Beyond Second Chances: Returning Citizens’ Re-entry Struggles and Successes in the District of Columbia

• In Event: Criminal Background Checks: Impact on Employment & Recidivism

Abstract

Through a review and analysis of previously unreleased data and a series of in-depth interviews with returning citizens and service providers, this presentation provides the most complete picture to date of the challenges that returning citizens face in D.C. and offers recommendations to help them succeed when reintegrating into their communities. One in twenty-two adult D.C. residents is currently under correctional control. These men and women face an incredibly complex path to re-entry when returning to their communities from prison and jail. The presentation will detail the variety of challenges facing returning citizens, including: (1) different standards and procedures among various D.C. and federal criminal justice agencies; (2) isolation from necessary local support systems due to being held in federal prisons around the country, sometimes as far away as the West Coast; (3) lack of access to stable and affordable housing, health care, and childcare; (4) unemployment and lack of training or education for jobs in D.C.; (5) poorly managed halfway houses for returning citizens; and (6) few services designed for specific populations, including women, youth, and LGBTQ people.

Author

• Emily Tatro, Council for Court Excellence