Examining the Brokerage Function of Community College Reentry Programs

• In Event: Innovative Interventions and Supports in Community College Programs

Abstract

Drawing on interviews with students and staff in community college reentry programs (CCRPs), I use Small’s (2006) conception of resource brokers to examine how students use campus-based reentry programs to navigate reentry and higher education. I find that CCRPs help facilitate reentry as they broker resources to students both directly through their program and indirectly through other organizations. My findings illustrate how these programs served as anti-carceral counterspaces for students—spaces that provided healing and community for formerly incarcerated students—which was an important aspect of their reentry journey. My findings have important implications for practitioners as they look to design and implement these programs, as well as for policymakers looking to reform and improve reentry for formerly incarcerated people.

Author

• Elif Asli Yucel, University of Southern California/ECMC Foundation