Re-Entry Population Programming Toolkit

Time spent in prison or jail can impact people in a variety of ways. We do know that prolonged separation from family, friends, social networks, employment, and cultural and spiritual practices can not only adversely impact a personal emotional and psychological well-being, but also make it more difficult when seeking to re-integrate themselves into the same communities from which they were removed. The stress of this re-integration can cause people recently released from prison or jail to turn unhealthy coping mechanisms, or even return to the practices that caused their arrest previously. Reentry programs seek to work with these people to ease the transition back into the community. Reentry programming can look different for each community and for each person – depending on available resources and presenting needs. This toolkit seeks to bring together some resources for American Indian and Alaska Native communities to explore how best to work with their re-entering community members in a respect and effective manner.

This toolkit contains:

• Articles – NIHB researched and published a series of articles on re-entry programming
• Additional Resources – a variety of resources that Tribes may use to work with people recently released from jail or prison

Articles

These articles were a series that looked at successful reentry strategies with a special focus on offenders with a history of substance abuse, including methamphetamine use. The National Indian Health Board ran this series in the Visions newsletter between 2013 and 2014.

• White Bison Warrior Down Overview (PDF)
• Reentry Series Part I: Need for Reentry Efforts (PDF)
• Reentry Series Part II: Considerations when Designing a Reentry Program (PDF)
• Reentry Series Part III: Programming to Support Native Americans Reentering the Community (PDF)

Additional Resources

• SAMHSA GAINS Center Tribal Policy Academy on Alternatives to Incarceration – The major goal of this initiative is to aid Tribes in developing a plan for alternatives to incarceration for adult Tribal members who might benefit from jail diversion opportunities, particularly strategies related to individuals with co-occurring substance use and mental health diagnoses, http://gainscenter.samhsa.gov/topical_resources/tribes.asp
• Tribal Juvenile Detention and Reentry Training and Technical Assistance Center is supported by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and includes a variety of resources and a link to request technical assistance in developing youth-orientated programs, http://www.tribalreentry.org/
• The U.S. Department Justice has a webpage and a variety of links and resources dedicated to reentry programming, http://www.justice.gov/archive/fbci/progmenu_reentry.html
• The Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs published this document titled Strategies for Creating Offender Reentry Programs in Indian Country, http://www.aidainc.net/Publications/Full_Prisoner_Reentry.pdf
• The Office of National Drug Control Policy published this article titled Prisoner Reentry Programs: Ensuring a Safe and Successful Return to the Community, http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/11/30/prisoner-
  reentry-programs-ensuring-safe-and-successful-return-community
• Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention in coordination with American Indian Development Associates, LLC (AIDA), RTI International, and three Tribes published a synopsis of their experiences with developing and implementing Tribal reentry programs, http://aidainc.net/Publications/topical_brief_Feb%202013.pdf
• The U.S. Department of Labor published this guide titled Mentoring Ex-Prisoners: A Guide for Prisoner Reentry Programs, http://www.doleta.gov/pri/pdf/mentoring_ex_prisoners_a_guide.pdf
• The National Reentry Resource Center is a federally-supported project of the Council of State Governments, http://csgjusticecenter.org/nrrc
• The Bureau of Justice Assistance, published this guide for creating reentry programs titled Building an Offender Reentry Program: A Guide for Law Enforcement, http://www.theiacp.org/portals/0/pdfs/ReentryProgramGuide.pdf
• White Bison, Inc. has created a reentry component called Warrior Down to their Wellbriety Movement initiative that looks at sources of American Indian and Alaska Native specific support systems and resources, http://www.whitebison.org/index.php