H.R. 1593/S. 1060, The Second Chance Act Reentry Legislation Reintroduced in the House and the Senate; Full House Judiciary Committee Approves the Legislation, Hearing Emphasizes Importance of Employment and Drug Treatment

The Second Chance Act, legislation that seeks to help States and localities better address the needs of individuals reentering the community from the criminal justice system, was reintroduced in the House of Representatives on March 20th and in the Senate on March 30th.  Representative Danny Davis (D-IL) and 14 additional bi-partisan Members introduced the House version of the Second Chance Act, H.R. 1593, and Senators Joe Biden (D-DE), Arlen Specter (R-PA), Sam Brownback (R-KS), and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) introduced S. 1060, the Senate version of the Second Chance Act.  

On March 28th, the full House Judiciary Committee approved H.R. 1593 following a mark-up (review) of the legislation led by Second Chance Act sponsors Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) and Ranking Member Lamar Smith (R-TX).  During the mark-up session, Congressman Louie Goehmert (R-TX) offered a number of amendments that would have removed various provisions of the Second Chance Act; however, none of these amendments was approved.  In addition, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security, led by two additional co-sponsors of the Second Chance Act, Chairman Bobby Scott (D-VA) and Randy Forbes (R-VA),  approved the legislation prior to full Committee review on March 27th.  Since the House Judiciary Committee has approved the Second Chance Act, the legislation can now be considered by the full House.

The centerpiece of the Second Chance Act is the reauthorization of a Department of Justice grant program for people returning to the community from incarceration.  Both the House and Senate versions of the Second Chance Act would provide grants to States and local areas to create or strengthen the systems that help adults and youth transition into the community when they are released from incarceration by providing drug and mental health treatment, job training and education opportunities, housing and other necessary services. The House version of the Second Chance Act would authorize $65 million in appropriations for these grants each year for the next two fiscal years and the Senate bill would authorize $50 million for each of the next two fiscal years.  Under both bills, the grants could be used for a wide range of services, including:

• Providing a full continuum of addiction treatment services including outpatient, comprehensive residential services, and recovery services to people reentering the community from prison, jail or a juvenile facility
  
  
• Expanding addiction treatment centers that offer family-based comprehensive treatment services for parents and their children as a complete family unit
   
• Providing or facilitating health care services, including substance abuse screening, treatment, and aftercare; infectious disease screening and treatment; and screening, assessment and aftercare for mental health services, to reentering individuals
  
  
• Assessing the literacy, educational, and vocational needs of people in the criminal justice system, and identifying and providing services appropriate to meet those needs, including follow-up assessments and long-term services
  
  
• Facilitating collaboration among corrections, including community corrections, technical schools, community colleges, businesses, nonprofit, and the workforce development and employment service sectors to:
  
  
  • Promote, where appropriate, the employment of people released from prison, jail, or a juvenile facility through efforts such as educating employers about existing financial incentives
    
    
  • Facilitate the creation of job opportunities, including transitional jobs and time-limited subsidized work experience where appropriate
     
  • Connect formerly incarcerated individuals to employment, including supportive employment and employment services before their release to the community, provide work supports including transportation and retention services, as appropriate, and identify labor market needs to ensure that education and training are appropriate, and
    
    

Additional key provisions of both versions of the Second Chance Act include:

• Authorizing a grant program to States, local governments, Indian tribes and other public and private entities to evaluate methods to improve academic and vocational education for people in prison, jails and juvenile facilities; best practices for such educational programs would then be recommended to the Attorney General; $5 million would be authorized for this program for each of two fiscal years
    
• Authorizing the Attorney General to make grants to States, local units of government and Indian tribes to establish technology careers training programs within prisons, jails and juvenile facilities; $5 million would be authorized for this program for each of two fiscal years
   
• Requiring the Director of the Bureau of Prisons to:
  
  
  • Establish a comprehensive re-entry program
     
  • Assist incarcerated people in obtaining identification cards such as social security, driver’s license and birth certificates, prior to release from incarceration
    
    
  • Provide pre-release planning procedures for incarcerated people to ensure eligibility for Federal and State benefits, such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, or Veterans benefits, upon releases
    
