FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? OJP
JULY 15, 2002???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? 202/307-0703
MASSACHUSETTS TO RECEIVE FEDERAL FUNDS FOR
OFFENDER REENTRY EFFORTS
WASHINGTON, DC ? Attorney General John Ashcroft announced today that
Massachusetts will receive a total of $1,999,745 to support prisoner reentry
initiatives. The Massachusetts 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 Massachusetts, 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 Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Department of Youth Services
will receive $999,668 to target high‑risk offenders ages 16‑21
returning to targeted neighborhoods in Boston. The Massachusetts Department of
Corrections will receive $1,000,077 to assess and assist in meeting the needs
of high-risk offenders ages 18-35 in housing, substance abuse, mental health,
and employment.
?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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