Each One, Reach One: Mentoring and Employment Services as part of the Greater Cleveland Integrated Re-Entry Project

The Second Chance Act of 2007 (Pub. L. 110-199) provides a comprehensive response to the increasing number of people who are released from prison and jail and returning to communities. There are currently over 2.3 million individuals serving time in federal and state prisons, and millions of people cycling through local jails every year. Ninety-five percent of all prisoners incarcerated today will eventually be released and will return to communities. The Second Chance Act will help ensure the transition individuals make from prison or jail to the community is safe and successful. Section 211 of the Act authorizes grants to nonprofit organizations and federally recognized Indian tribes that may be used for mentoring projects to promote the safe and successful reintegration into the community of individuals who have been incarcerated.

The Second Chance Act grant programs are designed to strengthen jurisdictions characterized by large numbers of returning offenders. 'Reentry' is not envisioned to be a specific program but rather an evidence-based process that begins with initial incarceration and ends with successful community reintegration, indicated by lack of recidivism. Per the Second Chance Act, funded mentoring projects should use validated and dynamic assessment tools to determine the risks and needs of offenders included in the project's target population. Program components must include mentoring adult offenders during incarceration, through transition back to the community, and post-release; transitional services to assist in the reintegration of offenders into the community; and training regarding offender and victims issues. Applicant agencies/organizations are expected to demonstrate their capability to deliver or broker the provision of transitional services proposed to be offered in conjunction with the core mentoring component. Examples of 'transitional services' designed to increase success in reentry and thus reduce recidivism might include the establishment of a pre-release mentoring relationship, housing, education, substance abuse treatment, mental health treatment, services to enhance family reunification, job training and readiness, and post-release case management.

The Center for Families and Children (CFC) will use the FY 2009 Second Chance Act Mentoring Grants to Nonprofit Organizations funds for Each One, Reach One: Mentoring and Employment Services as part of the Greater Cleveland Integrated Re-Entry Project. The program will assist 150 men and women, 18 years or older, sentenced to incarceration at ODRC. The program participants will include inmates housed in selected Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections (ODRC) prisons, returning to Cuyahoga County within 3 to 6 months at the time of intake. In order to achieve a 50% reduction in recidivism, the project will implement activities designed to achieve the following objectives: (1) Establish a management structure to ensure successful implementation of a comprehensive, integrated, and coordinated approach to reentry service delivery; (2) establish life coaching relationships with the target population resulting in strengthened social networks and support; (3) obtain employment for the target population through job readiness, placement, and retention services; and (4) provide intensive case management to the target population in order to access necessary supportive services. Program participants will be provided a complete orientation, multi-faceted assessment, and be assigned to a case manager. The case management, mentoring, employment services that comprise this project fit into the larger Greater Cleveland Integrated Reentry Project (GCIRP) that is being implemented in Cuyahoga County, Ohio.

CA/NCF