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Second Chance Act needs $70 million in 2009!

Key policy issue at Congressional Reception!

One of the three policy issues for the 2nd Annual Congressional Reception is adequate funding for the Second Chance Act. The position of the New Jersey Advocacy Network to End Homelessness advocates for Congress to provide $70 million for the Second Chance Act programs in fiscal year 2009.

Please read this entire policy position paper. To read it as a separate document click here. For more information on the Second Chance Act click here.

The Second Chance Act has been explicitly billed as a “first step” in developing a more effective federal response to the problem of people leaving corrections without adequate support. This act reauthorizes and revises an existing grant program within the Department of Justice, providing money to states for reentry programs, and it creates a federal interagency task force to study and coordinate policy. The act also commissions a number of research projects, including a study of barriers in federal policy to successful reentry, and authorizes grants from the Department of Justice directly to nonprofits for reentry programs.

Housing is a key part of any reentry strategy, and it is addressed in a number of ways in the Second Chance Act:

Under the state grants program, housing activities are eligible uses of program funds, from providing housing directly to assisting people in securing housing from the private market or other housing programs.

Another eligible use of funds is strengthening the capacity of prisoners’ families to provide stable living situations.

Housing is to be addressed in the strategic plan required of each state receiving funding.

Housing is one of the performance outcomes that each state receiving funding is required to monitor and report to the Justice Department.

Recommendation

The New Jersey Advocacy Network to End Homelessness urges Congress to provide $70 million for the Second Chance Act programs in fiscal year 2009.

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On April 9, President Bush signed into law the Second Chance Act of 2007. The Second Chance Act (H.R. 1593) will help transform lives and build safer communities by helping prisoners who are returning to society break cycles of crime and start new lives. For more details on the Second Chance Act click here. Because of the significant impact that prisoner reentry has and will continue to have in New Jersey, this is an important step that will not only address prisoner reentry but also assist in ending homelessness in New Jersey. The total cost according to the Congressional Budget Office would be $2 for every person in the country for budget years 2008-2012. This is a modest cost compared to the benefits.