R.I. Government Agencies | Privacy Policy |
Richard Frechette
reentry@doc.ri.gov
Interdepartmental Manager for Statewide Prisoner Reentry
Dix Building, 2nd Floor, J-Wing
P.O. Box 8312
Cranston, RI 02920
Phone: (401) 462-0933
Fax: (401) 462-1481
"Ex-inmates have gone from America's most wanted to America's least wanted. The churning of repeat offenders through the system poses a risk to public safety and contributes to rising correctional costs."
A.T. Wall, II, RIDOC Director
Click here for the Rhode to Reentry statewide prisoner reentry brochure or here if you're an employer considering hiring an ex-offender or Work Release inmate.
Click here for a "Save the Date" card on our upcoming conference Interrupted Life: How do we Break the Cycle of Inter-generational Crime and Violence?
Click here for a link to an article by RIDOC's Bree Derrick on Gender Responsiveness in Rhode Island published in a National Institute of Corrections report called Topics in Community Corrections.
With Rhode Island’s prison population reaching record numbers (3,964 inmates on 8/13/07), prisoner reentry is quickly becoming a major public safety and budgetary issue. To address this issue, RI is working towards an integrated statewide system that fosters the preparation & gradual transition of incarcerated individuals to productive, healthy, & crime-free lives.
Developing coordinated reentry strategies, including social services and life skills training, in addition to the traditional supervision of probation and parole, helps ex-inmates break the cycle of incarceration. Evidence suggests that providing services beyond post release supervision, such as substance abuse treatment, mental health services, job placement and educational services lowers the recidivism rate.
The community benefits from reentry programs that work. Public safety improves and correctional and criminal justice costs are reduced in the long run when ex-inmates are directed away from re-offending to more productive work.
Working under the guidance of Governor Carcieri’s Steering Committee on Prisoner Reentry (established through Executive Order 04-02) RI has initiated a comprehensive approach to offender reentry. This approach, facilitated with technical assistance from the National Institute of Corrections, represents the combined efforts of the Department of Corrections, the state legislature, numerous other state agencies, local governments, law enforcement and countless community agencies. The committee includes key state agencies and is divided into three tiers. The first tier, comprised mainly of cabinet-level appointees, focuses on larger policy issues. The second tier, consisting of departmental appointees and directors of community based organizations, examines management issues. The third tier, comprised of font-line worker and managers, addresses programmatic issues.
Additionally, community reentry councils, a group of community leaders and service providers, have been established in Providence, Pawtucket, Newport and Warwick to help assist offenders returning to their community.
Currently under construction, The Reintegration Center is a multi-million dollar 175-bed facility funded primarily with federal monies. The primary goals of the RC are: (1) promote a crime-free independent lifestyle within the community for released offenders and (2) to reduce the return to prison rate of offenders who complete programming at the RC.
The rehabilitative focus of this facility will be unlike any other in RI. The target population will be high risk/high need male offenders who are nearing the completion of a sentence in one of the Deparment’s more secure facilities. The Reintegration Center program is based on a case management model and will provide services tailored to each offender’s needs. Programming will include treatment services for the following: substance abuse, domestic violence, sex offenders, mental health counseling, educational programming, vocational training, family reunification, and life skills training. The Department is hopeful that the Reintegration Center will serve as a model for other prisons across the nation. Please see pictures of the RC below.
Artist's rendering:
Construction photo:
