Lynch Touts Reforms for Ex-Con Reentry

Philadelphia, PA – Attorney General Loretta Lynch today announced the “Roadmap to Reentry,” a comprehensive vision to reduce recidivism through reentry reforms at the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP).

Each year, more than 600,000 citizens return to our neighborhoods after serving time in federal and state prisons. Another 11.4 million individuals cycle through local jails. And nearly one in three Americans of working age have had some sort of encounter with the criminal justice system — mostly for relatively minor, non-violent offenses, and sometimes from decades in the past.

The long-term impact of a criminal record prevents many people from obtaining employment, housing, higher education, and credit — and these barriers affect returning individuals even if they have turned their lives around and are unlikely to reoffend.

The “Roadmap to Reentry” is aligned with the work of the Federal Interagency Reentry Council, which has been working since its creation five years ago to reduce recidivism and improve employment, education, housing, health and child welfare outcomes.

The principles outlined in the “Roadmap to Reentry” are five-fold:

Principle I: Upon incarceration, every inmate should be provided an individualized reentry plan tailored to his or her risk of recidivism and programmatic needs.
Principle II: While incarcerated, each inmate should be provided education, employment training, life skills, substance abuse, mental health, and other programs that target their criminogenic needs and maximize their likelihood of success upon release.
Principle III: While incarcerated, each inmate should be provided the resources and opportunity to build and maintain family relationships, strengthening the support system available to them upon release.
Principle IV: During transition back to the community, halfway houses and supervised release programs should ensure individualized continuity of care for returning citizens.
Principle V: Before leaving custody, every person should be provided comprehensive reentry-related information and access to resources necessary to succeed in the community.

As part of the national effort to increase awareness about these challenges, the Attorney General also sent a letter to governors with a request to permit citizens returning to their communities to exchange their Bureau of Prisons ID for a state ID, making it easier for them to access vital services.

The “Roadmap to Reentry” is a significant step forward in reducing recidivism and promoting successful reentry for those who have paid their debt to society.

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