Reentry Resources

Comprehensive Job Assistance Centers

One-stop centers that provide an array of employment and training services in a convenient, easily accessible location. Services may include job counseling, testing and assessment; resume preparation assistance, interview training and other prejob guidance services; job matching and referral; unemployment insurance and job registration; labor market and career information; information on financial aid for education and training; and referral for job training, transportation, child care, personal and financial counseling, health care and other human services resources in the community.

Ex-Offender Employment Programs

Programs that provide comprehensive support services for ex-offenders who need assistance preparing for, finding and retaining paid employment. Services may include vocational assessment; guidance relating to resume preparation, job application letters and questionnaires, interview techniques, appropriate dress and personal-social behaviors that will allow them to get along with employers and co-workers on the job; job skills development support; job placement assistance; limited periods of subsidized employment, where necessary; and/or on-the-job support, as required, by a personal case manager who may visit the individual while at work, meet with the person's supervisor and/or co-workers and provide whatever assistance the ex-offender needs to meet the challenges of entering the workforce and retain his or her position.

Ex-Offender Reentry Programs

Programs that help people who have been released from a correctional facility make a successful transition to community life. Services generally include an assessment of the individual's needs, discussion of options and short-term case management involving coordination of needed services which may include housing location assistance, job training, job placement and retention services, legal assistance, literacy skills development, GED courses, parenting classes, life skills training, access to food and shelter resources, and other sources of support.

Community Shelters

Programs, usually sponsored by community organizations or coalitions, that provide temporary shelter for homeless people, generally in dormitory-style facilities with very little privacy. Most community shelters offer support services which may include counseling, advocacy, referrals and help with future plans; and enforce house rules including curfews and mandatory household chores. Participation in religious activities is either optional or not a part of the program. There may be differences in intake, length of stay and amenities in family oriented facilities and those that target other specific populations.

Ex-Offender Halfway Houses

Community-based programs that provide congregate living arrangements and a wide variety of counseling and supportive services for ex-offenders who recently have been released from a correctional facility but who require a gradual transition from that highly structured and supervised way of a life to a relatively free and normal existence in the community.

Ex-Offender Reentry Programs

Programs that help people who have been released from a correctional facility make a successful transition to community life. Services generally include an assessment of the individual's needs, discussion of options and short-term case management involving coordination of needed services which may include housing location assistance, job training, job placement and retention services, legal assistance, literacy skills development, GED courses, parenting classes, life skills training, access to food and shelter resources, and other sources of support.

Home Rental Listings

Programs that maintain lists of available rental housing for review by people who are in search of housing.

Low Income/Subsidized Private Rental Housing

Privately owned rental housing that is made available to low-income individuals and families at reduced rates based on a contract between HUD or the state housing authority and the property owner. Subsidies are paid directly to the owner of the property who then rents units to income-eligible individuals and families. Also included are low-cost or below market rate housing that is operated or sponsored by religious or charitable organizations for the benefit of low-income individuals and families; and rental housing targeted to lower income households that has been purchased, rehabilitated or constructed by developers who are receiving a federal income tax credit under the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program or are participants in other similar affordable housing incentive programs. Some privately owned rental units that were developed or improved with public funds are also required to rent a designated number of units at reduced prices to people who meet low-income eligibility requirements until the federal or state loans are paid. Some complexes or housing units may be reserved for low-income older adults, people with disabilities and/or other special populations. Included are income-based rental housing where tenants pay rent that is geared to their income; as well as fixed below market rate rental housing where rent is lower than what people would normally pay renting the unit but is based on a specified percentage of the median income for the area rather than on a percentage of an individual's actual income, and tenants may have to be within a specified income range to live there. Rental amounts and the level of "affordability" may vary considerably among programs.

Single Room Occupancy Housing

Single room occupancy housing, which may include shared bath or kitchen facilities, that is owned and maintained by nonprofit and/or public organizations and is made available to eligible individuals at low rates. Also included are hotels that have been converted for use as single room occupancy housing.

Criminal Record Expungement Assistance

Programs that provide assistance for people who want to submit a petition requesting that the court order the official and formal sealing or erasure of records related to a particular criminal case maintained by police agencies at all levels, the prosecuting attorney's office, the office of the clerk of the court and/or agencies that are part of the criminal correctional system. Most jurisdictions have laws that permit, even mandate, the sealing or expungement of juvenile records as well as statutes that relate to adult records and the conditions under which they may be cleared.

General Legal Aid

Programs that provide legal counseling and/or representation for low-income individuals who need assistance in routine legal matters, usually in the area of bankruptcy, housing, public benefits, family law, elder law or immigration/naturalization.

Immigration/Naturalization Legal Services

Programs that provide legal assistance for immigrants, nonimmigrant visa applicants, asylum seekers and lawful permanent residents who are seeking naturalization. Services are generally provided by nonprofit immigration law offices and may involve information and consultation about benefits under immigration law including procedures for obtaining student, visitor and employment-based visas; family immigration; asylee status; lawful permanent residence status; or citizenship.

Lawyer Referral Services

Programs that maintain lists of private attorneys and link people who need legal assistance with lawyers who specialize in the required area of law.

