domingo, 1 de mayo de 2016

Partnership Posts: This week is National Reentry Week!

Partnership Posts: This week is National Reentry Week!



HHS Partnership Center w/ Text Transparent



Partnership Posts! THIS is National Reentry Week

Did you know?
  • Each year, more than 600,000 citizens return to our neighborhoods after serving time in federal and state prisons.  Another 11.4 million individuals cycle through local jails. 
  • Adjusting for population, the incarceration rate grew by more than 220 percent between 1980 and 2014. The U.S. incarceration rate is higher than the any other country in the OECD, and is more than four times the world average.
  • Nearly one in three Americans of working age have had some sort of encounter with the criminal justice system - mostly for relatively minor, non-violent offenses, and sometimes from decades in the past. 
  • The long-term impact of a criminal record prevents many people from obtaining employment, housing, higher education, and credit - and these barriers affect returning individuals even if they have turned their lives around and are unlikely to reoffend.
At its heart, America is a nation of second chances. That’s why the Obama Administration has taken major steps to make our criminal justice system fairer, more efficient, and more effective at reducing recidivism and helping formerly incarcerated individuals contribute to their communities.  To highlight this important work, the Justice Department has designated this week as National Reentry Week.  
As a part of those efforts, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)announced that they have strengthened access to health care for individuals transitioning from incarceration back to their communities. New Medicaid guidanceupdates decades-old policy and clarifies that individuals who are currently on probation, parole or in home confinement are not considered inmates of a public institution. According to a report released by HHS, access to quality health care of these individuals post-release is an important public health issue. Medicaid coverage connects individuals to the care they need once they are in the community and can help lower health care costs, hospitalizations and emergency department visits, as well as decrease mortality and recidivism for justice-involved individuals.
Also as a part of National Reentry Week, the U.S. Department of Justice announced creation of the "Roadmap to Reentry," to help those who have paid their debt to society prepare for substantive opportunities beyond the prison gates, promote family unity, contribute to the health of our economy, advance public safety and sustain the strength of our communities.  
The White House also announced the completion of an economic report that looks at the costs, benefits, and consequences of incarceration and other criminal justice policies. For instance, the probability that a family is in poverty increases by nearly 40 percent while a father is incarcerated.  Also, it is estimated that more than 5 million children have a parent that has ever been incarcerated, and rates of parental incarceration are 2 to 7 times higher for Black and Hispanic children than White children. These and other facts in the report help to underscore the need for the Administration's holistic approach to criminal justice reform that creates a fairer and smarter system in the community, the cell block and the courtroom.
The White House is calling on businesses to invest in their communities and eliminate unnecessary hiring barriers for individuals with criminal records. The White House is challenging businesses to take on the Fair Chance Business Pledge, a nationwide call-to-action to accomplish the shared goal of creating a stronger set of opportunities for people who have been impacted by the criminal justice system. We hope more businesses will join the effort and strongly encourage each of you to forward the challenge to your networks.
Additional resources for reentry include:
Reentry Week is not over yet.  Please continue to spread the word about National Reentry Week.  If you get involved and share on social media, please use the hashtag: #reentryweek.

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