Program offers second chances
Has helped 31,000 after time in prison, military
By: Kaitlyn Kanzier
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey
.... Returning to life after incarceration, rehab or the military can come with numinous challengers the average person never faces. One New Jersey nonprofit is working o r4emove the barriers these people face to help transform their lives.
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The New Jersey Reentry Corporation began as a pilot program in Hudson County in 2014 before it expanded thought the state Former Governor Jim McGreevey serves as the organization's executive director and chairman and has led it for over a decade.
..... McGreevey said it has had over 31,000 program participants - 6,207 currently - with a completion ate of 98% and a job placement rate of 76%. There are 10 sites across North Jersey and the Jersey Shore area, including a veterans outreach center.
..... "There are people who are searching for a second chance," McGreevey said.
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The organization seeks to break down the barriers that people reentering society face, helping them to get "industry-recognized credentials" such as a commercial driver's license, a welling or HVAC certification, and phiebotomy training. The New Jersey Reentry Corporation focuses on proving job courses and a pathway to obtaining important personal documents, such as birth certificates and Social Security cards.
..... When the program began, the former governor said, people were moved along a pipeline and encouraged to fine a job as quickly as possible.
...... "Now our training focus has shifted to building skills, earning certifications and developing a career," McGreevey said. "So building those skills is so critically important."
..... He said the goal is to "stabilize" program participants, focusing on needs such as mental health, addiction and medical needs.
..... Participants are given a biosycho-social - biological, psychological and social - assessment, reformed by a social worker, McGreevey said. He said the social worker does a clinically based evaluation. Participants then spend a week going through the orientation process.
..... "It's not only new beginnings, but it's providing meaning and purpose for the person, and it's also providing an opportunity for the business community," McGreevey said. "But to do that, you have to provide the resources and the skills necessary for the person to be productive and to be healthy, but to be healthy first, and then to be productive. If they have their feet on the ground, if they're settled, if there's a consistency in their life and a healthy focus, that's how people are on the right path."
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However, there are criticisms of the New Jersey Reentry Corporation and similar programs from people who were incarcerated. in a series of articles published in 2023 by NorthJersey.com , a reporter and photographer shadowed recently released long-term offenders.
..... Advocates said reentry programs tend to focus on jobs and addiction treatment and do not cover the whole range of issues faced by those released from prison, such as housing and receiving Medicaid or SNAP assistance.
...... Some programs started by people who have been incarcerated, help fill the gaps that
sate programs leave, such as the Returning Citizens Support Group, The Essex County-based group was founded by Edwin "Chino" Ortiz, who was leased from prison about a decade ago.
..... When he was released, he struggled ti find housing and stayed with his mother while he searched.
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"That's another component that these state agencies or reentry agencies lack, not being able to provide sustainable, affordable housing for returning citizens," he said in 2023. "You get a job, but then don't have a place to stay. now they're working, but they're homeless. So these are issues that are not being addressed."
..... When asked about the criticisms, McGreevey said the New Jersey Reentry Corporation follows the recommendations of the Department of Justice, the Bureau of Justice Assistance and the National Resource Centers program, which is part of the Department of Education, on how to order services to people chronologically.
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He said the organization has begun to help people fine specialized housing, such as seeking nonprofit housing providers, faith-based providers, veterans housing, disability housing and housing for women fleeing domestic violence. He said finding housing is driven by the best-practice chronological order: the biophysical assessment, obtaining legal documents, applying for benefits, and then housing.
..... McGreevey's sister, Sharon, is the director of veterans services at the organization and said many veterans' situation are "unique and different." She said the organization works to secure housing for veterans through the Department of Housing and Urban Development and also helps them navigate the Department of Veterans Affairs or find programs if they aren't eligible for the VA.
..... "We want to make suer they're in a supportive environment, whatever that looks like for them," Sharon McGreevey said.
..... New Jersey's top public defender, Jennifer Sellitit, said her office;s holistic representation model "recognizes that legal advocacy extends beyond the courtroom."
..... "Thor ugh the trusted, confidential attorney-clinet relationship, we can identify barriers to stability early, including housing, treatment, employment and other needs that can make it harder for clients to meet court requirements and move forward, and connect clients with community partners that provide critical support services," Sellitti said. "The New Jersey Reentry Corporation is one of tho9se invaluable community partners, helping clients access critical support services and successfully move forward."
..... Jim McGreevey said that having access to stable employment helps keep recidivism low, with the New Jersey Reentry Corporation;s program having a recidivism rate of 14% while the state average is 22%.
..... "We have all made mistakes in our lives," McGreevey said, "and the essential purpose is that no person is defined by that singleness, by that worst mistake in their life."
..... Reporter Katie Sobko and photographer Michael Karas contributed to this story.