It is estimated that 15 million formerly incarcerated persons live in the US today; nearly 7 percent of the adult population. An estimated 640,000 inmates will be released from state prisons in 2005. Within three years, 67 percent of these individuals will be rearrested, and over half will return to prison. Given the tremendous investment that states are making in the corrections industry - an estimated $40.7 billion in correction costs alone in 2004 - policymakers are concerned about whether or not they are getting the most return on their investment in terms of public safety.

Reentry Strategies Institute (RSI) is a national intermediary within the criminal justice field utilizing a multi-sector approach to support the successful reentry of formerly incarcerated persons. Our goal is to support frontline service providers and employers to better support prisoners returning home. Our impact is measured by sustained organizational growth, increased employment of formerly incarcerated persons, enhanced public safety and decreased recidivism. Our work is intended to be catalytic in building capacity and broadening communities to support the successful reentry of formerly incarcerated persons on a state and national level.

A majority of funding for criminal justice work is currently provided by state and federal government agencies. RSI does not wish to compete with its partners and therefore solicits funds from individuals and philanthropic organizations. Beginning this holiday season, we are launching an individual donor campaign. Our goal is to raise $150,000 in 150 days. Beginning December 1, 2005 and ending April 30, 2005, RSI will be inviting individuals to be a part of this exciting campaign.

We ask that you consider making a contribution to RSI today and help support the successful reentry of formerly incarcerated persons returning home this holiday season. If you are interested in making a contribution, you can visit our website and click on the "Make A Donation" button at the bottom of the page or contact Melissa Bradley via email at Melissa@reentrystrategies.org or via phone at (202) 822-8334.

Background on RSI

Reentry Strategies Institute's (RSI) vision is to create a footprint for successful reentry. The mission is to design, support and advocate effective and affordable reentry programs that promote individual and community health, wealth and safety. The means of accomplishing this mission is through training, technical assistance, advocacy, fundraising and program design.

The goals of RSI are three-fold:

1. Provide a collaborative, web-based technology platform (RSI NET) to coordinate service delivery and supervision amongst service providers and governmental agencies
2. Increase the capacity of existing agencies by providing technical assistance and training to explicitly increase employment and public safety
3. Scale the work of existing entities addressing reentry issues (e.g. housing, health services, employment) through statewide and national advocacy campaigns

Leveraging our partner networks, RSI seeks to resolve three (3) key problems in the criminal justice sector.

1. Lack of coordination between service providers and departments of corrections in meeting the needs of formerly incarcerated persons
2. Duplication, or supporting the lack, of required and desired support services for formerly incarcerated persons
3. Poor communication between service providers, corrections, government, employers, faith-based groups, families and formerly incarcerated persons.

Due to the multiple needs of formerly incarcerated persons, many returning prisoners receive services through a number of public agencies simultaneously without appropriate coordination. For example, an individual's parole requirements may not be coordinated with their mental health or substance treatment needs, making it difficult for them to fulfill the conditions of their parole while undergoing treatment. A recently released prisoner may need health care and family reunification services and the two supportive agencies are unaware that they are serving the same client. A more coordinated response of post-release supervision and services is needed to effectively address the multiple needs of offenders. A collaborative approach insures that prisoners, and the persons supporting them, are aware of the social services needed and that they are secured in a timely and effective manner. Without a coordinated approach, released prisoners are left to fend for themselves with little or no information; hence state-by-state recidivism rates remain high.

RSI's programs seek to increase the capacity of social service providers, government entities, and employers, facilitate opportunities for job growth and retention, as well as support the sustainability of successful reentry strategies. This work is accomplished through four (4) service points:

1. Technical assistance - RSI provides its partners with intensive business and strategic planning support, as well as resource development assistance. This assistance seeks to insure the viability and sustainability of our partners, as well as the personal and economic success of their clients.

2. Training - RSI has developed curricula in the areas of entrepreneurship, asset development/financial literacy, and race and class. The curriculum is offered to all partners free of charge and utilized throughout locally based reentry programs - both pre- and post-release. The goal is to equip our partners, and their clients, with the resources to explicitly increase the economic and employment opportunities of formerly incarcerated persons.

