Incarceration and Re-entry into Communities
The Casey Foundation is working to help vulnerable children and their families build better lives through strategies to strengthen their connections to economic opportunity, positive social networks and effective services and supports; and building supportive and economically vibrant communities.
Our work will not succeed, however, without addressing the challenges of incarceration and prisoner reentry into the community. Each year, more than 700,000 men and women who are released from incarceration return to their communities and try to reintegrate into their families and community life. And this will not change any time soon: During the past 25 years, the total number of people incarcerated in U.S. federal and state prisons increased by more than 400 percent, to approximately 1.5 million individuals. About 95 percent of these men and women eventually return to their families and communities.
Incarceration affects family stability and child development, and poses particular challenges to obtaining employment, income, housing and public benefits. For most people returning from prison, finding and keeping a stable, family-supporting job is pivotal to their successful reintegration to family and community. But many barriers stand in their way, including lack of education or job skills, mental or emotional issues, inability to qualify for licenses and permits, substance abuse histories, child support arrearages, social stigma and more.
The success of these individuals affects an estimated 10 million American children who have a parent in the criminal justice system at some point during their childhood; almost 20 percent of children in foster care have parents who are in prison. In addition to facing the loss of their parent or parents, these children suffer socially and economically as well. And, the effects are not limited solely to parent-child relationships—the incarceration or reentry of a sibling, uncle, aunt, grandparent, neighbor or friend also impacts children, the family and the neighborhood.
Unsuccessful reentry results in recidivism with its continuing cycle of crime, incarceration and family turmoil. Casey recognizes that—to be effective—any strategy to strengthen families in their communities must consider the significant challenges of reentry and reintegration.
The Casey Foundation is committed to identifying, supporting and promoting innovative approaches to incarceration, reentry and reintegration. We will do this through:
- Building a knowledge base of reliable data and research to better inform policy and practice.
- Raising public awareness and leveraging community, governmental and philanthropic support for programs and policies that remove barriers to employment and successful reentry.
- Identifying strategies and lessons learned from Casey’s work in creating employment opportunities, building family economic success and neighborhood transformation that may be applied to the issues of reentry.
- Working closely with faith-based organizations to engage them in supporting formerly incarcerated individuals and their families in their communities.
- Developing and disseminating tools to engage public and private employers to improve employment opportunities for previously incarcerated individuals.
Learn More
For more information, contact reentry@aecf.org.