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Second Chance Month — Wednesdays: Education, Employment, and Housing

Education, Employment, and Housing MATERIALS

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Events

Outcomes-Based Contracting for Reentry and Housing Supports Cover

April 6, 2022 Outcomes-Based Contracting for Reentry and Housing Supports Panelists discuss how and why outcomes-based contracts can be used to support people reentering the community and how justice partners can use performance-driven contracting to help define outcomes and support getting desired results.

Understanding and Overcoming the Collateral Consequences of Criminal Conviction Cover

April 13, 2022 Understanding and Overcoming the Collateral Consequences of Criminal Conviction In this panel, staff from the National Inventory of Collateral Consequences of Crime (NICCC) hosted a discussion on the current state of collateral consequences across the country and state legislative efforts to address such consequences.

Building Student Leadership Opportunities During and After Incarceration Cover

April 13, 2022 Building Student Leadership Opportunities During and After Incarceration This webinar showcases how corrections education programs can create student leadership opportunities and promote student success.

Using American Rescue Plan and CARES Act Housing Resources to Support Reentry: HUD and Community Perspectives Cover

April 20, 2022 Using American Rescue Plan and CARES Act Housing Resources to Support Reentry: HUD and Community Perspectives This webinar features a message from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) focusing on Secretary Fudge’s guidance encouraging communities to prioritize people in reentry for the 70,000 ARP Emergency Housing Vouchers available nationwide, as well as HUD’s continued efforts to increase housing opportunities in this area.

Countdown To Pell Reinstatement Cover

April 20, 2022 Countdown to Pell Reinstatement: Getting Ready for Pell Reinstatement in 2023 This webinar highlights the impending reinstatement of Pell grants for eligible incarcerated people in 2023.

Manufacturing A Future Post Release Cover

April 27, 2022 Manufacturing a Future Post-Release: Two Paths to High-Skill Manufacturing Jobs This webinar highlights the work of Manufacturing Extension Partnerships (MEP) Centers—which are currently operating in all 50 states and Puerto Rico—that can be a resource to connect individuals reentering the community with employment in manufacturing.

Building Effective Partnerships with Continuums of Care Cover

April 27, 2022 Building Effective Partnerships with Continuums of Care to Increase Housing Options for People Leaving Prisons and Jails This webinar provides strategies for corrections leaders and staff to build these relationships, with a focus on establishing buy-in to serve a shared population and implementing community-wide prioritization and referral processes.

May 24, 2022 [RECORDING] Responding to Homelessness: Effective Strategies for Law Enforcement and Community Partners This webinar explores practical strategies communities across the U.S. are implementing to build and strengthen Police-Mental Health Collaborations to respond to homelessness.

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Resources

HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge

Brief HUD Actions to Address Reentry Housing Needs and Increase Public Safety On June 23, 2021, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Marcia L. Fudge outlined actions that the Department is taking to improve public safety by addressing the housing needs of citizens returning from jail, prison, and other detention, including through the recently awarded 70,000 emergency housing vouchers funded by the American Rescue Plan.

Screening Questionnaire cover image

Toolkit Assessing Housing Needs and Risks: A Screening Questionnaire This questionnaire from the National Reentry Resource Center, updated in April 2022, is intended to help reentry professionals better assess an individual’s unique housing needs and risk of homelessness upon returning to the community.

Correctional Education In Juvenile Justice Facilities Cover

Toolkit Correctional Education in Juvenile Justice Facilities This guidance package from the U.S. Department of Education (ED) highlights new guidance and technical assistance materials.

Connecting People Returning from Incarceration with Housing and Homelessness Assistance Cover

Brief Connecting People Returning from Incarceration with Housing and Homelessness Assistance This tipsheet from the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness provides practical tips for how corrections agencies, reentry service providers, state and local governments, and community partners can help break the cycles of homelessness and incarceration by helping people exiting the criminal justice system connect to available housing resources and find stability in their lives.

Two people seated next to another person standing in a classroom

Toolkit Evidenced-Based Workforce Training Series The Evidenced-Based Workforce Training Series, developed by the National Institute of Corrections and based on evidence-based practices, shows corrections staff how to combine cognitive behavioral interventions with motivational interviewing techniques to address offenders’ gainful attachment to the workforce and/or job loss.

