HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3089        FILED ON: 1/16/2015

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 3440

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Gloria L. Fox

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act relative to the implementation of a department of corrections reentry program.

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PETITION OF:

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3089        FILED ON: 1/16/2015

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 3440

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Eighty-Ninth General Court
(2015-2016)

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An Act relative to the implementation of a department of corrections reentry program.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

Chapter 124 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 1, as appearing in the 2012 Official Edition, the following section:-

Section 1A.  (a) In addition to exercising the powers which are otherwise afforded by law, the commissioner may, subject to funding in accordance with subsection (b), implement programs or demonstration projects that:-

(1) provide offenders in correctional facilities with educational, literacy, vocational, and job placement services to facilitate re-entry into the community;

(2) provide substance abuse treatment and services, including the provision of full continuum of substance abuse treatment services that encompasses outpatient and comprehensive residential services and recovery;

(3) provide coordinated supervision and comprehensive services for offenders upon release from a correctional facility, including housing and mental and physical health care to facilitate re-entry into the community, and which, to the extent applicable, are provided by community-based entities, including coordinated reentry veteran-specific services for eligible veterans;

(4) encourage offenders to develop safe, healthy and responsible family relationships and parent-child relationships and involve the entire family unit in comprehensive reentry services, as appropriate to the safety, security and well-being of the family and child; or

(5) encourage the involvement of correctional facility mentors in the reentry process and enable those mentors to remain in contact with offenders while in custody and after reentry into the community.

(b) To fund any program or demonstration project implemented pursuant to this section, the commissioner shall make application for a grant pursuant to 46 U.S.C. section 3797w.

(c) Any program or project implemented pursuant to this section shall include a comprehensive strategic reentry plan that contains measurable annual and 5-year performance outcomes, and that uses, to the maximum extent possible, random assigned and controlled studies to determine the effectiveness of the program. One goal of that plan shall be to reduce the rate of recidivism, as defined by the Attorney General of the United States, consistent with the research on offender reentry undertaken by the Bureau of Justice Statistic, by 50 per cent over a 5-year period for offenders released from a correctional facility.

In developing a reentry plan under this subsection, the commissioner shall coordinate with communities and experts, including persons in the fields of public safety, juvenile and adult corrections, housing, health, education, substance abuse, children and families, victim services, employment, and business and members of nonprofit organizations that can provide reentry services.