The Reentry Orientation Program

People coming out of prisons and jails want to be oriented to what they face and how they can make it in the outside world. That’s true of those getting caught up in the criminal justice system for the first time. And it can be just as true of those who have been hardened by years of being locked up. Ideally, prisons and jails would provide ambitious orientation programs. These orientation programs would help inmates grasp exactly what they can expect, where they can find support, and how they can best work with those available to help them. Sadly, though, only a tiny number of those leaving prisons and jails benefit from such programs. Hundreds of thousands of others all across the US are left pretty much on their own to face the significant challenges of reentry.

In response to requests from those coming out of jails and prisons and their families – and diverse problem solvers working with this population – we at the Center for Community Problem Solving have drawn on decades of expertise and several years of intensive research to build an extensive Reentry Orientation Program. We strive through this Reentry Orientation Program to connect those coming out of jails and prisons to available resources in their communities. And, in the longer run, we aim to improve dramatically how effectively we work together in anticipating and dealing with reentry challenges, both in our communities and in jails and prisons.

Serving as both a pre- and post-release resource, The Reentry Orientation Program now offers comprehensive workshops and written materials that walk participants step-by-step through the sometimes unwieldy processes of applying for various forms of identification and government benefits; getting emergency food, shelter, and clothing; finding and keeping affordable housing; accessing educational and employment opportunities; managing family and childcare issues; and meeting physical and mental health needs. To complement these workshops and written materials, we have created The Reentry Guide: A Handbook for People Coming Out of Jail or Prison and for Their Families and Communities. In the Guide, we lay out in great detail all that the comprehensive workshops aim in person to share with pre- and post-release audiences. Organized both by service area and alphabetical order, the Guide includes highly accessible and extraordinarily thorough information about the hundreds of service providers the Center has interviewed – including cross-streets, business hours, eligibility (immigration, age, income) requirements, languages spoken, and detailed program information – and ways to access those services. Together the Guide and the workshops (and related written materials) serve as an unprecedented resource for solving immediate problems, for highlighting gaps that remain to be filled by coalitions of public, private, and civic coordination, and for galvanizing the collective spirit necessary to make such improvements a practical reality.