Assisting Reentry for Co-Occurring Adults through Collective Support (ARCCS) Project

The Second Chance Act of 2007 provides a comprehensive response to the increasing number of people who are released from prison, 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 County of San Joaquin Probation Department will use grant funds towards Assisting Reentry for Co-Occurring Adults through Collective Support (ARCCS). ARCCS will replicate Transition-Age Youth Grounds for Recovery (TYGR), which was first funded by the 2011 Second Chance Program as a pilot and then refunded by Second Chance to expand to serve more TAY offenders. In addition, ARCCS will replicate TYGR to serve high-risk adult inmates and to create a Reentry Toolkit delineating how County collaboration has achieved significant reductions in recidivism among offenders in specialized supervision programs like TYGR. ARCCS’ project goals are to demonstrate better outcomes for high risk adult offenders, including reduced recidivism rate; strengthen and sustain reentry services; and develop a toolkit as a roadmap for others to implement effective re-entry services. The project will serve 120 inmates with co-occurring disorders, who serve a minimum 90-day sentence and who are on formal probation upon release.

CA/NCF