Oakland Parolee Reentry Roundtable

The process of returning people home from prison involves numerous actors who play very different roles. Case managers and service providers help the person find resources to get his life back in order, such as obtaining identification or a place to live. Parole officers and police are responsible for ensuring he follows his conditions of release and stays out of trouble. Finally, family members provide love and support, and must adjust to having him back in their lives after a long time apart.

While all of these people are working hard to make the formerly incarcerated person's transition back into community life a successful one, differing perspectives and philosophies often inhibit them working together toward their common goal. However, in many cities, individuals, service providers, and government officials have realized the limits of addressing the reentry problem in isolation. They have agreed to set aside their differences and meet around a common table to devise a comprehensive, effective approach for reintegrating the formerly incarcerated.

Alameda County, and Oakland in particular, is home to a large number of parolees, and as a result, many service providers and criminal justice agencies. However, poor coordination and communication between criminal justice staff, service providers, parolees, and their families often hinders attempts by formerly incarcerated people in Alameda County to lead productive and law-abiding lives. The Urban Strategies Council believes that a “reentry roundtable” could spark a collaborative process culminating in a comprehensive countywide parolee reentry plan that would greatly improve the chances of formerly incarcerated people to reenter society successfully.

In pursuit of this goal, Urban Strategies has forged partnerships with two existing groups who share the common goal of improving outcomes for formerly incarcerated people. The first, Project CHOICE, is a federally funded serious and violent offenders' reentry program in Oakland. The Project CHOICE advisory committee includes parole, corrections, police, employment, and health agency representatives, as well as a formerly incarcerated person, a community organizer, and faith- and community-based provider staff.

The second is a group of representatives from government agencies and community- and faith-based service providers who serve formerly incarcerated people in Alameda County called the Community Reentry Service Provider Network.