RD400 - Status Report on Offender Transitional and Re-entry Services


Executive Summary:
The Status Report on Offender Transitional and Re-entry Services has been prepared in compliance with Item 379, Paragraph B of the 2013 Appropriation Act (Chapter 806, 2013 Acts of Assembly), which requires the Secretary of Public Safety to provide a status report on actions taken to improve offender transitional and re-entry services, as provided in § 2.2-221.1 of the Code of Virginia. Information about the re-entry- related efforts of 17 state agencies has been compiled in this status report.

A system-wide approach to re-entry has the potential to reduce recidivism and victimization. This will result in enhanced public safety and savings associated with fewer offenders returning to the criminal justice system. The Commonwealth's Re-entry Initiative, which facilitates the development of a comprehensive statewide system for re-entry planning and service delivery, is Virginia's primary strategy for making communities safer. Throughout his term, Governor Robert F. McDonnell has continually challenged state agencies to work towards enhancing public safety by building and strengthening partnerships and engaging in collaborative and innovative efforts at the state and local level. Each year state agencies continue to rise to this challenge, working together to facilitate effective re-entry planning at every stage of the criminal justice process from sentencing to post-release.

The Prisoner and Juvenile Re-entry Inventory was updated in 2013 to capture the progress that agencies made towards implementing new re-entry-related efforts, improving interagency collaboration, and addressing previous barriers to and gaps in re-entry that were described in the previous year.