FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? OJP
JULY 15, 2002???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? 202/307-0703
CALIFORNIA TO RECEIVE FEDERAL FUNDS FOR OFFENDER
REENTRY EFFORTS
WASHINGTON,
DC ? Attorney General John Ashcroft announced today that California will
receive a total of $3,000,000 to support prisoner reentry initiatives. The
California awards were among 68 grants totaling $100 million to support efforts
to ensure public safety and reduce victimization by helping returning offenders
become productive members of their communities.? Forty-nine states, including California, and the District of
Columbia and Virgin Islands will receive the funds.
The
grants, awarded by the Justice Department?s Office of Justice Programs (OJP),
are part of the Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative, an unprecedented
collaboration among the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Health
and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Justice, Labor and Veterans
Affairs.??
?By
educating and treating offenders, we are not only helping them improve their
lives, we are reducing the chance they will return to crime and drug abuse,?
said Attorney General Ashcroft.?? ?My
hope is that the reentry programs will improve public safety and reduce the
burden on law enforcement and corrections.?
The
Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative will build on innovative
reentry efforts in states for both juveniles and adults with the goal that
these efforts serve as nationwide models.
Reentry efforts will begin while offenders are still in correctional facilities,
continue through offenders? transition back into the community and help sustain
ex-offenders through services such as employment training and substance abuse
and mental health treatment.? Efforts
will be tailored to any one, or combination of, the following age groups: Youth
(ages 14 ‑ 17); Young Adult (ages 18 ‑ 24) and Adult (ages
25+).? These efforts involve close
coordination among institutional corrections, law enforcement, community
corrections and other community-based service providers.
Within
California, the City of Oakland will receive $1,000,000 to build on the
existing Project Choice, which provides intensive post‑release services
and supervision to young Oakland parolees.
The California Department of Corrections will receive $2,000,000 to to
implement the Going Home‑Los Angeles Program (GHLA), which will combine
existing reentry programs for state parolees in Los Angeles, California. The
program will identify, solidify and disseminate information on best practices
in reentry services, examine and remove barriers that prevent coordination of
services, and intends to become self-sustaining.
?These
programs are all tailored to meet the unique needs of the state and local
communities,? added Ashcroft.? ?But they
draw together different disciplines to develop state-of-the art, integrated
reentry efforts.?
The
Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative is designed to address all
three stages involved in returning an offender to the community.? The process involves education, treatment
and life skills programs while offenders are in institutions, services and
supervision as they reenter the community and networks of agencies, and
individuals to support offenders as they become productive and law-abiding
members of their communities.
More
information about the Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative and other
OJP programs is available on OJP?s Website at www.ojp.usdoj.gov .? Media should contact OJP?s Office of
Congressional and Public Affairs at 202/307-0703.
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