Crisis Nurseries/Child Care

Programs that provide temporary shelter/residential care for infants and children who are at risk for or who have experienced child abuse or neglect in the home or whose families are experiencing an emergency that makes it untenable for the child to remain in the home. Care is generally provided by licensed family child care homes that are available on a 24-hour basis when needed. Some providers are able to accommodate children to age 12 or 14 and will consider older children on a case-by-case basis, while others limit their services to very young children, generally from birth to age five or six.

Families of Inmates Support Groups

Mutual support groups whose members are people who have a parent or parent figure, child, spouse, partner or other loved one who is serving a sentence in a correctional facility for a criminal offense. The groups meet in-person, by telephone or via the Internet; and provide an opportunity for participants to share their experience, strengths and hopes as a means of coping with the impact of imprisonment and the trauma that arrest, separation, public trial and confinement can have on family members.

Family Life Education

Programs that offer educational workshops that cover a range of family-living issues and help participants develop the knowledge and skills they will need to better handle life transitions and crises, improve overall self-esteem, promote growth, strengthen coping mechanisms and avert situations that can lead to family dysfunction. Topics may include parenting and step parenting skills, human growth and development over a life span, the physiological and psychological aspects of human sexuality, communication skills, couple and family relations, stress management, intergenerational issues, elder care, family and community relations, family and work relations, the impact of money and time management on daily family life, personal development, self-discovery and self-motivation. Family life education programs are offered by a wide variety of organizations including social and community service agencies, hospitals, schools and after-school programs, employee assistance programs or wellness programs in business organizations, learning centers and religious institutions.

Mentoring Programs

Programs that provide companionship, guidance and/or role models for individuals who are disadvantaged because of age, income, physical or developmental disabilities or family environment.

Talklines/Warmlines

Programs that offer a telephone service that enables people who are troubled to talk confidentially about their personal problems with an empathetic listener. These programs are often staffed by volunteers who can offer referrals for ongoing treatment, if needed.

Parole

Programs that provide for the formal supervision of people who have been conditionally released from jail, prison or other confinement after serving part of the term for which they were sentenced based on the judgment of a parole board that there is a reasonable probability that they will live and remain at liberty without violating the law. People who are on parole remain in the legal custody of the state and may be reincarcerated if they violate the terms of their parole order.

Probation

Programs that provide for the formal supervision of individuals who have been convicted of a crime, usually a lesser offense, and given a suspended sentence which releases them into the community under specific conditions which may include a reduced term in a correctional facility, fines, restitution to the victim, community work, counseling, "good conduct" and other stipulations.

Adult Basic Education

Programs, usually offered by community adult schools or as evening classes at local high schools, that provide instruction in fundamental learning skills for adults who have never attended school or have interrupted formal schooling and need to raise their level of education to increase their self-confidence and/or prepare for an occupation. Emphasis is placed on basic reading, language and mathematics to strengthen functional skills in communication, computation and personal-social interaction.

Child Care Centers

Programs that are licensed to provide supervised care within designated facilities for children during some portion of a 24-hour day. Staff for approved day care centers must meet defined educational requirements; the program must ensure specified adult/child ratios; and the facility must meet building, fire and zoning codes. Services may include recreational and developmental activities and snacks and/or meals, as appropriate.

Child Care Expense Assistance

Programs that cover all or part of the cost of child care in public and licensed private child care centers or private family child care homes, usually for low-income families or families which include children with disabilities in situations where parents are working, in school or in a training program. Also included are programs that pay the costs of in-home or out-of-home child care when the parent is receiving diagnostic tests, undergoing medical treatment, is hospitalized or needs to be out of the house for other reasons; and those that provide financial assistance to families with young children to help cover some of the costs of a parent staying home to care for their child.

Literacy Programs

Programs that provide reading and writing instruction for individuals of all ages who are unable to read or write at a functional level. Some programs interpret literacy more broadly and also help people develop speaking, computation and problem solving skills with the objective of ensuring that they develop levels of proficiency they will need to become self sufficient and function well in society.

Local Bus Services

Programs that utilize buses to transport people to a specific destination (e.g., an airport or senior center) or to other locations within the community (e.g., a shopping mall or downtown) following standard and regular routes and fixed time schedules.

Local Rail Services

Organizations that provide fixed-route rapid rail services which transport people within the limits of a city, a metropolitan area, the county, or a multicounty region, or which move people from outlying areas into a city or metropolitan area. Included are streetcar services, rail-connected trolley services, metro rail services, monorail services and elevated railway services.

Ride App Services

Companies such as Uber or Lyft (formally known as Transportation Network Company Rides or TNCs), which provide prearranged ground transportation that is booked via an app or a website and connects passengers with drivers who use their own, noncommercial vehicles. Various levels of service are generally available and passengers only share the vehicle with others when service at the least expensive level is booked. Some companies may offer a variant arrangement where the passenger uses an online marketplace to retain a driver who drives the customer's own car for them; and a limited number offer accessible transportation options such as wheelchair accessible vehicles equipped with ramps or hydraulic lifts or door-to-door support for riders who may need help with wheelchairs, walkers and scooters or who have a service animal. A number of communities, governments and organizations have established rules and regulations that specifically govern TNCs and, in some jurisdictions, TNCs are completely illegal to operate.

Work Clothing

Programs that pay for or provide new or secondhand uniforms or other working clothes. Also included are programs such as "Dress for Success" that provide interview suits and other professional attire for low income individuals (frequently women) who need this type of wardrobe to secure and/or retain gainful employment.