The Second Chance Act Of 2007

Many would say that offenders are hopeless and if one looks at the rate of recidivism, one would definitely think that our nation’s offenders are indeed hopeless. However, what if there was a way to reduce the rate of recidivism and at the same time rehabilitate offenders in order to make them functioning members of the community? Reentry programs that are implemented correctly cannot only reduce the rate of recidivism but at the same time help to rehabilitate an offender through education, treatment, and therapy. The Second Chance At is a law that went into effect April 29, 2008 (P.L. 110-199) and it allows government agencies to provide services to offenders that will help to reduce the rate of recidivism as well as improve the

The problem with prison reentry has been going on for many years in the United States, as I discussed in assignments one and two. Recidivism issues can often be linked with reentry issues because when offenders are returning to society, they need to be prepared, which is something that our current criminal justice system is not trying to achieve. In order to create some defensible solutions for prison reentry and the recidivism issues linked to prison reentry, the criminal justice system has to realize that there is no one overall solution because every offender have different offenses, different stories, different outcomes, and different prison sentences. Because of this, each offender's return to society will be different, and the reentry

To support my assumption there is an immediate need for the implementation of a reentry plan; I have reviewed the opinions of other criminologist such as Reginald A. Wilkinson (2008). Wilkinson (2008) has written several articles on the need for incarcerated offender reentry plans. In one of his articles entitled "Incarceration and Beyond: A Personal Perspective” (2008), Wilkinson states, “the overarching idea is that prison reentry programming should commence upon each offender’s admission to the reception center” Wilkinson goes on to say that those released without a reentry plan will affect the percentage of those returning to incarceration and have a negative effect on a communities budget and security”. Consequently, I can assume that if a reentry plan is implemented immediately, the department will save and better spend its budget dollars and stop what I call “the swinging door effect”. I define the “swinging door effect” as the repeated return of offenders into incarceration within a short period of time such. Based on personal interviews along with release document reviews, I can assume a reentry plan was not implemented and likely created the “swinging door effect”. Consequently, I have found the repeated return of offenders into incarceration within a short period of time is a problem that keeps tax dollars from being spent wisely and will affect a community’s economy and security.

The Second Chance Act is a program that was introduced in 2007. The main goal of the Second Chance Act is to give convicts a second chance in the world while on parole. It does this by forgiving or going easy on minor or technical violations that would have normally sent parolees back to prison. Other main functions of the act include mentoring, substance abuse therapy, and re-entry training (Second). These help avoid the need to excuse minor violations in the first place.

Many criminals are sent to jail on a day to day basis. Once they have completed their sentence they are faced with many problems once they are “free”. These problems can be but are not limited to housing, employment, and substance abuse. The prisoner, once they are released, has a tendency to go back to their old ways and to continue the life of crime they were a part of prior to prison. To avoid this, while a prisoner is in prison, the staff creates a reentry program for the prisoner. The reentry program takes affect once the prisoner leaves prison. These programs are created within the community to help the offender from committing new crimes and to integrate them back into society. These programs are also created to help with

Ex-offenders face many challenges after being released into society after prison. This prolonged issue has gone on for quite some time in the United States, and it has been since recent decade that the United States has discovered reentry for prisoners (Johnson & Cullen, 2015). In 2007, the Second Chance Act of 2007 was introduced to break the cycle of recidivism; to rebuild ties between offenders and their families before and after incarcerated to encourage and support offenders; to protect the public; to provide and promote law-abiding conduct; to assist offenders in establishing a self-sustaining and law-abiding life providing sufficient transition

More than 700,000 prisoners are discharged from Federal and state prison every year, while another nine million cycle through regional prisons. Surprisingly, more than two-thirds of these inmates are arrested again within three years of their discharge and many of them end up reincarcerated (White House, 2011). Such high rates of relapse and recidivism are adding a huge burden on the current criminal justice system, calling for the public support for improvements and promotion of effective offender reentry programs in local communities.

