Emmis Community Outreach's List: Special Topics-Prisoner Re-Entry

The mission of the Second Chance Campaign of New Jersey is to achieve the safe and successful reintegration of adults and juveniles returning home from incarceration by promoting policies that remove barriers to productive citizenship. The Campaign agenda includes measures that will improve the safety and security of New Jersey's families and communities, save state and municipal dollars, and promote racial equity.

Americans of all political perspectives believe that crime and punishment must go hand in hand, but they want to see a prison door that isn't a revolving door. An ever increasing number of families have seen sons and daughters, cousins, spouses, childhood friends, and others return home with the intention of becoming productive members of the community, only to find the barriers to getting a job, paying down debts, finishing their education, getting stable housing, and supporting their families insurmountable. Their failure is costly, not only for their families and the towns and cities in which they live, but for the state as a whole.

The Second Chance Campaign is committed to the agenda first laid out by the New Jersey Reentry Roundtable, which brought together a broad range of stakeholders and experts to analyze what we know about prisoner reentry in New Jersey and make policy and practice recommendations to address the issue comprehensively. As presented by Roundtable Co-Chairs John Farmer, Jr.and Stanley Van Ness, the Roundtable's final report, Coming Home for Good, lays out the core principles that should guide New Jersey's reentry strategy, including:

- Begin reentry preparation at entry.
- Manage the transition back home.
- Remove unnecessary barriers to reentry success.
- Support neighborhoods and families.

The Reentry National Media Outreach Campaign is designed to support the work of community and faith-based organizations through offering media resources that will facilitate community discussion and decision making about solution-based reentry programs. Based on the belief that diverse media play an essential role in motivating and mobilizing community action, the campaign will expand public awareness and work in partnership with local organizations and initiatives to foster public safety and support healthy communities.

A long-term effort, the Reentry National Media Outreach Campaign is unique in that it incorporates a number of public television documentaries over several years. The stepped broadcast dates for the various productions support a comprehensive campaign that will effectively reach multiple audiences. All productions incorporate the theme of reentry into family and community by individuals who were formerly incarcerated, which provides the title “Reentry” for this enhanced umbrella initiative. The extended timeline means heightened exposure for an awareness effort and the opportunity to build maximum impact.

This pathfinder is a guide to locating relevant research on the topic of prisoner reentry published since the year 2000. We begin with a list of encyclopedias (call numbers are listed) in the field of criminal justice in order to provide a broad overview of related topics. A list of recent books and reports is included to guide the reader to key recent publications in the field. Relevant journal articles on prisoner reentry are abundant. Periodical databases are named and search strategies suggested. The section on special issues lists numerous journal issues devoted entirely to this topic. They are available either in print in the library or online from the Library’s home page. Lastly, online sources for reputable statistics, websites and associations related to prisoner reentry are included.

From MIT