Oregon Youth Offender Reentry Project

The Second Chance Act of 2007 (Pub. L. 110-199) supports a comprehensive response to the increasing number of people who are released from prison, jail, and juvenile facilities each year and are returning to their communities. The Second Chance Act will help juvenile participants released from residential confinement to successfully transition back into society. Section 101 of the Act authorizes grants to state and local governments, territories, and federally recognized Indian tribes that they may use for demonstration projects to promote the safe and successful reintegration of individuals who have been incarcerated into the community.

The Oregon Youth Authority (OYA) and the Oregon Juvenile Department Directors Association propose the Oregon Youth Offender Reentry Project (YRP) to improve outcomes for youth released to parole from OYA youth correctional facilities. OYA is requesting $750,000 to help fund continued development of a comprehensive infrastructure to provide these youth with contiguous alcohol and drug (AOD) treatment and other transitional support, such as access to appropriate mental and physical health services, education/vocational training, employment, housing, independent living skills, and other reentry services needed for positive re-engagement. YRP will formalize and fortify Oregon's existing nascent transition infrastructure. Specifically, YRP will target high-risk youth with AOD or AOD/mental health treatment needs who are supervised in three geographic jurisdictions where data show a disproportionate number of youth who have AOD transition needs and who fail on parole. YRP will provide details and documentation to assist other jurisdictions in replicating the reentry infrastructure. The key measure of project success is a comprehensive reentry strategy that leads to a 50% reduction in recidivism in the target population after five years. CA/NCF