Building Second Chances: Tools for Local Reentry Coalitions

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PARTS 1 & 2
 

This toolkit is designed for local city, county, and community leaders who want to play an active role in improving reentry policy, practice, and outcomes. Within, you will find user-friendly references to seminal publications, research findings, and noteworthy examples of the foundational knowledge needed to design new reentry strategies and reinvigorate existing ones.

Part 2: Tools for Change Icon of pdf document


Introduction to Part 2

Part I of this toolkit led you through assessing whether your reentry strategy has the right foundations in place. In Part II, you will see how to put what you have learned into action to meet the specific needs of your community. For local reentry coalition leaders who already have a firm grasp on how the local reentry process operates, this Part is a good place to start.

Applying these tools will not necessarily be a linear process; many of them will come into play concurrently, so you might find yourself flipping back and forth among the sections in this part of the toolkit as your coalition embarks on its chosen set of reentry improvements. 

Part II of this toolkit is organized into three sections: 

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Section 1:
Linking and Leveraging Resources

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Section 2:
Changing Policy and Practice

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Section 3:
Building Broad Community Support

Your reentry strategy can succeed only if it has the resources to do so. This section covers how to harness the full potential of available resources and seek new resources as necessary. 

In this section, you will learn how to:

  • Assess existing resources and gaps
  • Leverage existing resources to maximize impact
  • Identify new sources of funding

Policy and practice change are the most effective ways to make a real difference in how reentry works on the ground in your community. This section will guide your local reentry coalition through developing and carrying out a policy and practice agenda.

In this section, you will learn how to:

  • Develop priorities and goals for change
  • Collectively pinpoint the right mechanisms
  • Compile a strategic plan
  • Cultivate buy-in to enact policy and practice changes
  • Monitor policy and practice implementation

Community members are valuable partners in furthering your local reentry coalition’s policy and practice agenda. This section explains how you can engage the community to advance reentry priorities.

In this section, you will learn how to:

  • Identify community members and networks to influence key decision makers
  • Develop strategic messaging
  • Promote broad-based support for policy, practice, and funding changes