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Removing Barriers to Reentry

News/Updates

SURJ Reentry Report Online

The final report of the Delaware Reentry Roundtable is now available online. A preliminary report was distributed in draft form to all Roundtable participants in the hope that it would inform discussion at the Delaware Reentry Roundtable on September 29, 2006.

When distributed at the Roundtable in September 2006, this report was still a work in progress. We used feedback from Roundtable participants as well as the policy recommendations developed at the Roundtable to compile this final version. We tried to make this report as comprehensive as possible so it can serve as a resource for all those working with ex-offenders and reentry issues in Delaware.

Lt. Gov. John C. Carney, Jr. mentions the Delaware Reentry Roundtable in a Delaware Voice column.

Delaware Reentry Roundtable a Success!

The Delaware Reentry Roundtable, co-sponsored by SURJ and the Delaware Center for Justice (DCJ), took place on September 29, 2006 at Widener University School of Law. The Roundtable brought together close to 100 key stakeholders to address reentry issues, including state policymakers, community leaders, and criminal justice experts. Participants were equipped with reentry data and charged with developing research-based recommendations to improve the success of ex-offenders reentering our communities.

The day began with a presentation profiling Delaware’s offender population given by Dr. Danilo Yanich of the University of Delaware. At lunch, JoAnne Page, President and CEO of The Fortune Society, addressed the audience and shared her experiences of working with ex-offenders in New York. The event also included breakout sessions in the morning and afternoon addressing the barriers ex-offenders face in terms of housing, employment, physical/mental health, and substance abuse.

"Where can you make the critical inch forward?" asked JoAnne Page. She offered "administrative twitches" as a possibility.

The Delaware Reentry Roundtable was an important first step toward significantly improving Delaware’s criminal justice system by addressing a problem of increasing concern: how to better ensure the successful transition of ex-offenders from prison to our communities. However, much work remains to be done. SURJ plans to continue the momentum of the Roundtable by issuing a final report that will include action steps and policy initiatives designed to improve reentry in Delaware. Providing inmates with identification upon release that is recognized by all state agencies and compiling a directory of available services for released inmates are examples of the many recommendations that were discussed at the Roundtable. SURJ is also planning public education events about ex-offender reentry during the winter and early spring. See recommendations discussed at the Roundtable