The first cabinet-level Interagency Reentry Council meeting, hosted by Attorney General Eric Holder, was held on 01/05/11 to bring together federal departments and agencies to discuss enhancing public safety and to support reentry.
The council consists of 19 agencies which includes the following: Department of Justice, Department of Labor, Department of Education, Department of Health and Human Services, The Department of Health and Human Services, US Department of Agriculture, Veterans Administration, Department of the Interior, Domestic Policy Council, Whitehouse Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, Office of the Vice President, Office of Management and Budget, Social Security Administration, Office of Personnel Management, US Interagency Council on Homelessness, Internal Revenue Service, Office of National Drug Control Policy, Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency, and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
The Reentry Council adopted a mission statement that proclaims the following objectives:
1. Make communities safer by reducing recidivism and victimization
2. Assist those returning from prison and jail in becoming productive citizens
3. Save taxpayer dollars by lowering the direct and collateral costs of incarceration
The Council also discussed establishing goals for the group, deciding on:
Identifying research and evidence based practices, policies and programs that promote the Reentry Council’s mission
Identifying Federal policy opportunities and barriers
Promoting Federal statutory, policy and, practice changes that will reduce crime and improve the well-being of formerly incarcerated persons, their families, and communities
Identifying and Supporting initiatives in the areas of education, employment, health, housing, faith, substance abuse treatment, and family and community support of formerly incarcerated persons
Leveraging resources across agencies
Coordinating messaging and communications concerning reentry and the Administration’s response to it
The next Reentry Council meeting will be held in July. The Council hopes to deliver reports at that time that will focus on how the government can better coordinate and leverage reentry resources, remove barriers, and use a “bully pulpit” to promote reentry, and eliminate myths surrounding it, clarify reentry policies, and establish that reentry is a significant issue that needs to, and will, be addressed.
Source: Federal Reentry Council
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