April 26-30 is National Reentry Week, placing special focus on the importance of reentry and supporting and preparing young people to start afresh successfully and fulfil their potential. PbS added the voices of young people leaving facilities during 2020 to the discussion and showed the importance of hearing directly from them about their readiness and preparation for reentry.
Blog
Understanding Reentry Through Data
Einstein defined insanity as “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Very little has changed for young people when they leave juvenile justice facilities. They return to their communities to face the same disadvantages, discrimination and barriers that they struggled with previously, and which likely resulted in their system involvement: unstable living situations, difficulties with school, poverty and lack of access to the basic necessities needed for healthy adolescent development. Their situation becomes more challenging when they leave because their involvement with juvenile justice makes it even harder for them to get back into school, get hired for a job, enlist in the military or be eligible for public housing.
PbS Announces 2021 Reentry Award for Youths
The Performance-based Standards (PbS) Reentry Award was established in 2016 to support youths as they return to living in the community. Recipients are given a gift card for a nearby department store to purchase household items, linens, clothes for work and other things to ease their reentry transition. Ideally, the gift cards are provided to staff to present to the youths shor ...
Kim Godfrey Lovett: Starting Each Day With a Grateful Heart
Inspired by all the women who shared their stories with PbS in celebration of Women’s History Month, and to honor all women in juvenile justice, I share my answers to the questions we asked of them.
Velvet McGowan: Adding ‘Care’ to the Juvenile Justice Equation
Her first experience with juvenile justice was as a teenager. Since then, and for the past 30 plus years, Velvet has been turning the lives of troubled young people around and making sure that above all else, that 'care' is included in their care.
Chyrl Jones: Leading and Working When No One Is Looking
Chyrl is the first woman of color to step into the leadership position at the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and brings with her decades of experience creating opportunities for young people to realize their potential and determination to make positive change.
Laurie Garduque: Place Matters
Laurie has spent her life’s work pulling together juvenile justice leaders and researchers to ensure laws, policies and practices are informed by science and data and pushing for reforms that ensure all the voices are heard at the table.
Joyce Burrell: Be the Change
The granddaughter, niece, cousin and a friend of many teachers, Joyce understands the difference education can make, especially in the lives of young disadvantaged people. She believes in giving every child the opportunity to learn, creating the change she wishes to see in their lives.
Marsha Levick: Demand a Seat at the Table
A staunch advocate for children’s and women’s rights, Marsha has launched legal challenges all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, where her work led to landmark decisions banning the juvenile death penalty and juvenile life without parole.
Christine Blessinger: Lessening the Challenges Through Education
Throughout the past 20 years Christine has worked for the Indiana Department of Correction in many different positions, dedicating her career to reforming the system and focusing her boundless energy on creating opportunities through education and skill development.
PbS has been a partner in assisting this facility to become a dynamic work environment that is not satisfied with maintaining the status quo.