Posted on 06/27/2014 4:22:43 AM PDT by YourAdHere
The U.S. Department of Labor is releasing $74 million in grants to be invested in reintegration services for ex-felons and juvenile offenders, the department announced June 19.
The goal, Labor Secretary Thomas E. Perez said in a statement, is to “help ex-offenders turn around their lives and get back on their feet.” He added that the money will fund the agency’s Face Forward and Training to Work programs, initiatives already underway in communities where ex-offenders need help in orienting themselves to post-incarceration life.
The grants, he said, “will continue to build on this success by expanding services to even more people who want to make a successful transition back into their communities.”
According to the Center for the Study of Social Policy, ex-offenders face substantial barriers when trying to reintegrate into their communities after release, including lack of access to education, vocational training, gainful employment, housing, substance abuse treatment and mental health services.
Ex-offenders—disproportionately Black males—faced with such daunting odds often turn back to what they know, crime, leading to startling recidivism rates.
According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ study on recidivism among state prisoners released in 30 states in 2005, about two-thirds (67.8 percent) were arrested for a new crime within three years, and three-quarters (76.6 percent) were arrested within five years.
“With more than half a million people being released from state and federal prisons each year, re-entry job training programs like the ones the Labor Department is funding today are a key part of ensuring people coming out of prison have the opportunity to learn the skills they need to successfully re-enter their communities,” said Deputy Attorney General James Cole in a statement.
“Given that many of these individuals have limited skills and inadequate education, we cannot simply release them and expect that they will, on their own, be able to rebuild their lives and get a job with a livable wage. That’s why programs such as these are so important to ensuring they get a helping hand and a genuine chance to succeed.”
Grantees are expected to provide a range of services that include case management, mentoring, education and training that leads to industry-recognized credentials.
Twenty-one grants, totaling more than $44 million, will be awarded for the second round of the Face Forward initiative. The program combines best practices in workforce and juvenile justice strategies, including sealing juvenile justice records and handling juvenile delinquency complaints outside the court system, to improve participants’ chances of success.
The other 30 million will go to 17 organizations through the Training to Work — Adult Reentry program, which will help men and women participating in state or local work-release programs gain the job skills and credentials necessary to succeed in-demand occupations upon rejoining society.
Both grant programs target areas with high poverty and high crime, including cities like New Orleans, Chicago and Newark, N.J.
If it would earn itself back in cutting the losses due to crime it might not be the worst gimme in the world.
Big, fat IF. There are many slips betwixt the cup and the lip.
More of our money going to Obama’s sons.
I’ve no doubt they’ll spend it wisely.
Anecdotal evidence indicates that shooting them is the fastest way to ensure, post facto, that they were turning their live around.
“Ex-offenders—disproportionately Black males—faced with such daunting odds often turn back to what they know, crime, leading to startling recidivism rates.”
Well, you need to have a mindset of change.
Something that needs to be internalized.
It takes great strength to make a change in your intent.
Could counselling help?
Dunno
But, maybe counseling could help.
The problem is that most criminals like take advantage of free services for their synthetic responsibility, a certain power that they got one over “they system”.
Most criminals, however, will not and have real intention of changing.
these Programs are a means to an end, used by men of a certain expediency.
I think they are a waste of money.
Much like the alcoholic who recognizes they have a problem, they “Decide” they must change to improve their lives and take whatever steps they must to leave that life behind.
Good analogy.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.