3. Technology - RSI, in partnership with Endogy, has created a web-based proprietary platform that assists in monitoring and supporting the successful transition of formerly incarcerated person. RSI NET is a secure collaborative environment that will capture important data about offenders prior to release (e.g. employment history, incarceration history, case managers, health needs) and share this information with relevant community groups who can tailor reentry support services immediately upon release. Use Cases will include employer review for potential hires, accurate reporting on client service delivery, and collaborative case management and support - all with the assurance of privacy for the client.

4. Advocacy - In order to insure long term, systemic change, RSI will leverage its partnerships to advocate for legislative changes on the local, state and national levels. RSI advocacy campaigns will provide a platform for collaboration amongst divergent interests in the criminal justice field.

Meet the RSI Team: Melissa Bradley

Melissa Bradley is Founder and President of RSI. She is a Draper Richards Foundation Social Entrepreneurship Fellow. Draper Richards Fellowships are awarded to entrepreneurs who are creative, collaborative, principled, and committed to creating change through the use of innovative solutions to social problems. The fellowship supports Melissa's work in building Reentry Strategies Institute (RSI). The creation of RSI is a result of research and development by Melissa during her tenure as a fellow with the Open Society Institute (OSI). In March 2004, OSI selected Melissa L. Bradley as a Soros Justice Fellow, a two-year professional fellowship that supports outstanding individuals who will advance the criminal justice priorities of OSI's U.S. Justice Fund.

"I founded RSI in memory of my cousin, Stephen Campbell. During my childhood, he regularly churned through the New York Corrections Department. I remember him calling me every year for my birthday...hopeful that he would remain out of the system. Unfortunately because he didn't have a higher education, nor access to stable and meaningful employment, he would return over and over again. I am convinced that the system made him worse. He entered the system stealing cars and his last charge was for armed robbery. Stephen died of AIDS in the system in the late 90s."

In 1991, Melissa Bradley founded The Entrepreneurial Development Institute (TEDI), an organization whose mission is to serve as a catalyst for permanent social change, economic development and community empowerment. In 1999, she launched New Capitalist™ - supporting emerging and social entrepreneurs. And, in 2004, Melissa served as Managing Director of Positive Impact™ - which promotes diverse voices and visions within independent media.

Melissa graduated from Georgetown University in 1989 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from the School of Business, and obtained a Master of Business Administration in Marketing from American University in 1993. Her work has been published in "Social Policy;" "The State of Corrections," an American Correctional Association publication; and the "National Civic Review."

RSI Partner Selection

RSI is pleased to announce the selection of its partner organizations in North Carolina. After a highly competitive process that yielded the interest of 96 groups, RSI has selected 34 community and faith based organizations with which to partner in its pilot program in the south. The groups represent urban and rural areas in cities such as Raleigh, Raeford, Durham, Morganton, Hickory, Asheville and Winston-Salem. RSI partners are:

Repay, Inc.
Foothills GHI Cluster
Mountain GHI Cluster
First, at Blue Ridge, Inc.
Western Carolinians for Criminal Justice
H.O.P.E. Network - Biltmore Baptist Church
McDowell Mission Ministry
E.G.A.P. Ministries, Inc.
The Cognitive Connection
Forgiven Ministry
Exodus Homes
Project Re-entry
ABCD/Fatherhood Connection
Center for Community Safety
NC Division of Community Corrections
Eureka House
Forsyth Correctional Center
Forsyth Day Reporting Center
Forsyth Technical College
Friendship Vision House
Goodwill Industries NWNC
Housing Authority of WS
NC Department of Correction
NC Division of Vocational Rehabilitation
New Light Missionary Church
NWPCOG/Workforce Development
Partnership for Drug Free NC
Project Safe Neighborhoods
Winston-Salem Police Department
Goodwill Industries of Northwest North Carolina - Asheville Workforce
Southerners for Economic Justice
New Life Connections
Blue Springs Hoke County Community Development Corporation
The Freedom Project

RSI Partner Profile

Repay, Inc. is a community based, criminal justice nonprofit agency serving a three county area in the foothills of western North Carolina. Repay was originally formed in 1982 to develop community-based alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent offenders. In the early 1980s the State of North Carolina prison system was faced with the threat of federal takeover due to massive prison overcrowding. As a community based nonprofit agency, Repay developed a series of programs to meet the needs of the courts and community, resulting in the development of a community-based network for treatment and supervision.

Repay Success Story

Reentry Strategies Institute

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