On March 11th, the U.S. Senate approved 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.  The bill was passed by unanimous consent after the Senate adopted various minor changes to the measure.  The House passed the same version of the Second Chance Act by a vote of 347 to 62 on November 13, 2007.

Since both chambers of Congress have approved identical versions of the Second Chance Act, the next step is approval by the President.  The Bush Administration has expressed support for the Second Chance Act and it is expected that the President will sign the measure into law.

S. 1060, the Senate version of the Second Chance Act, was introduced by Senators Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D-DE), Arlen Specter (R-PA), Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Patrick J. Leahy (D-VT) in March of 2007.  The House version of the Second Chance Act was introduced in March of last year by Representatives Danny Davis (D-IL), Chris Cannon (R-UT), John Conyers (D-MI), Howard Coble (R-NC), Bobby Scott (D-VA), Lamar Smith (R-TX), Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH), Randy Forbes (R-VA), Adam Schiff (D-CA), James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), Steve Chabot (R-OH), Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX), Elijah Cummings (D-MD), Hank Johnson (D-GA) and Yvette Clarke (D-NY).

The Second Chance Act would reauthorize a Department of Justice (DOJ) grant program for people returning to the community from incarceration; grants would be provided to States and local areas to create or strengthen reentry systems by providing drug and mental health treatment, job training and education opportunities, housing and other necessary services. The Second Chance Act would authorize $110 million each year for this grant program. . In order to receive grant funds, applicants would be required to provide an analysis and identification of regulatory and statutory barriers to an individual’s reentry into the community.  In addition, the legislation has a number of provisions requiring coordination between various agencies, including State substance abuse, child welfare, and criminal justice agencies.

The Second Chance Act would also authorize a number of grant programs aimed at improving support for educational and job training and placement services for incarcerated and reentering people.  These grant programs include:

• A grant program to nonprofit organizations through the Department of Labor aimed at helping formerly incarcerated people find and retain employment through mentoring, job training and placement services, and other comprehensive transitional services; the legislation states that grantees could coordinate efforts with the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) One-Stop system; $20 million would be authorized for this grant program for each of the two 2009 and 2010 fiscal years 

• A grant program to States, local governments, Indian tribes and other public and private entities to evaluate and implement 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 

• A grant program to States, local units of government and Indian tribes to establish technology career training programs within prisons, jails and juvenile facilities; $10 million would be authorized for this program for each of two fiscal years

Additionally, the Second Chance Act would authorize a number of other grant programs focused on strengthening drug and alcohol addiction treatment services for incarcerated and reentering individuals.  These include:

• 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; $10 million would be authorized for this program for each of the 2009 and 2010 fiscal years 

• A Department of Justice (DOJ) grant program to States, localities and Indian tribes to improve the provision of drug addiction treatment to people incarcerated in prisons, jails and juvenile facilities; and to reduce the use of alcohol and other drugs by individuals with long-term addiction problems; $15 million would be authorized for this program for each of the 2009 and 2010 fiscal years 

• A grant program 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 this program for each of the 2009 and 2010 fiscal years

Following the President’s approval of the Second Chance Act, funds for the bill’s grant programs would need to be allocated through the annual funding process.  The full text and status of H.R. 1593 can be found at http://thomas.loc.gov/.   

For further information, please contact: Gabrielle de la Gueronniere, Deputy Director for National Policy, at gdelagueronniere@lac-dc.org or Nisha Thakker, Policy Associate, at nthakker@lac.org.

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