Hamilton County Justice Center- The Reentry Pod
A program created by the Office of Reentry in partnership with the Hamilton County Justice Center to create pre-release plans to connect inmates to community resources prior to their release from the Hamilton County Jail. Inmates are vetted by completing an assessment. Once selected, they move to the POD and begin programming. Inmates will meet community partners and gain knowledge of available resources. Programming includes the Cognitive Behavior Intervention Curriculum which addresses issues such as criminal thinking and behaviors, conflict resolution, morals, values and behavior modification. The curriculum is facilitated four times per week by Reentry staff. This program began May, 2017.
We've recently added a manhood/parenting component in partnership with the City of Cincinnati, as well as a faith-based mentoring program in collaboration with the Cincinnati Police Department to acknowledge and address issues that negatively impact personal and generational stability.
The Alternative Interventions for Women (AIW)
Central Clinic in collaboration with the Court Clinic program offers an early intervention and treatment program for female offenders with co- occurring mental health and substance abuse disorders to help support criminal Justice and sentencing sanctions, and reduce recidivism. The Office of Reentry supports this program by making quarterly presentations which instill hope, provide life skills, and education regarding community resources.
Suburban Allies
This initiative is designed to engage small municipalities and first ring suburbs within Hamilton County. The goal of the Suburban Allies project is to extend our services to suburban communities, as well as understand the needs of returning citizens living in suburban areas.
River City
Preparing women for sustainable careers is a partnership with Cincinnati State College and River City Corrections to prepare women at River City for careers after incarceration. Ten women attended 9, 5 hour courses to complete the program and will receive certificates in Supply Chain Logistics from Cincinnati State College. In addition to the certificate, each of them earned 3 college credit hours. Upon completion, the Office of Reentry will provide Reentry services. Nehemiah Manufacturing will offer each of them an entry level position in supply chain logistics. This project is funded by the PNC foundation and Ohio Jobs and Family Services, creating a public-private partnership to reduce recidivism.
On-going Partnerships
CEO
The Center for Employment Opportunities offers employment and retention support to returning citizens immediately upon release. The Office of Reentry is partnering with CEO to act as a pipeline for participants eligible for this program. The Office of Reentry office provided participants to fill the first CEO class, and we continue to refer returning citizens to this resource.
OERC and Reentry Coalition Meeting
The Office of Reentry hosted the OERC and Reentry Coalition Meeting September 20th, 2017 at the Sharonville Convention Center. Over one-hundred community stakeholders and criminal justice practitioners participated in this conversation on issues related to reentry as well as juvenile justice. Measures for Justice also shared their new data gathering platform that collects criminal justice data at the county level - offering officials a complete picture of how effective their efforts have been to reduce recidivism.
We appreciate the keynote address from Harvey Reed, Director of the Department of Youth Services, as well as the opportunity for HCOR to share the successes of our office, and that of our partner organizations.
Thank you to our sponsors for making this event a tremendous success: First Financial Bank, Beacon of Hope/Nehemiah Manufacturing, The University of Cincinnati School of Criminal Justice, The Kroger Company, Lawn Life, and Rosemary's Babies.