Speaking at Project Safe Neighborhood’s annual conference in New Orleans, Attorney General Eric Holder discussed how the Obama administration is committed to replacing the broken criminal justice reentry system with innovative new programs designed for success.
Costing $60 billion a year, the federal budget for corrections fails to reduce recidivism rates, or provide much needed help to the formerly incarcerated, remarked Holder. Holder admitted that the criminal justice system does little to aid ex-offenders when they are released. Citing that two-thirds of people released from prison are rearrested within three years, Holder called for a “new approach.
Preparing for reentry is a crucial part of ensuring public safety. Under the Second Chance Act the Justice Department allocated $28 million for reentry initiatives, according to Holder. Another $100 million is available in 2011 for reentry programs. Holder announced the establishment of the Sentencing and Corrections Working Group whose aim is to reexamine the existing federal sentencing practices and to discover more viable ways to help federal prisoners with transition back into their communities.
Calling for an interagency working group whose sole focus is reentry issues, Holder is seeking insight from various agencies as to how to create more effective programs for providing housing, job training and other issues pertaining to reentry.
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