MIAMI – In a shocking display of compassion, the U.S. Attorney’s Office (USAO) staff lent a helping hand to approximately 100 incarcerated citizens at the South Florida Reception Center, South Unit Correctional Institution in Doral, Florida.
The Institutional Re-Entry Seminar, a collaboration with the South Florida Reentry Task Force, featured 15 agencies, including social workers, probation officers, and re-entry specialists. A guest speaker, who spent time behind bars, shared his life story, inspiring the soon-to-be released prisoners to turn their lives around.
Community Outreach Specialist Corey Mackay emphasized the importance of preparing prisoners for the challenges they will face upon reintegration. ‘They need to use every available resource, and if they do that, they can be successful,’ he said.
USAO staff provided resource materials with hundreds of community stakeholder contacts to assist with housing, health care, legal assistance, and jobs. According to Mackay, ‘The worst thing society can do is fail to support returning citizens when they rejoin their communities. That is when they need support the most.’
LEC/COS Chief and former Police Supervisor J.D. Smith echoed Mackay’s sentiments, stating, ‘When our returning citizens do well, our communities do well. We need to make their success a priority, and these seminars are a step in the right direction.’
Non-profit re-entry organizations are offering job readiness training, vocational training, and job placement services. Many of these organizations are also providing temporary housing through donations, with the goal of transitioning to long-term housing. Smith stressed the importance of stability, saying, ‘Imagine trying to reintegrate into a community and you don’t have stable housing. Being homeless is the wrong answer.’
The U.S. Attorney’s Office is committed to supporting prisoners as they reintegrate into society. As Mackay put it, ‘If they are living in your neighborhood, would you rather they succeed or reoffend?’ The answer, he said, is clear.
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