When should one’s reentry services begin?

The reason why reentry services are essential before one’s release is that it allows prison officials and health care staff personnel (within and outside of prisons) to identify critical gaps to enable seamless reintegration (Greifinger, 2022; Fahmy & Mitchell, 2022; Latessa et al., 2020; Levy, 2019). Many have not been to prison; however, several have served in the military and have deployed to combat several times. Understanding that wartime experiences could create traumas, the U.S. Military, after combat deployments, would mandate R3 (Return, Reintegration, and Re-Deployment) activities. These activities were designed to “de-compress/ de-stress,” the service member through various briefings and medical examinations so that they could reenter society with minimal issues (U.S. Fleet Command, n.d.). In some cases, serving a prison term could be as, or more, intense than experiences acquired by “front-line Soldiers.”  With this in mind, it is not only crucial that the justice-involved participate in tailormade “R3” activities focused on – but not limited to – mental, social, and financial services to enable “smooth transitions,” but they must occur immediately after intake. Holistic screenings could influence reentry service for the justice-involved, which could reduce the possibility of reoffending and/ or recidivism (Greifinger, 2022; Fahmy & Mitchell, 2022; Latessa et al., 2020; Levy, 2019).

Project Greenlight

A significant downfall of Project Greenlight was New York State Corrections Officials’ attempt to compress months, sometimes years, of reentry training and medical examinations into two months, or less (depending on the group), to enable appropriate reintegration into society (Ritter, 2006). However, Project Greenlight did consider – but not in a personalized manner – cognitive skill training, drug treatment, and practical skills to meet the needs of the returning citizen and posture them for success (Greifinger, 2022; Levy, 2019; Wilson, 2007). Nevertheless, this program failed to fully incorporate community service agencies to facilitate the bridge needed to transition from living as a member of the justice-involved community to a member of a “free” society. A major limitation of Project Greenlight was that it was focused on a large group of justice-involved persons that utilized what appeared to be a “one-stop shop, no frills,” low-cost without consideration for specific needs before reentry. Additionally, this program deviated from evidence-based best practices and principles associated with Reasoning and Rehabilitation, a cognitive-behavioral model. For example, a best practice spoke to class size. The comfortable class size was between eight and 13. However, during the greenlight classes, the class size was around 23 persons (Ritter, 2006).

Furthermore, this program did not account for learning disabilities and/ or cultural issues, which created problems for the program (Ritter, 2006). Despite the above-mentioned issues, this program made sense “on paper” because the low-cost was appetizing for those controlling line of funding. However, this program failed to appeal to the needs of the reentering citizen, which – in most cases – did not decrease recidivism (Greifinger, 2022; Fahmy & Mitchell, 2022; Levy, 2019).

References

Fahmy, C. and Mitchell, M, M. (2022). Examining recidivism during reentry: proposing a holistic model of health and wellbeing. Journal of criminal justice. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2022.101958.

Greifinger, R.B. (2022). Public Health Behind Bars: From Prison to Communities (2nd ed.).  Springer.  New York, NY.

Latessa, E.J., Johnson, S.L., & Koetzle, D. (2020). What Works (and Doesn’t) in Reducing Recidivism (2nd ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429341366

Levy, B. (2019). Social Injustice and Public Health (3rd ed.).  New York, NY: Oxford.

Ritter, N., (2006). No Shortcuts to Successful Reentry: The Failings of Project Greenlight. https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/nij/220106.pdf

Wilson, J, A., (2007). Habilitation or Harm: Project Greenlight and the Potential Consequences of Correctional Programming. https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/habilitation-or-harm-project-greenlight-and-potential-consequences-correctional

U.S. Fleet Command (n.d.). Phase 4. Return, Reunion, and Rein https://www.usff.navy.mil/Organization/Headquarters/Individual-Augmentees/IA-Post-Deployment/