_Fall_2025_Vol.87_No.3

FROM THE ARCHIVES

The future of reentry There is good reason to be optimistic about the future of reentry. The scale and scope of the national focus on reentry is unique to the extent that it encompasses a ho listic perspective. The commitment to reentry in the field of corrections remains strong and is growing. Several states, including Michigan and Ohio, have formed the equivalent of interagency reentry steering committees to guide their work.

with offenders starting inside and carrying that relationship outside to the community. This is an area of corrections that will be greatly enhanced given the bill’s authorization to provide grants to those community organizations and groups that provide transitional services and mentoring pro grams as offenders exit the prison system. Collateral sanctions and barriers to reentry Offenders released from prison experience a range of barriers affecting their prospects for a successful return home. Since 1980, numerous laws have been passed restricting the kinds of jobs for which ex-inmates can be hired, easing the requirements for their parental rights to be termi nated, restricting their access to public welfare and housing subsidies, and limiting their right to vote. Though the rationale for these changes may have been well intentioned, their impact has been cumu lative and deleterious to offender reentry. Travis, president of John Jay College of Crimi nal Justice, labels these “invisible punishments” by which he means the extension of formal criminal sanctions through the diminution of the rights and responsibilities of citizen ship and legal residency in the United States. Often referred to as collateral sanctions, they represent laws, regulations and administrative rules that often operate largely out of public view. They may carry serious, adverse and unfair consequences for the individuals who are affected. 3 It is notable that one of the provisions in the Second Chance Act of 2005 seeks to identify and address those federal barriers, or collateral sanc tions, that may undermine offenders’ efforts at reentry through the formation of a federal task force. The task force is required one year after the enactment of this bill to submit a report to Congress assessing the effects of such barriers on offenders and their children and families.

It is notable that one of the provisions in the Second Chance Act of 2005 seeks to identify and address those federal barriers, or collateral sanctions, that may undermine offenders’ efforts at reentry through the formation of a federal task force.

Most recently, a unique organization was formed called· the International Association of Reentry (IAR). Its mission is to foster victim and community safety through correctional reform and prison population management, cost containment, professional develop ment and the successful re-integration of offenders. This association will serve as a catalyst, spurring active collaboration among correctional practitioners, allied justice professionals, the victim community, formerly incarcerated individuals, higher education, public policy-makers, interfaith and family advocates, and community members.

Corrections Today | Fall 2025

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