by Mitch Coppes, Government Relations Senior Specialist, Goodwill Industries International
Goodwill® believes that helping people who are involved with the criminal justice system find and retain high-quality jobs is essential to reducing recidivism, strengthening families, and empowering communities. More than 600,000 individuals are released from state and federal prisons every year. Most incarcerated people will return to their communities at some point, and many will confront barriers to employment, education, housing, and other basic needs.
President Joe Biden recently issued a proclamation marking April as Second Chance Month, a time to raise awareness about the challenges facing people that have been involved in the criminal justice system and to highlight the many opportunities for community- based service providers to build meaningful second chances for justice-involved individuals. “A criminal record can prevent them from landing a steady job, a safe place to live, quality health care, or the chance to go back to school,” said Biden. “Our justice system should instead be based on the simple premise that once someone completes their sentence, they should have the chance to earn a living, build a life, and participate in our democracy as fellow citizens.”
The President noted his Administration’s efforts to restore Pell Grant eligibility to incarcerated individuals enrolled in eligible prison education programs. Until recently, incarcerated students were ineligible to receive financial aid to pursue higher education using Pell Grants. The Administration is working to implement this policy change to ensure that justice-involved individuals have access to education and career training opportunities during incarceration that help them to prepare to successfully reenter the workforce. In addition, Second Chance Act programs provide funding for community-based nonprofit organizations to enhance or implement evidence-based responses to improve reentry, reduce recidivism, and support successful transitional planning for youth and adults leaving incarceration. Second Chance Month will cover a range of topics essential to successful reentry, including strengthening family connections, housing, Pell reinstatement, youth reentry, employment, and reentry program sustainability. Learn more about the ways that local Goodwills can get involved in Second Chance Month 2023 here.