    
• Requiring that States participating in the Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) program for incarcerated people provide aftercare services
  
  
• Authorizing a grant program to State and local prosecutors to develop and implement qualified drug treatment programs as alternatives to incarceration for individuals convicted of non-violent offenses
  
  
• Authorizing two grant programs to States, localities and Indian tribes to 1) develop, implement or expand comprehensive family-based addiction treatment programs as alternatives to incarceration for parents convicted of non-violent offenses and  2) to provide prison-based family treatment programs for incarcerated parents; $10 million would be authorized for each of these grant programs for each of the 2008 and 2009 fiscal years
  
  
• Authorizing a grant program through the Department of Justice, in collaboration with the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), to States, localities, Indian tribes, and public and private organizations to establish pharmacological addiction treatment services as part of available drug treatment programs offered to people in prisons or jails; and a separate grant program through DOJ’s National Institute of Justice, in consultation with NIDA, to evaluate the effectiveness of depot naltrexone for the treatment of heroin addiction; $10 million would be authorized for each of the 2008 and 2009 fiscal years for these two programs
  
  
• Authorize a grant program to “eligible partnerships” to create demonstration programs to reduce the use of alcohol and other drugs in prison or jail by people who were long-term users and to provide drug addiction treatment and recovery support services in the community; $5 million would be authorized for the 2008 and 2009 fiscal years
  
  

• The Senate version of the Second Chance Act would also amend the Workplace and Community Transition Training for Incarcerated Youth Offenders Act program by increasing the eligibility age from 25 to 35 years and by requiring the Secretary of Education to establish a grant program to help State correctional education agencies to improve educational services to incarcerated youth.  This grant program would seek to assist and encourage incarcerated youth to acquire functional literacy, life, and job skills through the pursuit of a postsecondary education certificate, or an associate or bachelor's degree while in prison; and employment counseling and other related services which during incarceration and for up to a year following release.  Individuals eligible for this program would include incarcerated youth up to age 35 who are eligible for release or parole within five years.  S. 1060 would authorize that $30 million be appropriated for this grant program for each of the next two fiscal years.

  In addition, the Senate version of the Second Chance Act would require the Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretary of Labor, to take the necessary steps to implement programs to educate employers and the one-stop partners and one-stop operators under the Workforce Investment Act system about incentives, including the Federal bonding program and tax credits, for hiring formerly incarcerated people.  The Senate bill also would authorize a grant program through the Department of Justice to improve academic and vocational education programs for people incarcerated in adult and juvenile facilities; $10 million would be authorized for this program for two years.

  House Subcommittee Hearing on H.R. 1593
   
  On March 20th, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security held a hearing on the legislation.  Congressmen Bobby Scott (D-VA), Chair of the Subcommittee, and Randy Forbes (R-VA), the Subcommittee’s Ranking Member, led the hearing.  Congressman John Conyers (D-MI), Chairman of the full House Judiciary Committee, participated in the hearing, in addition to Representatives Howard Coble (R-NC), Hank Johnson (D-GA), Louie Goehmert (R-TX), Steve Chabot (R-OH), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), Dan Lungren (R-CA), and Jerry Nadler (D-NY). Witnesses providing testimony to the Subcommittee were: Mr. Jack Cowley, National Director of Alpha for Prisons & Re-Entry Wichita Falls, TX; Mr. Stefan LoBuglio, Chief of Pre-Release and Reentry Services for Montgomery County at the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation; Mr. Steve Lufburrow, President/CEO of Goodwill Industries of Houston; Mr. George McDonald, President of the Doe Fund, Inc., New York, NY; and Dr. Roger H. Peters, Chairman and Professor of Mental Health Law and Policy at the University of South Florida.

  Committee Member Remarks

  Congressman Scott began by talking about the need for comprehensive reentry services across the country, stating that there are currently 2.2 million people incarcerated in the United States and that $65 billion a year is spent on corrections.  Congressman Scott also spoke about the many barriers that people with criminal records experience, including how difficult it is for formerly incarcerated people to obtain employment, housing and public benefits.  Arguing that the Second Chance Act would begin to address the nation’s reentry needs, Congressman Scott also asserted that the legislation would help to reduce recidivism and costs, and increase public safety.

