Justice and Mercy Positions on Issues

POSITIONS ON ISSUES

RE-INTEGRATION

Offenders Coming Home, the Reintegration Process by Calvin Lightfoot

Before applying for funding earmarked for reintegrating offenders back to society, it is important that all reintegration agencies within a jurisdiction organize under one collaborative umbrella. All organizations, in both the public and private sectors, that have a mission to reintegrate offenders after incarceration, must be invited to become members under the collaborative umbrella. It is preferable to establish a collaborative task force with a major purpose of learning what each member of the task force does to aid offenders returning to society. This task force will also gain knowledge of what funding and resources each member brings to the collaborative umbrella.

Societal Impact of Offender Reintegration by Calvin Lightfoot

Offenders who have been arrested, incarcerated, and released back to their communities have plagued society with the continuous commission of crime. The history of this country shows that programs were seldom developed, either in jails and prisons or after the offenders’ release that primarily emphasized comprehensive reintegration of offenders back to society. In fact, the punishment ideology prevails even today. Locking up offenders for long periods of time, without the benefit of programs, has been the rule.