Second Chance Month 2024

Each April, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs celebrates Second Chance Month to recognize the importance of helping individuals, communities, and agencies across the country appreciate their role in supporting the safe and successful reentry of millions of people returning from incarceration each year. Second Chance Month aims to inform and highlight the many opportunities for state, local, and Tribal governments and community-based service providers to build meaningful second chances for our returning community members.

Celebrating 15 Years of the Second Chance Act

For the past 15 years, federal, state, local, and Tribal governments, as well as community-based organizations across the country, have focused on reducing recidivism like never before.

• The Second Chance Act (SCA) has invested $1.2 billion, infusing state and local efforts to improve outcomes for people leaving prison and jail with unprecedented resources and energy.
• The Bureau of Justice Assistance and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention have awarded funding to 1,123 SCA grantees to improve reentry outcomes for individuals, families, and communities.
• The SCA-funded National Reentry Resource Center has built up a connective tissue across local, state, Tribal, and federal reentry initiatives, convening the many disparate actors who contribute to reentry success.
• States are adopting public, ambitious goals that drive system change and a promise of support to reach these goals.
• State and local corrections agencies include reentry success as part of their core mission.
• Community-based organizations are standing up innovative programs to connect people with housing, jobs, education, treatment, and more.
• Researchers have built a rich body of evidence about what works to reduce criminal justice involvement and improve reentry outcomes.
• Private corporations are using their platforms to champion second chance employment as both a moral and business imperative.

50 States, 1 Goal

Examining State-Level Recidivism Trends in the Second Chance Act Era

This report highlights the significant progress made in reducing recidivism across the country over the past 15 years. Since its passage in 2008, the Second Chance Act has invested in state and local efforts to improve outcomes for people leaving prison and jail, with a total of nearly 1,200 grantees from 48 states and 3 territories administering programs that have served more than 400,000 people.

Read the Report

Congressional Briefing: The Second Chance Act at 15

April 16, 2024, 3:00- 4:15pm, Eastern

Second Chance Month 2024 Highlights

On March 29, 2024, President Joseph R. Biden proclaimed April 2024 as Second Chance Month and called for observance of the month with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities.

Access the Proclamation