Did you know that 70,000 people will return from state prison to their New Jersey communities over the next 5 years? For more facts about reentry in New Jersey,
download the fact sheet
[PDF: 135KB/1Page]
Civil Consequences of
Criminal Convictions in New Jersey:
Fact Sheets
Individuals leaving prison in New Jersey face many legal barriers to successful reintegration. To learn about specific restrictions in various areas, click on the links below.
The New Jersey Institute
For Social Justice, Inc.
IN THIS ISSUE
-
The JEHT Foundation of New York Awards $4.67 Million to the Kansas Department of Corrections' Reentry Program >>
- Reentry Policy Council Highlights Basic Adult Education in Prisons>>
- New York City Resolution to Propose Tax Credits for Businesses that Hire Ex-Offenders>>
- Symposium on Racial Fairness in Criminal Justice>>
- International Association of Reentry Conference>>
- New Report on Incarceration and Crime Reduction>>
- New Jersey Update: State Parole Board Announces Launch of "Evidence-Based Practices Supervision Program" >> Assembly Hearing on Barriers to Reentry>>
The JEHT Foundation of New York Awards $4.67 Million to the Kansas Department of Corrections' Reentry Program
On January 4, 2007, Governor Kathleen Sebelius announced that the Kansas Department of Corrections received a grant from the JEHT Foundation for its offender reentry and risk reduction efforts. The program aims to implement the state’s plan to increase public safety and reduce recidivism by helping individuals 1) maintain housing; 2) secure employment; and 3) reunite with their families upon release from incarceration.
Download the grant announcement
Learn more about Kansas' reentry and risk reduction efforts
_____________________________________________________________
Reentry Policy Council Highlights Basic Adult Education in Prisons
According to a bulletin from the Reentry Policy Council (RPC), several states have recently implemented incentive systems to promote participation in basic adult education programs during incarceration. The RPC cites the expanded use of such incentive initiatives in Missouri, Michigan, Virginia, Illinois, and Tennessee, promoting educational participation through the provision of accelerated parole consideration and sentence credits. The Washington State Institute for Public Policy’s (WSIPP) 2006 study, “Evidence-Based Adult Corrections Programs: What Works and What Does Not,” found that basic adult education programs in prison reduce recidivism.
Download recent in-prison education bills in Tennessee, Illinois, and Virginia
New York City Resolution to Propose Tax Credits for Businesses that Hire Ex-Offenders
New York City Councilmember Letitia James, a member of the Working Families Party from Brooklyn, will introduce a resolution to Council at its February 1 meeting that proposes granting tax credits to businesses that hire “qualified ex-offenders.” The resolution calls for the state legislature to adopt legislation that would allow the City Council to amend local tax laws to include the credits, modeling a bill passed by the Philadelphia City Council last October that provides $5,000 for each new job a business creates for an ex-offender. State Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries and State Senator Velmanette Montgomery have said they will introduce the necessary legislation at the state level. Also pledging logistical support is a group of community organizations that includes the Fifth Avenue Committee, the Crown Heights Mediation Center, and the Doe Fund, an organization that provides job training and placement services for ex-offenders.
Download Philadelphia City Council bill
Symposium on Racial Fairness in Criminal Justice
On March 2-3 at Columbia University in New York City, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and Columbia Law School will mark the 20th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision McCleskey v. Kemp – in which the Court upheld the death penalty despite its disparate impact on African-Americans – with a symposium that brings together leading scholars, activists, and practitioners in the fields of race, crime and law. The Symposium, “Pursuing Racial Fairness in Criminal Justice: Twenty Years After McCleskey v. Kemp,” will explore the McCleskey decision’s effect on increasing racial disproportionality within the criminal justice system and will seek to develop strategies for reversing these trends. Presenters will include Anthony Amsterdam, New York University School of Law; David Baldus, author of the “Baldus Study;” John Charles Boger, Counsel of Record for Warren McCleskey; Charles Ogletree, Harvard Law School professor and author; and Bryan Stevenson, Director of the Equal Justice Initiative of Alabama. All panels are free to the public.
Click here for more information
_____________________________________________________________International Association of Reentry Conference
The International Association of Reentry will host a conference, “Reentry: Recasting Corrections Locally, Nationally and Internationally,” on March 18-21 in Baltimore, Maryland. The featured speakers will be Christy Visher, Principal Research Associate, Urban Institute; Marc Mauer, Executive Director, Sentencing Project; and Peggy Burke, Principal, Center for Effective Public Policy. Sessions will include “Offender Reentry at the Local Level,” “Transition from Prison to Community Projects,” “Family Reunification & Domestic Violence,” and others.
Click here for more information and registration details
_____________________________________________________________
New Report on Incarceration and Crime Reduction
The Vera Institute of Justice has released a new report, "Reconsidering Incarceration: New Directions for Reducing Crime," which questions the crime reduction value of increasing incarceration. The report recommends that policymakers consider investing in areas such as education, job training, or policing, which show equal or better correlation with lower rates of crime.
_____________________________________________________________
NEW JERSEY UPDATE:
State Parole Board Announces Launch of "Evidence-Based Practices Supervision Program"
On January 18, State Parole Board Chairman John D’Amico announced that the New Jersey State Parole Board has launched a program of reforms collectively dubbed the “Evidence-Based Practices Supervision Program” (EBP). Supported by grant funding from the National Institute of Corrections, the new EBP approach emphasizes “qualitative factors that have a direct effect on successful reintegration,” including education, job training, treatment, family reunification, faith-based programs, and other interventions that will help parolees achieve positive outcomes. The program will be implemented throughout the agency’s twenty district offices in the coming months.
Assembly Hearing on Barriers to Reentry
On January 22, the Assembly Regulatory Oversight Committee held a hearing on barriers to reentry and the progress of the Attorney General’s station house adjustment mandate. The Committee, chaired by Assemblyman William Payne (D-Essex), received testimony that highlighted barriers to employment, housing, and public assistance and policies to mitigate the impact of these barriers.
Download testimony on barriers to reentry
Learn more about collateral consequences of criminal convictions in New Jersey
Learn more about the station house adjustment program
________________________________________________
For more information about news or event sharing contact rgreenberg@njisj.org. To subscribe or unsubscribe to the New Jersey Reentry Digest, visit the subscription page.