Opening Doors, Returning Home Cover

Brief Opening Doors, Returning Home: How Public Housing Authorities Across the Country Are Expanding Access for People with Conviction Histories This brief shares examples and lessons gleaned from Vera’s varied and continued experience through the Opening Doors: Safely Increasing Access to Public Housing for People with Conviction Histories initiative that can help other jurisdictions expand housing access for people in reentry.

Lessons from Second Chance Pell: A Toolkit for Helping Incarcerated Students Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid Cover

Toolkit Lessons from Second Chance Pell: A Toolkit for Helping Incarcerated Students Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid The toolkit is designed to aid new and existing participants as they guide students through the complexities of filing for federal financial aid in prison, including completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, known as the FAFSA.

First Class: Starting a Postsecondary Education Program in Prison Cover

Report First Class: Starting a Postsecondary Education Program in Prison Vera created this guide for colleges and corrections departments seeking to set up new programs to help program coordinators launch a college-in-prison program—from the decision to undertake this work to the first day of class.

A Monumental Shift: Restoring Access to Pell Grants for Incarcerated Students Cover

Brief A Monumental Shift: Restoring Access to Pell Grants for Incarcerated Students This fact sheet from the Vera Institute of Justice provides further information on the background, purpose, and significance of the FAFSA Simplification Act.

Explainer: Building Effective Partnerships with Continuums of Care Cover

Brief Explainer: Building Effective Partnerships with Continuums of Care to Increase Housing Options for People Leaving Prisons and Jails This article from The Council of State Governments Justice Center (CSG) answers frequently asked questions about Continuum of Cares (CoCs') unique role in local homeless and housing assistance systems and how to build effective partnerships with them.

Four Steps to Expand Access to Housing brief cover image

Brief Action Points: Four Steps to Expand Access to Housing for People in the Justice System with Behavioral Health Needs This brief from The Council of State Governments Justice Center presents four steps state leaders should take to increase housing opportunities and improve justice and health outcomes for this population.

State Higher Education Expanding College in Prison article cover

Brief How State Higher Ed Leaders Are Expanding College in Prison This story from Margaret diZerega, Initiative Director for the Vera Institute of Justice's Center for Sentencing and Corrections and Unlocking Potential and Hannah Eddy, Communications Manager for Unlocking Potential, discusses the "closed doors" many individuals with a criminal record face in pursuing post-secondary education and highlights the forthcoming reinstatement of federal need-based financial aid—or Pell Grants—for people in prison as a solution with the potential to open many doors come July 1, 2023.

Screening Questionnaire cover image

Toolkit Assessing Housing Needs and Risks: A Screening Questionnaire This questionnaire from the National Reentry Resource Center, updated in April 2022, is intended to help reentry professionals better assess an individual’s unique housing needs and risk of homelessness upon returning to the community.

U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia L. Fudge

Brief Eliminating Barriers That May Unnecessarily Prevent Individuals with Criminal Histories from Participating in HUD Programs On April 12, 2022, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Marcia L. Fudge instituted a HUD-wide effort to review programs and put forth changes that ensure that HUD funding recipients are as inclusive as possible of individuals with criminal histories.

Guide to Federal Employment for Second Chance Applicants Cover

Toolkit Guide to Federal Employment for Second Chance Applicants This Office of Personnel Management Guide to Federal Employment for Second Chance Applicants contains helpful information about the Federal hiring process and how the rules apply to Second Chance applicants.

U.S. Department of Education Announces Expansion of Second Chance Pell Experiment This press release, from the U.S. Department of Education, highlights actions the Department has taken to help incarcerated individuals access educational programs as part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s broader efforts to support reentry, empower formerly incarcerated persons, enhance public safety, and strengthen our communities and our economy.

Fighting Chances Cover

Fighting Chances This blogpost from Homeroom, the official blog of the U.S. Department of Education, highlights Damian Archer, one of the first recipients in Maine of a Pell Grant through the Second Chance Pell Experimental Sites Initiative.

Why Housing Matters for Successful Reentry and Public Safety This blog post features Calvin Johnson, Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Research, Evaluation, and Monitoring (OREM), discussing HUD's participation in Second Chance Month activities commemorating the Fair Housing Act and celebrating collective efforts to ameliorate discrimination in the housing market.

Second Chance Month Events and Resources

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