The therapeutic effects of managerial reentry courts.

Source: (2007) The Therapeutic Effects of Managerial Reentry Courts. 20(2):127-135.

Of the over two million people in state and federal prisons and jails, about 630,000 are released annually back into the poor, inner-city communities from which they are drawn. More than one in five of those former prisoners, having
fully served their sentences, will receive no formal government help readjusting upon their return. Yet many exinmates are particularly in need of assistance, having arrived in jail or prison poorer, worse-educated, and less healthy than most Americans, often because of drug abuse or mental illness, and returning to the community in a worse condition. The communities that must absorb these vulnerable ex-inmates are themselves fragile and fragmented, often lacking vital resources. “Typically, these communities are located within central cities in a core group of states already straining under the load of their existing social and economic problems.” The effect upon these communities is devastating and has recently been compared to the New Deal in reverse, “steadily driving poor communities further and further out of the American mainstream.” Yet there are few resources devoted to preparing for this influx of exinmates. (Excerpt)