Seattle Women's Second Chance Project

The Second Chance Act of 2007 (Pub. L. 110-199) provides a comprehensive response to the increasing number of incarcerated adults and juveniles who are released from prison, jail, and juvenile residential facilities and returning to communities. The Second Chance Act will help ensure that the transition individuals make from prison, jail, or juvenile residential facilities to the community is successful and promotes public safety. The Second Chance Act Programs are designed to help communities develop and implement comprehensive and collaborative strategies that address the challenges posed by offender reentry and recidivism reduction. "Reentry" is not a specific program, but rather an evidence-based process that starts when an offender is initially incarcerated and ends when the offender has been successfully reintegrated in his or her community as a law-abiding citizen. The reentry process includes the delivery of a variety of evidence-based program services for every program participant in both a pre- and post-release setting.

Section 101 of the Act authorizes grants to state and local governments and federally recognized Indian tribes that may be used for demonstration projects to promote the safe and successful reintegration. The goal of the Second Chance Act Two-Phase Adult Reentry Demonstration Program: Planning and Implementation Projects, under Section 101 of the Second Chance Act, is to support jurisdictions to develop and implement comprehensive and collaborative strategies that address the challenges posed by reentry to increase public safety and reduce recidivism for medium to high risk individuals reentering communities from incarceration. This process should provide the individual with appropriate evidence-based - services including addressing individual criminogenic needs based on a reentry plan that relies on a risk/needs assessment that reflects the risk of recidivism for that offender. The reentry plan should reflect both specific and ongoing pre-release and post-release needs, and a strategy for ensuring that these needs are met throughout the duration of the reentry process.

The Seattle Police Department will use grant funds towards the Seattle Women’s Second Chance (SWSC) project to engage in a one-year strategic planning process to collect/assess data and develop recommendations for implementing a two-year strategy for enhancing reentry services, reducing recidivism rates and supporting successful community reintegration for women leaving prison and returning back to the Seattle community. The target population includes 84 medium to high-risk women.

CA/NCF