Friday, October 24, 2008

Another Reentry Strategy

Though this new reentry strategy is from law enforcement, who surely have a much deeper knowledge of the criminal world culture than traditional rehabilitation practitioners and academics, and in this respect will probably have a greater level of success—though at a current success rate of 30% virtually any improvement is to be desired—the chances of it being largely successful is not good.

They do call for the involvement of former criminals who have reformed their lives, but it is almost an afterthought, as noted in this excerpt.

“Individual community members, who may or may not be connected to other stakeholder groups, have valuable contributions as well. People who have returned from prison can personally describe the challenges they faced and services they received that helped them become productive community members. Their messages can be conveyed during program orientation meetings and other forums.” (pp. 23-24)