Reentry Resources: CMCA Website

It’s a process, and it will take time for your loved one to decompress from the routine of prison and navigate the new normal outside the cell. But there is hope and healing for your relationship as you rebuild your life together. Released offers practical steps to help you and your loved with the challenges you may face—from finding employment to learning to trust again.

The purpose of the Onesimus Workshop is to orient churches to the process of welcoming former prisoners into the life of their church for building up the body of Christ.  The Onesimus Workshop incorporates a wealth of knowledge and wisdom to those churches who wish to help the formerly incarcerated make the transition back to life outside prison walls and to incorporate them into their church body, providing them a healthy place to continue their walk with and service to the Lord.

Reentry Curriculum Workbook Study and DVD  Words from women who have been incarcerated, but are now on the outside. Questions for women on the inside, who are hoping for release. Discussion questions to sort through the challenges of reentry.  This faith-based reentry study is a nine-week topical study, designed for women who are still incarcerated, though it can also be helpful for women who have just been released. A key element of this study is the corresponding video (sold separately), where ex-inmates share their own stories. The study is topically arranged, covering subjects such as recovery, housing, transportation and relationships.

Reentry Relationship Workbook Study and DVD  Restoring and building healthy relationships can ease reentry. This ten-week, faith-based study guide (and corresponding video) offers practical stories and advice from women who served time. Various relationships are addressed, such as relationships with family, with children, with spouses or boyfriends, with friends or with people in authority. Important questions are raised, such as, “Why do I need community?” or “How do I set boundaries?”

Climbing Up offers practical instruction for those who want to be fruitful for the Kingdom on the outside. It also offers instruction for friends and family members who desire to be a source of encouragement for those going through the reentry process.

Overview of Offender Reentry The purpose of this document prepared by the National Institute of Justice is to provide an overview of the offender reentry literature, offender outcomes, and the reentry initiatives that may work to improve public safety.

Life After Lockup (Reentry from Jail)  The challenges associated with reentry from jail are daunting-large in scale and complex in task. Each year, U.S. jails process an estimated 12 million admissions and releases. That translates into 34,000 people released from jails each day and 230,000 released each week. In three weeks, jails have contact with as many people as prisons do in an entire year, presenting numerous opportunities for intervention.

Adult Pre-Release Information for an Informed and Successful Transition  This guide will help offenders in determining where they are at in terms of preparing for release and in creating a plan to succeed once they leave prison. This handbook contains ten chapters: identification; life skills; housing; education; transportation; living under supervision; family; health; money management; and employment.

Reentering Your Community: A Handbook (BOP)  This handbook contains 3 checklists:•for before your release,•just after you return home,•and later, when you’re a bit more settled in.  Reentering your community can be more manageable when you’re aware of services and resources available to help.

Beyond Basic Needs: Social Support and Structure for Successful Offender Reentry (Research study supporting the need for the faith community)  This study by Marquette University uses in-depth interviews with “successful” ex-offenders, and explores what significant requirements, if any, successful offenders perceive to need and/or have experienced as lacking while attempting to successfully reenter society. Successful ex-offenders overwhelmingly identify poor social support as a major barrier that oftentimes remains neglected in government and non-profit organizational programming.

Spiritual Growth Tip Sheet  Spiritual Growth Tipsheet is designed to help ministry workers who are serving men and women during the pre-released planning process and during reentry to address their spiritual needs as they transition to the community.

Reentry TIP Sheets for Women The series, Reentry TIPSHEETS for Women, is designed to help correctional staff and other supportive stakeholders, who are working with women during the pre-release planning process and during reentry to address their needs as they transition to the community. The tip sheets are an important resource for staff to use as a component of their ongoing discussions with the woman during her reentry planning process, and as a reminder of discussions and plans that have been identified during her period of incarceration. They are not intended to be handouts merely given to women on their way out the jail or prison door .Of necessity the Reentry TIPSHEETS for Women cover each topic generally and provide links to national resources. They will be most helpful when they can be paired with specific, on-the-ground resources that are available in the communities where each returning women lives.

Life Action Plan – A Christ-centered reentry plan for youth  This Life Action Plan, developed by Pacific Youth Correctional Ministries, provides a guide and assessment of life after time in a correctional institution.  The plan is Christ-centered and covers  spiritual, mental, education, financial, job/career, social, family, physical goals.

Case Management for Juvenile Offenders and Status Offense Guidebook  This guidebook, by the Department of Health and Human Services, describes the case management system for youth released from correctional facilities. 

CMCA members have exclusive access to Workshop Videos in Reentry from past CMCA Summits and content such as:

• Anger Management
• Anger Management Changed for Good: Student Guide
• Collateral Consequences June 2019
• Enhancing Rural Reentry Through Housing Partnerships
• From the Classroom to the Community: Exploring the Role of Education during Incarceration and Reentry
• Intro to Board Policies Manual
• Keys to Federal Benefits Access
• Life After Lockup: Improving Reentry from Jail to the Community
• Managing the Challenges of Sex Offender Reentry
• Partnering With Jails to Improve Reentry: A Guidebook for Community-Based Programs
• Reentry 2015 Issues–Future
• Reentry Matters: Second Chance Act 10th Anniversary Edition
• Reentry Mythbusters
• Reentry Report Alaska
• Reentry Skills Building Handbook
• Reentry TIP SHEETS for Women
• Strategies for Creating Offender Reentry Programs in Indian Country
• Treatment and Reentry Practices for Sex Offenders: A States Overview
• Your Money Your Goals

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