A team of graduate students completed a study they hope will help connect organizations that provide services to ex-offenders as they return from incarceration to life in the Central Arkansas community.
In 2012, Arkansas welcomed 6,618 ex-offenders back into its communities. Formerly incarcerated individuals face a number of barriers as they re-enter society, which helps keep them and their communities thriving.
These barriers make it difficult for ex-offenders to successfully re-enter their environments and increase the chance that ex-offenders will return to jail or prison. A well-organized re-entry service community is critical to ensuring the successful rehabilitation of ex-offenders.
Clinton School students Kathleen Brophy of Baltimore, Md., Mara D’Amico of Grand Rapids, Mich., and Ashley Jones of Piedmont, S.C., have extensively studied this re-entry phenomenon in Little Rock.
Throughout two semesters, the team contacted more than 100 Little Rock-based organizations to identify those providing services to ex-offenders, including transitional housing, meals and food, job training, GED classes and substance abuse treatment.
The team has been working closely with local non-profit provider Lewis Burnett Employment Finders, Inc., city government officials, and the state and federal prison systems to create a resource directory connecting all of these entities to better serve ex-offenders in a coordinated effort.
Lewis-Burnett Employment Finders site supervisor Leta Anthony said this of the team’s work, “The work that has been performed in our community by Kathleen, Ashley and Mara is nothing short of amazing! The work with the directory, web-site and the white paper create the foundation for a re-entry model that is truly the best practice for Central Arkansas and those returning home from incarceration.”
Through their work, the team hopes to aid in the development of a targeted re-entry service provider community for the city.
The team also researched national best practice models and studied regional trends in ex-offender service provision to better understand how to tackle barriers to re-entry for ex-offenders in Little Rock.
The team has also worked closely with the Central Arkansas Re-Entry Coalition in an effort to better understand the state of service coordination in the community. The team will offer recommendations for the development of the service community based on first-hand observations and secondary research.
The students will present their findings at 6:00 p.m. on April 26, 2013 at Sturgis Hall. The presentation will feature the students’ analysis and include a multi-stakeholder conversation on the future of the re-entry service community in Little Rock.
Special guest Nancy Johnson of Project Return, Inc. in Nashville, TN will attend and host a discussion of the formative process of the Tennessee Re-Entry Coalition.
About Lewis Burnett Employment Finders, Inc.:
Lewis Burnett Employment Finders, Inc. offers “a hand-up, not a hand out” for individuals who are leaving the criminal justice system and reentering society. They offer the following services:
• Needs Assessment
• One-on-one Evaluations
• Dress For Success
• Pre-employment Training Classes
• Life Skills Program
• Basic Computer Training Program
• GED Preparation
• Drug and Alcohol Basic 12 Step Recovery Program
• Community Services
• Resume Writing
• and much more
– More information about Lewis-Burnett Employment Finders, Inc. is available at www.lewisb.org.
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