WASHINGTON, March 12, 2008/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones commended the passage in the Senate of the Second Chance Act (H.R. 1593), bipartisan reentry legislation of which she is an original co-sponsor. The Congresswoman released this statement:
"The passage of this legislation has been a long time coming. I have been waiting nearly 30 years for Congress to enact meaningful reentry legislation, as I have been deeply involved in prisoner reentry issues since my days as a judge and county prosecutor in Cleveland, Ohio before serving in Congress. "Prisoner reentry is not a Democratic or Republican issue. It is a common sense issue. The facts are clear -- meaningful reentry programs significantly diminish the chances that ex-offenders will return to prison. That saves taxpayer dollars and increases public safety. So why not invest in enhancing reentry programs in order to end the cycle of recidivism? That is exactly what the Second Chance Act does.
"The State of Ohio has one of the largest populations of ex-offenders re-entering the community, with about 24,000 ex-offenders returning to their respective communities annually. Of those ex-offenders, about 6,000 will return to Cuyahoga County and almost 5,000 will re-enter the City of Cleveland. Statewide, about 40 percent of ex-offenders will return to prison. In Cuyahoga County, about 41 percent will return to prison. Such high recidivism rates translate into thousands of new crimes each year and wasted taxpayer dollars, which can be averted through improved prisoner reentry efforts.
"This legislation allocates $360 million towards a variety of reentry programs. One of the main components of the bill is the funding of demonstration projects that would provide ex-offenders with a coordinated continuum of housing, education, health, employment, and mentoring services. This broad array of services would provide stability and make the transition for ex-offenders easier, in turn reducing recidivism. "I'd like to thank my colleagues in both the House and Senate, particularly Rep. Danny Davis who I have worked with for four years on passing this important piece of legislation. I look forward to President Bush signing this legislation into law so we can begin the process of breaking down barriers to successful re-entry."
© Thomson Reuters 2008 All rights reserved | Source: Office of Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones