By Jocelyn Bogen
February 2, 2009

Mayors Discuss Effective Jail Reentry Strategies

By Jocelyn Bogen

The Ex-Offender Reentry Task Force January 19 meeting focused on the status of the Second Chance Act legislation and how mayors can make successful jail reentry programs in cities. Task Force Co-Chair Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon was joined by Stefan Lobuglio, Chief of Pre-Release and Reentry Services with the Montgomery County Department of Correction and Rehabilitation Pre-Release Center, who discussed how to develop effective jail reentry programs.

Dixon opened the session with a brief legislative update on the status of The Second Chance Act, which was signed into law last April. Currently, the bill authorizes $165 million in grants to state and local government and community organizations to provide employment and housing services, substance abuse treatment, family programming, mentoring, victim support and other services that reduce recidivism by helping people returning from prison and jail succeed in their communities. However, no funds have yet to be appropriated. Dixon added, "As we heard last time from Representatives Davis and Fattah, the bill received bipartisan support in both chambers of Congress and from a broad spectrum of leaders representing state and local government, law enforcement, corrections, courts, service providers and community organizations."

Funding for FY2009 is expected to be finalized in February 2009. Last year, both the House and Senate provided funding for Second Chance Act programs in their draft appropriations bills for 2009: The House reserved $45 million for programs under the Second Chance Act in their draft bill and the Senate reserved $20 million.

Section 101 of the Second Chance Act in particular authorizes the Department of Justice to provide up to $55 million in grants to state and local government for reentry demonstration projects. It's unclear how much of that $55 million will be appropriated. However, the Department of Justice currently plans to release the solicitation for Section 101 grants on March 23, with applications due May 21.

To understand the magnitude of jail recidivism on cities, Dixon stated, "At the end of 2007, federal and state prisons held just under 1.6 million inmates - one in every 198 U.S. residents - and an additional 780,000 individuals were held in jails, at a total cost of $65 billion. This translates into a staggering number of releases. Some 700,000 people are released from state and federal prisons per year; another 9 to 14 million people are released from jails across the country."

Lobuglio provided an overview of how Montgomery County uses community-based reentry programs that serves up to 200 local, state and federal inmates who are within 12 months of release. One of the distinguishing qualities about Lobuglio facility is that it is not overcrowded. "Reentry plays a very important role in jail management. Reentry is carefully constructed and used to help a correctional system really manage the correctional resources, so the hardened cell, our most valuable resource, is used judiciously to keep those people who need to be kept behind bars," he added.

Lobuglio closed his discussion by advising mayor's when they return to city hall to ask their police chief or sheriff what are they doing for reentry locally. Lobuglio added, "If the response is ‘I don't know what reentry is?' then "not knowing" is not an adequate response. Law enforcement officials should know the number of probationers and paroles in your local jurisdiction; they should know number of state inmates coming back to your system. They should know the federal inmates coming back, as well as the number of individuals within jail who are cycling in and out. Then it is a matter of turning to the proper public/human service agencies, nonprofits and faith-based organizations which are out there to assist your efforts."