  In his opening statement to the Subcommittee, Congressman Forbes spoke of an obligation to ensure that people leaving incarceration are provided effective reentry services.  Noting the high corrections costs to States, Congressman Forbes spoke about Second Chance Act as providing a framework to provide reentry services.  Congressman Forbes also spoke about how the Second Chance Act would help to improve coordination among State agencies working to help people reenter the community from the criminal justice system, including those providing and overseeing drug treatment services.

  Congressman Goehmert, in his statements to the Subcommittee, stated his general support for reentry programming but opposition to the specific content of the Second Chance Act.   Although he agreed that services are necessary for people leaving the criminal justice system to prevent recidivism and reduce costs, Congressman Goehmert stated that he was unsure whether the Second Act would be the best way to achieve these results; specifically, he questioned whether family based programming should be included in the bill and whether there was sufficient inclusion of faith-based services.

  Witness Testimony

  In his testimony to the Subcommittee, Mr. George McDonald spoke about the Doe Fund’s work with formerly incarcerated people in New York.  Emphasizing the barriers to employment that people with criminal records face, Mr. McDonald expressed that the people he works with want the opportunity to work and to be productive members of society.  Speaking of the nation’s high rate of recidivism among formerly incarcerated people, Mr. McDonald noted that the chief factor related to recidivism is the ability of people with criminal records to find quality employment.  In addition, Mr. McDonald spoke about how critical it is for people with addiction histories to have access to drug and alcohol treatment services.

  Mr. Jack Cowley, National Director of Alpha for Prisons & Re-Entry, spoke about how the Second Chance Act would give agencies the chance to add capacity to continue serving people with criminal records.  Mr. Cowley also expressed that the legislation would send a powerful message of hope to correctional professionals, reentry service providers, victims of crime and formerly incarcerated people.  Passing the Second Chance Act, Mr. Cowley argued, would make a significant investment in faith-based and community organizations, and would foster collaboration with the States.

  Mr. Stefan LoBuglio, Chief of Pre-Release and Reentry Services for Montgomery County at the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, spoke about how jails and local correctional systems serve as the entry and exit points in the nation’s correctional system and expressed that he was pleased that these systems are included in the Second Chance Act.  Mr. LoBuglio also spoke about the importance of the legislation promoting further collaboration between providers and faith-based organizations.  Mr. LoBuglio stated that research has shown which types of services are effective in helping people transition from incarceration and that the Second Chance Act would allow States and localities to do “what works.”

  Mr. Steve Lufburrow, President/CEO of Goodwill Industries of Houston, spoke about how his organization works with people with criminal records to help them overcome barriers to employment resulting from their record.  Noting the high rate of recidivism among formerly incarcerated people, Mr. Lufburrow cited a recent study by the Urban Institute, finding that incarcerated people who participated in work while in prison were 20 percent less likely to recidivate upon release.  Mr. Lufburrow emphasized the importance of conducting pre-release assessments to evaluate educational and vocational needs and facilitating collaboration with nonprofits and other organizations to promote employment and stated that the Second Chance Act would help support these efforts.

  Dr. Roger H. Peters, Chairman and Professor of Mental Health Law and Policy at the University of South Florida, spoke about the high rate of drug and alcohol problems among people in the criminal justice system and about the need for people to have access to quality treatment services both during incarceration and following release.  Dr. Peters also spoke about the need to screen people in the criminal justice system for mental illness and to ensure that mentally ill people receive high quality mental health services.

  Additional members co-sponsoring H.R. 1593 are: Representatives Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH), Chris Cannon (R-UT), Bobby Scott (D-VA), Howard Coble (R-NC), Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX), James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), Steve Chabot (R-OH), J. Randy Forbes (R-VA), Elijah Cummings (D-MD), Yvette Clarke (D-NY), Hank Johnson (D-GA), and Adam Schiff (D-CA). 

  Additional information about the Second Chance Act, including status, text and a list of co-sponsors of both H.R. 1593 and S. 1060, can be found at: http://www.thomas.loc.gov. 
  

   

   

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