Audiences

Tools & Resources

Federal Interagency Reentry Council

Activities

Background

Deputy Attorney General James Cole, U.S. Department of Justice, discusses the Federal Interagency Reentry Council at the 2011 Second Chance Act Conference.

Each year, more than 700,000 individuals are released from state and federal prisons.1 Another 9 million cycle through local jails.2 When reentry fails, the costs—both societal and economic—are high. Statistics indicate that more than two-thirds of state prisoners are rearrested within 3 years of their release and half are reincarcerated.3 High rates of recidivism mean more crime, more victims, and more pressure on an already overburdened criminal justice system.

The costs of imprisonment also wreak havoc on state and municipal budgets. In the past 20 years state, spending on corrections has grown at a faster rate than nearly any other state budget item. The U.S. now spends more than $68 billion on federal, state and local corrections. 4 Because reentry intersects with issues of health and housing, education and employment, family, faith, and community well-being, many federal agencies are focusing on the reentry population with initiatives that aim to improve outcomes in each of these areas.

Federal agencies are funding reentry efforts in communities all around the country, through the Second Chance Act and many other funding streams [Learn more about current funding opportunities]. In addition, the administration is working across agencies to coordinate and advance efforts through the interagency Reentry Council.

Download: Reentry in Brief

Initial Activities

  1. Leveraging Existing Resources for Reentry
    The Reentry Council working group has identified key reentry investments supported by the various federal agencies. The National Criminal Justice Initiatives Map includes descriptions of the major federal reentry initiatives and identifies active reentry grants in each state. The working group will also enhance knowledge-transfer across agencies around reentry research, both to better coordinate efforts and to inform federal policies, programs and solicitations. The interagency group will also address juvenile reentry issues, which carry their own distinct opportunities and challenges.
  2. Remove Barriers to Reentry
    The working group is focusing on barriers to employment and access to benefits such as TANF, food assistance, Social Security, and others that can help stabilize this population after release. For example, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, who is a member of the Reentry Council working group, recently sent this letter to public housing executive directors clarifying HUD's position on the eligibility of people with criminal records for public housing. They are also addressing child support relief in order to identify state and local child support collaborations with corrections, disseminate those models, and promote ways of sharing information that protect privacy and help resolve child support issues.
  3. Advance Bullypulpit Opportunities
    The Reentry Council is advancing bullypulpit opportunities to dispel myths, clarify federal policies, and signal to the field the importance of the issue and actions that can be taken to improve outcomes. For example, the Attorney General sent a letter to every state Attorney General, encouraging them to review the collateral consequences in their states to determine whether those that impose burdens on individuals convicted of crimes without increasing public safety should be eliminated. Leaders in other departments are taking similar administrative actions. The working group has also developed a set of "Reentry MythBusters" to clarify federal policy on a number of issues, such as access to public housing and federal benefits, federal bonding for employers, parental rights, and many others.
    Reentry Mythbusters
    MYTH: Businesses and employers have no way to protect themselves from potential property and monetary loses should an ex-offender they hire prove dishonest. FACT
    MYTH: Child welfare agencies are required to terminate parental rights if a parent is incarcerated. FACT
    MYTH: A person with a criminal record is not eligible for federal student financial aid. FACT
    MYTH: Individuals convicted of a felony can never receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly the Food Stamp Program) benefits. FACT
    MYTH: A parent with a felony conviction can never receive TANF/welfare. FACT
    MYTH: Non-custodial parents who are incarcerated cannot have their child support orders reduced. FACT
    MYTH: Eligibility for Social Security benefits cannot be reinstated when an individual is released from incarceration. FACT
    MYTH: An individual cannot apply for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly the Food Stamp Program) benefits without a mailing address. FACT
    MYTH: An individual cannot apply for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly the Food Stamp Program) benefits without a valid State-issued identification card. FACT
    MYTH: People with criminal records are automatically barred from employment. FACT
    MYTH: The Federal Government’s hiring policies prohibit employment of people with criminal records. FACT
    MYTH: Individuals who have been convicted of a crime are banned from public housing. FACT
    MYTH: Veterans cannot request to have their VA compensation benefits resumed until they are officially released from incarceration. FACT
    MYTH: Employers have no federal income tax advantage by hiring an ex-felon. FACT
    MYTH: An employer can get a copy of your criminal history from companies that do background checks without your permission. FACT
    MYTH: A veteran with criminal convictions or a history of incarceration is not eligible for VA health care. FACT
    MYTH: Incarceration exempts individuals from the requirement to file taxes, halts the accumulation of federal tax debts, and prohibits the receipt of tax credits and deductions upon release. FACT
    MYTH: Medicaid agencies are required to terminate benefits if an otherwise eligible individual is incarcerated. FACT
    MYTH: Access to juvenile criminal records is strictly limited. FACT
    MYTH: Confined youth easily return to school after release from juvenile confinement. FACT
    MYTH: Medicaid agencies are required to terminate benefits if an otherwise eligible juvenile is incarcerated. FACT
    MYTH: An individual with a felony conviction can never vote. FACT

    Downloads: Entire set of Reentry MythBusters | HUD Letter to PHAs | Attorney General's Letter | Reentry Toolkit for United States Attorneys' Offices

    Additional Reentry MythBusters are being developed and will be posted soon.
The federal interagency Reentry Council created the materials available for download on this page. The Council of State Governments Justice Center, coordinator of the National Reentry Resource Center (NRRC), supports the Reentry Council in a number of ways, including hosting its web-based materials on the NRRC website.
1. Sabol, W. & H.C. West. Prisoners in 2009. NCJ 231675. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2010. bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/p09.pdf.
2. Beck, A.J. The Importance of Successful Reentry to Jail Population Growth. Presented at the Urban Institute's Jail Reentry Roundtable, June 27, 2006. www.urban.org/projects/reentry-roundtable/upload/beck.PPT.
3. Langan, P.A. & D.J. Levin. Recidivism of Prisoners Released in 1994. NCJ 193427. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2002. bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/rpr94.pdf
4. Pew Center on the States, One in 31: The Long Reach of American Corrections (Washington, DC: The Pew Charitable Trusts, March 2009).
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