Expanding and Implementing Reentry Welcome Centers in Hartford and Waterbury, CT

The BJA FY 21 Second Chance Act Community-Based Reentry Program provides Community Partners in Action (CPA) with a unique opportunity to implement and expand our reentry services in Hartford and Waterbury Connecticut.  It will enable us to continue our strong partnerships with the CT Department of Correction (CTDOC), parole, probation and other reentry service providers to help ensure the successful reintegration of people coming home from prison.

Hartford:  CPA, in collaboration with the City of Hartford and community partners, opened the Hartford Reentry Welcome Center (RWC) in September 2018.  Since opening, this Center has assisted nearly 800 individuals.  Of these, over one hundred forty people discharging from prison were transported directly to the Center by CTDOC with a ‘warm hand-off”.  

The Center, located in Hartford City Hall, is a place where people returning home from prison receive support, information, referrals, and services such as case management, basic needs; housing assistance; substance abuse/mental health/medical referrals; employment services. The BJA grant will enable CPA to continue to operate the Hartford RWC, assist more people discharging to Hartford and expand programming to include pre-release services.

Waterbury:  CPA plans to open a Waterbury Reentry Welcome Center in the Summer of 2021 and operate it out of the Opportunities Industrialization Center in Waterbury.  This Center will be modeled after CPA’s highly impactful Hartford RWC and will also include pre-release services.  

The plan for the Waterbury Center is being developed with support from the City of Waterbury and local foundations, and input from community partners and people with lived experience of reentry using research methods, combined with best practices and lessons learned from the Hartford Center.

The beneficiaries of the Reentry Welcome Centers are people returning home from incarceration to Hartford, Waterbury or the surrounding towns.  The primary deliverables for both Centers include: 

    A centralized location exists for reentry information and referrals to housing, substance abuse/mental health services, employment, transportation, basic needs, etc.  

    A safe drop-off location is in place for people on their day of release who are returning from prison to the Cities of Hartford or Waterbury or surrounding towns.

    Care continuity and case management are offered to 100 individuals annually (300 over the life of this grant) who were released from prison and returning to Hartford, Waterbury or surrounding towns.

    A Collective Impact Approach is in place for returning citizens to enroll in services and access community resources.