Partnering with Jails to Improve Reentry: A Guidebook for Community-Based Organizations

A Guidebook fo rCommunity-BasedOrg anizati onsJOHNJAYCOLLEGE OFCRIMINALJUSTICEAnna Cr aytonLiz ResslerDebbieA.MukamalTHEURBANINST ITUTEJesse JannettaALTE RNATIVESOLUTIONSASS OCIATESKevin WarwickAUG US T201 0Partne ri ng withJai ls to ImproveRee ntry A Guideb oo k fo rCommunity-BasedOrganizati onsJOHNJAYCOLLEGE OFCRIMINALJUSTIC EAnnaCraytonLiz ResslerDebbieA.MukamalTHEURBANINSTITUTEJesse Janne ttaALTERNATIVESOLUTIONSASS OCIATESKevin WarwickAUG US T201 0Par tner in g wi thJai ls to ImproveRee ntry This report was prepared under grant 2005-RE-CX-K148, awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance.TheBureau of Justice Assistance is a component of the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureauof Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Preven-tion, and the Office for Victims of Crime. Points of view or opinions in this document are those of the authorsand do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.The Urban Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan policy research and educational organization that examinesthe social,economic,and governance problems facing the nation.The views expressed are those of the authorsand should not be attributed to the Urban Institute, its trustees, or its funders. iiiAbout the AuthorsvAcknowledgmentsviiIntroduction11 Understanding the Big Picture: Incarceration and Jail Reentry3Jails in the Context of the Criminal Justice System32 Developing and Sustaining a Partnership with the Local Jail9What’s in It for You9Steps for Building an Effective Partnership9Working Together to Improve Client Outcomes163 Working with the Jail Population and in the Jail Environment21Challenges Facing Jail Populations21Challenges to Providing Services in a Jail23Understanding Jail Culture244 Examples of Strong Partnerships between CBOs and Jails27Rikers Island Discharge Enhancement27Hampden County Public Health Model for Corrections27Resolve to Stop the Violence Project28Montgomery County Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation:Pre-Release and Reentry Services 29Boston Reentry Initiative295 Resources for the Field31Organizations and Initiatives Focusing on Reentry31Reports and Publications on Reentry33Conclusion35Appendix 1: Sample Documents37Memorandum of Understanding: Sullivan County, NH38Memorandum of Understanding: Santa Barbara, CA39Release of Information: Douglas County, KS, Jail45Release of Information:Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center,Douglas County,KS47Appendix 2: Partnership Profiles51References57Contents vAbout the AuthorsAnna Craytonis the deputy director of researchwith the Prisoner Reentry Institute at John Jay Col-lege of Criminal Justice. Ms. Crayton has worked ona number of projects pertaining to sentencing, cor-rections, and reentry, including the development of anational resource guide to assist individuals in plan-ning for their education upon release from prisonand a quantitative analysis of the effects of long-termincarceration on reentry. Additionally, she is a doc-toral student in criminal justice at the City Univer-sity of New York Graduate Center.Liz Ressleris a research assistant at the PrisonerReentry Institute at John Jay College of CriminalJustice. Ms. Ressler has worked on a variety of proj-ects related to prisoner reentry and juvenile justice.Prior to joining the Prisoner Reentry Institute,she worked as a resident supervisor for the Pre-Release Center at Montgomery County Depart-ment of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Ms. Ressleris currently pursuing a master’s degree in social workfrom NewYork University.Debbie A. Mukamalis the founding director ofthe Prisoner Reentry Institute at John Jay College ofCriminal Justice. She is responsible for overseeing allof the Institute’s projects,including the design andimplementation of an innovative neighborhood-based reentry service initiative and the developmentof research and effective tools in the areas of entre-preneurship, correctional education, long-term incar-ceration, and reentry from local jails. Before joiningJohn Jay College, Ms. Mukamal served as the found-ing director of the National H.I.R.E. Network anda staff attorney at the Legal Action Center, where herwork focused on the collateral consequences of crim-inal records. Ms. Mukamal holds a Juris Doctoratefrom New York University School of Law.Jesse Jannettais a research associate in the UrbanInstitute’s Justice Policy Center.He directs projectsrelating to community supervision and reentry fromboth prison and jail. Before coming to the Urban Insti-tute, Mr. Jannetta was a research specialist at the Cen-ter for Evidence-Based Corrections at the Universityof California, Irvine, where his work included projectson GPS monitoring of sex offender parolees, policieson parole discharge and violation response, and assess-ment of the California Department of Correctionsand Rehabilitation