Shawnee County Reentry Program

Each month an average of 490 adult offenders are released from Kansas Prisons. They are often released back onto the same streets where the crime they committed occurred. Upon release many have little or no money, no place to live, no job or ability to achieve sustained employment and no social support. In addition, many labor under the burden of lifelong patterns of anti-social influences and thinking. The result is that over one-third of those released return to prison within 6 months. Through the Shawnee County Reentry Program (SCRP), we now have the opportunity to help make our communities safer by improving offenders' chances of a successful return home. SCRP is administered by the Kansas Department of Corrections. This program implements a comprehensive program to prepare and assist individuals transitioning back into the community. This program is part of a national initiative to establish research-based, effective reentry models and practices in communities all over the country, called the Serious and Violent Offenders Reentry Initiative (SVORI), administered by the United States Department of Justice in partnership with other federal agencies, including the departments of Labor, Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Veterans' Affairs (VA) and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services (SAMHSA).

This program includes many community partners; corrections, law enforcement, businesses, job service/training agencies, neighborhoods, political representatives, landlords, mental and medical health providers, victim services, ex-offenders, faith and community based organizations.