A large number of incarcerated people leave the state and federal prisons every year. It becomes a major concern for federal, local, and state government when they reenter into the community. Most of these individuals do not fit into the community and after a short period of time, some of them would have committed new crimes or have violated terms in which they were released and thus re-incarcerated. This issue brings about many

The revolving door on American prisons is as bad for the communities across the nation as it is for the people being cycled through the system. In “Offender Reentry”, David Allender, delves into how recidivism affects both the criminals and the community. Americans are starting to realize that the current prison system is not designed to reform, only to punish criminals. Because of this many ex-convicts are released from sentencing and allowed back into the real world without the necessary social skills to properly reintegrate. The problem became obvous with sex offenders, followed by minor drug crime. Allender points out that “The limited funding for treatment programs, which occurs because no one can prove that criminal activity did not happen

Offender reentry refers to when an offender has finished his term in prison and he is being released into the community or is being released to the community for community service before he finishes his jail term. It includes all programming that the system performs for the purposes of preparing the offender into the community (James, 2009). The one thing I found interesting is that though the idea of releasing these criminals is good, the system has not fully implemented the programs of assessing whether a person is actually ready for reentry. This is because in a significant number of instances these criminals result or continue with their habits of substance abuse and other anti-social behaviors causing a lot of problems in the community. Reintegration into the community starts from the decision of the authority to release the offender.

Two bills were filed by legislator that were intended to help ex-offenders. There are many obstacles that hinders ex-criminals from moving forwarding in life once they have served their time or finished probation. Many are looked upon by society as animals who cannot coexist with the rest of the population. Most offenders feel that they aren’t given another fair chance at living a normal life, so some revert back to criminal activity. Resources are limited for them based on the many restrictions imposed on them by the law.

The purpose of juvenile justice delinquency prevention act of 1974, was to distinguish the separation of juveniles from adult offenders and courts, because crimes that a juvenile commit isn’t fully responsible from what is most likely a status offense. Certain states has age differences to be tried as an adult which some states consider 16 and old or 18 as an adult age. The act had modifications done too it to make it better for juveniles courts is its own court. During the 1980’s states had to refrain from juveniles for being locked out city/county jails. This was due to lack of resources from the offender and making it harder on the jail officer to process them in the system. It is found that it is harder for them to identify juveniles without

Recidivism is the result of a former prisoner relapsing into criminal activity and returning to prison for a new offense. It is estimated that approximately two-thirds of

Why programming should be given to the 97 percent of prisoners that will return to society

The advantage of this law is that juveniles can be put through rehabilitation as a means to help them develop a sense of responsibility, accountability, morality, and correct judgment. It also avoids them being exposed to the harsh environment in adult prisons. But the only setback in this law is that some facilities offer poor quality of treatment, it is constantly neglected by those who have authority over the juveniles, and it is ultimately the cause of recidivism or the act of repeating of an unwanted behavior after going through behavioral treatment. And also, the environment in the public correctional facilities, unlike in private facilities, juveniles in those facilities are overcrowded, giving them less guidance from the program, and at times a hierarchy develops within the group, these situations can also contribute to the child’s behavior. The only way to resolve this is to modify the way how correctional facilities treat juveniles that benefit both the society and the juvenile while discarding its disadvantages. First, change the people around the juveniles and replace it with someone who will truly uphold its goal, to guide them, and assign someone who will overlook the persons assigned to guide juveniles, since at times they don’t do their just job properly. Secondly, organize the juveniles, especially those in public facilities. Distribute the offenders to different facilities where the environment suits them so that the effectiveness of the treatment will increase. Moreover, assign more personnel who will strictly observe everyone, as a means to nullify the presence of bullying and the like. And lastly, treat someone not the same as everyone else, but specifically for that juvenile only. The reason for that is everyone has its own reason behind their behaviors. If it works for someone, it doesn’t mean it will also work the same as