Missouri Joins National Initiative to Improve Outcomes for People Leaving Prison

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 11, 2023

Contact: Karen Pojmann, Communications Director
Office: 573-522-1118 | Cell: 573-690-7539
karen.pojmann@doc.mo.gov

Missouri Joins National Initiative to Improve Outcomes for People Leaving Prison

April 19 Event Kicks off Department of Corrections Commitment to Reentry 2030

Reentry 2030 Launch
10 a.m. – 12 p.m. Wednesday, April 19
Millbottom, 400 W. Main St., Jefferson City, MO 65101

JEFFERSON CITY, MISSOURI - On Wednesday, April 19, Missouri becomes the first state in the U.S. to join Reentry 2030, a national initiative that aims to dramatically improve reentry success for people exiting prison and those on probation or parole. The Missouri Department of Corrections joins Governor Mike Parson, fellow state and federal agencies, the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance, the Council of State Governments Justice Center, Missouri employers, and private and public entities in committing to the goal of better reentry outcomes by the year 2030.

Throughout the United States, people leaving prison face barriers to success that can include difficulty accessing housing, employment, transportation and behavioral health treatment. Though help is available, reentry supports can be fragmented and insufficient. Reentry 2030 envisions a reentry future that is human-centered, coordinated, transparent and equitable.

The Missouri Department of Corrections has established an employment-focused goal as part of this initiative. By 2030, we will expand collaborations and partnerships with public and private entities to connect incarcerated Missourians to employment and to prepare them to maintain their employment. We aim for 100% of incarcerated Missourians who need career services to receive them; 85% of formerly incarcerated Missourians to be employed within 30 days of release; and 80% of formerly incarcerated Missourians to maintain their employment for at least nine months after release.

A recognized leader in reentry, in recent years the Missouri Department of Corrections has implemented new programs, forged new partnerships, and gathered tools and resources to help boost success rates for the more than 13,000 Missourians released from state prisons each year as well as the 53,000 on probation or parole. In the last five years, progress has included:

• Implementation of the Justice Reinvestment Initiative, which aims to reduce incarceration and reinvest resultant savings in programs that help people succeed in the community
• Transformation of the Transition Center of St. Louis (TCSTL) and conversion of a minimum-security prison into the Transition Center of Kansas City (TCKC); both residential probation and parole facilities follow a four-tiered program for readying Missourians to rejoin the community
• Repurposing the state’s six community supervision centers and converting one into Missouri’s first residential probation and parole facility for women
• Implementation of Improving Community Treatment Success (ICTS) programs in 12 counties to serve Missourians on probation and parole who have significant substance use disorders and require wrap-around support
• Partnerships with multiple nonprofit organizations offering in-person, pre-release reentry programs that give people the skills they need to succeed after incarceration
• Expansion of higher education partnerships to include a dozen colleges and universities providing degree programs in 17 adult institutions; more than 700 incarcerated students are enrolled each semester
• Establishment of 11 reentry centers inside prisons, where offenders access housing and employment specialists and other resources
• Special family days that give incarcerated Missourians who have earned honors the chance to bond with their kids and spend quality time engaged in activities with loved ones in yards and gyms instead of visiting rooms, improving the post-release family-reunification process.

Now we’re ready to take reentry to the next level.

Join us at 10 a.m. Wednesday, April 19, at the Millbottom, 400 W. Main St. in Jefferson City, as we commit to this important movement. Hear from Governor Mike Parson, Missouri Department of Corrections Director Anne Precythe and other state leaders as well as a panel of formerly incarcerated Missourians sharing their success stories.

• REENTRY2030 LAUNCH flyer.pdf