MCRI Co-occurring Disorders Project

The Second Chance Act of 2007 provides a comprehensive response to the increasing number of people who are released from prison and jail and returning to communities, including resources to address the myriad of needs of these offenders to achieve a successful return to their communities. Section 201 of the Second Chance Act authorizes federal awards to states, units of local government, and Indian tribes to improve the provision of treatment to adult offenders in prisons and jails during the period of incarceration and through the completion of parole or other court supervision after release into the community.

The goal of Section 201 of the Second Chance Act is to provide support to eligible applicants for the development and implementation of comprehensive and collaborative strategies that address the challenges posed by reentry to increase public safety and reduce recidivism. The objectives of this program are to provide offenders with co-occurring substance abuse and mental health disorders with appropriate evidence-based services - including addressing individual criminogenic needs - based on a reentry plan that relies on a risk and needs assessment that reflects the risk of recidivism for that offender. Funds may be used for treating co-occurring substance abuse and mental health disorders in prison and jail programs, providing recovery support services, reentry planning and programming, and post-release treatment and aftercare programming in the community through the completion of parole or court supervision.

The grant recipient will use funds to target returning male offenders, medium to high risk, who are substance-using/abusing, diagnosed with a co-occurring mental health disorder, and within four months of release. The Marion County Reentry Initiative (MCRI) will serve 120 clients over the grant period. The program goals are to increase access and provide pre-release screening and case management with consistent post release case management follow through for target population; reduce the active symptoms and maintain stabilization for clients with co-occurring disorders during and after transition from incarceration into the community; improve life skills, health, and social functioning of clients transitioning from incarceration into the community and promote successful reintegration and reduce recidivism.
CA/NCF