Chris Cares
The Second Chance Act

UPDATE (April 2008): The President has signed the Second Chance Act into law in a ceremony at the White House.  To read the President's remarks, please click here.

Watch the bill signing here:

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UPDATE (Nov 2007): Yesterday, the Second Chance Act passed the House 347 - 62. (To see the vote, click here)  For a good summary of the goals and potential of this legislation, please visit my friend Danny Davis' website here.

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The Second Chance Act (HR 1593) brings together state and local governmental entities to work on reentry together. Using state task forces and better coordination between the different agencies we can improve the efficiency of reentry services and make sure the federal, state and local governments work together for the returning prisoners and the communities and families they come home to.

Additionally, the burden on our citizens and taxpayers is a serious concern. The average cost to house a federal inmate is over $25,000 a year. The average cost at the state level in 2000 was only slightly less –$21,170 annually. These figures do not include the cost of arrest and prosecution, nor do they take into account the costs to the victims. Although taxpayers went from spending $9 billion per year on corrections in 1982 to $60 billion two decades later, it is shocking that the failure rate hasn’t improved over the last 30 years.

A modest expenditure to help transition offenders back into the community can save taxpayers thousands of dollars in the long run. A prominent 2001 study found that, “the best [reentry] programs can be expected to deliver 20% to 30% reductions in recidivism or crime rates” and that “programs that can deliver – at a reasonable program cost – even modest reductions in future criminality can have an attractive economic bottom line.”

Successful prisoner reentry requires the active involvement of nongovernmental entities, such as non-profit agencies, faith institutions, ex-offender support groups, and community organizations. The Second Chance Act actively encourages public-private partnerships at the local level. The real solutions to this systemic problem are innovations at the community level. The federal government can and should provide leadership to stimulate locally-based action.

Accountability. Prisoner reentry is about reducing and preventing crime, as well as restoring lives. We need to be both tough and smart on crime. High rates of recidivism translate into thousands of new crimes each year. The social and economic costs of a 67 percent recidivism rate nationally are astounding. The American people expect Congress to be tough in keeping dangerous felons from returning and committing new crimes, but also smart in making sure that those who are coming home are given the chance to start a new life. This shift in thinking by federal and state governments will mean better accountability to our citizens at home.

We must insist that people released from prison and jail, and the government agencies and providers that supervise and serve them upon their return to the community, do a better job. Continued funding for a program should be contingent upon some demonstration that it has made inroads on recidivism. The Second Chance Act will improve accountability to our citizens by setting forth clear performance measurement goals among states, local governments and community partners.


Innovation. James Q. Wilson has said that the best role for the federal government in crime control is to test new ideas. The Second Chance Act does this by reauthorizing research-based demonstration projects for states and local units of government. The bill also establishes a national resource center for states, local governments, service providers, faith-based organization, corrections and community organizations to collect and disseminate best practices and provide training and support around reentry.

The legislation also provides for additional research on prisoner reentry. There is a scarcity of research and data on the issue of prisoner reentry, therefore, the Second Chance Act directs the National Institute of Justice and the Bureau of Justice Statistics to create a research agenda and statistical series that will fill this void. In addition, we make sure that both the demonstration project and the mentoring grants have performance-based outcome expectations to make sure federal dollars are fully maximized.

Our states continue to experience a fiscal crisis of unprecedented dimensions. These fiscal constraints have been exacerbated by rising prison costs, which now consume more state discretionary dollars than any program but Medicaid. Congress has a valuable role to play in helping the states to find ways to reduce unnecessary corrections costs, while enhancing public safety. The technical assistance component of this bill will make sure that all agencies in the federal reentry task force are geared to help states formulate their reentry initiatives. While our role is limited because of the realities of the corrections system, it is crucial that federal involvement spurs innovation and improved accountability.

Hope. There is a clear lack of hope among this growing population. As the numbers of people under supervision of the criminal justice system swell, an expectation develops that crime, unemployment, and addiction is the destiny of the next generation. Children of parents who have been incarcerated may be at greater risk for depression, aggressive behavior and withdrawal, and criminal involvement.

We need to motivate people to change. Risk and needs assessments, which are individualized and validated, should be used for each person admitted to prison and released from a corrections facility to pinpoint what form of monitoring, conditions, and sanctions are most likely to affect that person’s behavior. We must also provide role models and foster other meaningful relationships with ministers, peers, family members, and community leaders to help change a person’s behavior, attitude, and openness to treatment. The Second Chance Act would help states to better use assessment tools and provides support to nonprofit organizations that link mentors with prisoners.

Families. Another significant cost of prisoner reentry is the impact on children and families. As you all know, the number of children with a parent in a federal or state correctional facility has increased over the last decade by more than 100 percent to approximately 2,000,000 children. When expanded to children with parents under some form of corrections supervision, the number is closer to 10 million children. These children are at risk for drug abuse and delinquency and need our attention.

The Second Chance Act would provide resources to grandparents and other kinship care and foster care providers who care for children during parental incarceration. It would also provide state and local governments with resources for family-based drug treatment to treat parents and their children as a complete family unit. Reentry success or failure has implications for public safety, the welfare of children, family, growing fiscal issues, and community health.

It is our responsibility to society to address the most basic needs of prisoners coming home. Through the Second Chance Act, we can reduce prisoners’ chances of re-offending and improve their success as productive, contributing citizens. This legislation is a bipartisan effort that applies new solutions to this problem to improve our accountability to our citizens and better utilize state and local innovation.

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