Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative-II

The Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Discretionary Grant Program (Reentry) was developed through a federal partnership by the Departments of Justice, Labor, Health and Human Service, Education, Housing and Urban Development, Commerce, Veterans Affairs and Agriculture. The federal partners' goal is to help state and local agencies navigate the complex field of existing state formula and block grants and to assist them in accessing, redeploying and leveraging those resources to support the components of a comprehensive reentry program. In addition to the new funding, the federal partners are identifying funds from their respective agencies that are already available to state and local agencies to provide the necessary services to implement a reentry program. The Reentry Program is designed to provide funding to state and local units of government to develop and implement institutional and community corrections-based offender reentry programs through collaborative partnerships with government, social service, faith-based, and community organizations, in order to reduce recidivism, increase public safety, and successfully reintegrate serious and violent offenders back into the community. Reentry programs are required to partner with a state adult or juvenile correctional agency.

Four counties in Michigan are preparing to implement this program, which is designed to offer enhanced programming in the areas of substance abuse and mental health services. Substance abuse services will include six months of weekly intensive group participation, including structured workshops and community awareness focused on the dangers of substance abuse. Mental health services will include weekly small group forums to address positive mental health behaviors for high-risk youth. These groups will include topics such as, coping skills, problem solving, conflict resolution, anger management, legal recreational activities and positive self esteem development. This program will allow Michigan the resources to purchase services that otherwise would not be available for both the youth and their families which includes both parents and siblings.

CA/NCF