The Reentry Division has been awarded $20 million in state funding to continue operating critical reentry programs for three years serving thousands of system-impacted individuals annually and to expand access to mental health and substance use services for enrolled clients.
This year, ODR was one of 24 local government and community-based organizations and programs funded by the California Board of State and Community Corrections to lead recidivism-reduction programming. The source of the new funding is California’s Proposition 47; a 2014 voter-approved criminal justice reform that redirects money from incarceration to programs that help system-involved people to succeed.
“We’ve identified ways that we can engage people for better outcomes,” Reentry Workforce and Education Programs Director Kate Vacanti said. “The additional funding will help us sustain the programs we’ve built and make it easier for clients to access mental health and substance use disorder services by embedding the services into our programs.
Specifically, new service components will be added to the Skills and Experience for the Careers of Tomorrow (SECTOR) employment program and the Reentry Intensive Case Management Services (RICMS) care coordination program to focus on supporting the behavioral health needs of clients with mild to moderate substance use and mental health disorders.
Some of the changes that clients will see are onsite licensed social workers who provide additional mental health counseling. SECTOR and RICMS staff will also be trained to provide peer support services. This will clear a pathway for more people with lived experience to develop leadership skills through an intensive 40-hour training. The mentorship will support clients with addressing their behavioral health needs, reducing the likelihood that they will end up incarcerated again.
This is the third round of Prop 47 funding for ODR’s Reentry work since 2018. Congratulations!