Women's Reentry Assessment, Programming and Services (WRAPS) Program

The Second Chance Act of 2007 (Pub. L. 110-199) helps to address the significant challenges individuals who are returning to communities from prison, jail, and juvenile residential facilities face. Programs funded under the Second Chance Act help to promote public safety by ensuring that the transition individuals make from prison and jail to the community is successful. Section 101 of the Second Chance Act authorizes federal awards to state and local governments and federally recognized Indian tribal governments that may be used for demonstration projects to promote the safe and successful reintegration into the community of individuals who have been incarcerated or detained.

BJA’s “Smart Suite” of programs invest in the development of practitioner-researcher partnerships that use data, evidence, and innovation to create strategies and interventions that are effective and economical. The goal of the Smart Reentry: Focus on Evidence-based Strategies for Successful Reentry from Incarceration to Community program 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 individuals reentering communities from incarceration who are at medium to high risk for recidivating. Within the context of this initiative, “reentry” is not envisioned to be a specific program, but rather a process that begins when the individual is first incarcerated (pre-release) and ends with her or her successful community reintegration and reduction in risk of recidivism (post release).

The grantee will use funds towards the Women’s Reentry Assessment, Programming, and Services (WRAPS) program. The goals of this program are to: (1) engage community partners, participants, and researchers to plan, adopt and continually improve a comprehensive reentry program for women pre- and post-release from jail that identifies and addresses their dynamic criminogenic needs using gender-responsive, trauma informed and evidence-based strategies; (2) reduce recidivism and improve outcomes for women released from jail through implementation of a comprehensive, data-driven, and trauma-informed continuum of care designed to address their individual criminogenic needs; and (3) inform effectiveness, sustainability and replicability of program services by utilizing an experimental design for program evaluation activities. This program will serve a minimum of 75 medium to high risk women.

CA/NCF