General

A Guide for Corrections, Service Providers, and Community Groups

The purpose of this report is to describe the specific elements that together embody thoughtful and effective prisoner release procedures, including considerations such as photo identification, transportation, gate money, public assistance access, prescription drug needs, health referrals, housing arrangements, and substance abuse treatment.

This report aims to assist corrections agencies and their community partners in developing and improving their release planning procedures, but can also be used by jail administrators and staff. Eight fundamental needs confronting exiting prisoners, as well as the administrative challenges and opportunities facing corrections agencies in meeting these needs, are identified through a national survey of state correctional departments, a complementary scan of practice, and a literature review on the topic of release planning.

It is our hope that corrections agencies will use these recommendations to evaluate their own release policies, make improvements to their procedures, and identify the next steps they can take to ease the transition from prison to law-abiding lives on the outside.