OSPC coordinates a group of organizations working on a wide range of issues affecting individuals returning to the nation's communities from prison and jail. More than 650,000 people are released from prisons each year and thousands more reenter society each year from jails. Studies indicate that 15% to 27% will go to homeless shelters upon release. One year after release, approximately 60% of former inmates are not employed. They face many barriers to getting a job including substance abuse problems, spotty work histories, poor educational backgrounds, physical and mental health problems, and biases against them. According to the Department of Justice 67% of persons released from prisons are rearrested within three years of release.
The reentry working group supports legislation to reduce recidivism and better protect public safety by helping former prisoners make a safe and successful reentry. Reentry legislation should provide increased federal support to state, local governments and non-profit organizations for programs providing needed services and treatment to persons reentering society. OSPC supports removing the barriers that make it unnecessarily difficult for persons with criminal records to find employment and housing. Prisoners must have access to needed educational and treatment services before release and continuity of services after release.
The working group has worked closely with a bipartisan group of Senators and Representatives who are sponsoring the Second Chance Act. Sponsors hope that the legislation, first introduced in 2004 during the last Congress, will be enacted into law this year.
In the House of Representatives, the Second Chance Act, H.R. 1704, is cosponsored by 102 Representatives - 63 Democrats and 39 Republicans. Lead sponsors are Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT), Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL), and Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH). The Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Crime, Rep. Howard Coble (R-NC), is a cosponsor as is the subcommittee's ranking Democrat, Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA). On February 15, 2006 the Second Chance Act was reported favorably by the Subcommittee, clearing it for consideration by the full House Judiciary Committee.
In the Senate, the Second Chance Act, S. 1934, has 16 cosponsors including 9 Republican Senators and 7 Democrats. Lead sponsors are Judiciary Committee Chairman Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) and committee members Senator Joseph Biden (D-DE) and Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS). Other cosponsors are Senators Daniel Akaka (D-HI), Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Mike DeWine (R-OH), Elizabeth Dole (R-NC), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Chuck Hagel (R-NE), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Jon Kyl (R-AZ), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Barack Obama (D-IL), Rick Santorum (R-PA), Charles Schumer (D-NY), and Jim Talent (R-MO). A hearing on the Second Chance Act by the Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Corrections and Rehabilitations is expected.
