The new federal appropriations law signed this week by President Obama provides more funds for prisoner re-entry work than had previously been reported. Last week, Crime & Justice News noted that congressional negotiators had agreed on $100 million as the main appropriation for Justice Department programs in the relatively new Second Chance Act. The Council of State Governments Justice Center reports that the law also includes $14 million for reentry initiatives in the Federal Bureau of Prisons and $108,493,000 to the Department of Labor for ex-offender activities.
Among specific line items for prisoner re-entry are $37 million for re-entry demonstration projects, $15 million for mentoring grants to nonprofit organizations, $10 million for reentry courts, $7.5 million for family-based substance abuse treatment, and $13 million for reentry substance abuse and criminal justice collaboration. The law also includes $10 million for a justice reinvestment grant program, which will provide technical assistance, incentive grants, and other activities in support of evidence-based criminal justice reform and recidivism-reduction efforts by states.