Transforming Offender Reentry Into Public Safety: Lessons From OJP's Reentry Partnership Initiative

The Reentry Partnership Initiative (RPI) was one of three early efforts by the Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice to explore community-based models for offender reintegration. The RPI was designed to connect governmental and community organizations in the design and implementation of both the policies and operations underlying the process of reintegrating offenders into the community. This research, sponsored by the National Institute of Justice, U.S. Department of Justice describes the RPI concept as developed in eight sites and the issues that are encountered in reframing reentry to focus on community-oriented public safety goals. The article begins with a discussion of the RPI concept and present reentry model that incorporates features identified by the researchers and practitioners as the core components of the RPI approach. RPI's represent a new approach to addressing old problems: offenders transitioning into the community and the failure of conventional community supervision. RPI provides a new strategy to address these problems and their causes. RPI's are a complex mix of correctional service and community efforts aimed at behavior change, not behavioral control. Process evaluation showed that achieving RPI requires a series of developmental steps. The research underscored the complexity of developing systemic, multiagency organizational strategies focused on reentry and reintegration. In a relatively short period of time, these reentry initiatives have made strides in planning a process that can serve to change the landscape of corrections and the communities to which offenders return. Figures, tables, and references