According to the Council of State Governments, at least 95 percent of people incarcerated in state prisons will be released back to their communities at some point. Last year, in Georgia alone, we released 18,527 individuals back to our communities from incarceration. For these individuals, the months and weeks preceding release can be a very uncertain time. A lot has changed! After release, the days and weeks that follow are a very critical time, and without a plan, these returning citizens could quickly find themselves incarcerated again.
Beginning at the time of admission, we being to prepare individuals for reentry through education and programming opportunities. However, the actual release or discharge planning represent a distant component of the broader process of reentry planning. As such, the scope of Career Centers has broadened to not only focus on job and interview skills, but to also provided resources to offenders in order to help assess and build a much more solid release plan.
THE RAC
The Transitioning of Career Centers
into Reentry Assessment Centers
IMPACT GEORGIA MAGAZINE
11
Article by: Tonya Ashley
tonya.ashley@gdc.ga.gov
The Reentry Assessment Center (RAC) provides resources to individuals such a new chrome book technology, computer and printed resources that provide timely, up to date information and resources to assist with creating a release plan, and assessment tools to gauge job interest and research the job market. Additionally, it provides information that connects individuals prior release to identified resources and assistance tat can be utilized after release. The RAC brings the career center model that has been longstanding within our institutions into the 21st century. Without more current resources to the outside world and the support needed to create these plans, there is little reason to expect returning citizens to make a smooth and successful transition back to the communities in which they live.
Individuals will enter the RAC at approximately 180 days prior to release. There, they will assess their reentry needs, such as their status in receiving key documents (birth certificates, drivers license or ID, social security card), identify their unique barriers to successful reentry such as housing and transportation, and provide additional resources and support to address those barriers. They also prepare a professional resume, practice interview skills and learn ways to speak to employers about benefits and incentives available to an employer through federal bonding and employer tax credits when hiring an ex-offender. The RACs provide the latest resources to inform offenders about the job market and the location of outside career centers. In addition, returning citizens will assess their job interest using the Interest Profiler, develop tying/computer skills, and receive other resources/information. The RAC provides those about to be released the opportunity to create a successful release plan, one that connects them to the community prior to their release and fives them the tools necessary to stays the course after their release.