The Federal Interagency Reentry Council represents 20 federal agencies, working towards a mission to:
- make communities safer by reducing recidivism and victimization,
- assist those who return from prison and jail in becoming productive citizens, and
- save taxpayer dollars by lowering the direct and collateral costs of incarceration.
The Reentry Council, established in January 2011, represents a significant executive branch commitment to coordinating reentry efforts and advancing effective reentry policies. It is premised on the recognition that many federal agencies have a major stake in prisoner reentry. The reentry population is one we are already working with — not only in our prisons, jails, and juvenile facilities, but in our emergency rooms, homeless shelters, unemployment lines, child support offices, veterans’ hospitals, and elsewhere. When we extend out to the children and families of returning prisoners, the intersection is even greater.
A chief focus of the Reentry Council is to remove federal barriers to successful reentry, so that motivated individuals – who have served their time and paid their debts – are able to compete for a job, attain stable housing, support their children and their families, and contribute to their communities. Reentry Council agencies are taking concrete steps towards these ends, to not only reduce recidivism and high correctional costs but also to improve public health, child welfare, employment, education, housing and other key reintegration outcomes. Learn more.