Educational Continuum Hope for ex-Offenders (ECHO)

The Second Chance Act of 2007 (Pub. L. 110-199) provides a comprehensive response to assist in the transition individuals make from prison, jail, or juvenile residential facilities to the community so that the transition is more successful and promotes public safety. The Second Chance Act grant funding is designed to help communities develop and implement comprehensive and collaborative strategies that address the challenges posed by reentry and recidivism reduction. “Reentry” is not a specific program, but rather a process that starts when an individual is initially incarcerated and ends when he or she has been successfully reintegrated in the community as a law-abiding citizen.

Section 211 of the Second Chance Act, codified at 34 U.S.C. § 60531, authorizes grants to nonprofit organizations and federally recognized Indian tribes that may be used for services to promote the safe and successful community reintegration of adults who have been incarcerated.
The Second Chance Act Comprehensive Community-based Adult Reentry Program supports organizations or tribes providing comprehensive reentry services to program participants throughout their transition from jail or prison to the community. Under this solicitation, BJA is seeking applications to implement or expand on reentry programs that demonstrate strong partnerships with corrections, parole, probation, law enforcement, and other reentry service providers. These partnerships should develop comprehensive case management plans that directly address criminogenic risk and needs, as determined by validated criminogenic risk assessments, and includes delivery or facilitation of services in a manner consistent with the learning styles and abilities of the participants. This includes ensuring cognitive behavioral programming is in place pre-release, whether by the lead applicant or a partnering agency.

West Hills Community College will use award funds to develop an educational continuum (EC) pathway from pre-release to post-release for 100 individuals incarcerated at Avenal State Prison, Pleasant Valley State Prison, and Mendota Federal Correctional Institution. The EC will emphasize job readiness through job training, resume writing, and job searching. It will expand EC for rural industry training and for academic planning for achievement of post-secondary degree or certificate.

CA/NCF