West Michigan Works requested technical assistance in developing a database and interactive map of offender reentry services. The request was denied by BJA and not fulfilled by BJA NTTAC.
Nearly every person currently incarcerated in Michigan will someday be released. We know that efficient and effective reentry requires access to jobs, service providers, and education. Many robust resources exist in Michigan – but not as parts of an interconnected whole. As a result, returning citizens fail to access available resources and services are duplicated. Underlying this problem is the lack of accessible data to direct all stakeholders to identify opportunities and gaps in our region’s reentry landscape.
There is no one database that identifies the services, employment opportunities, housing support, community engagement opportunities, education, training, or places to get a hot meal. Information in these areas is segregated - which means returning citizens miss out on opportunities, service providers miss out on opportunities, care is not holistic, and policy makers cannot make decisions based on a true understanding of the entire reentry landscape.
To tackle this problem, West Michigan Works!, a division of Area Community Services Employment & Training Council, last year partnered with Talent 2025 to participate in a regional working group to identify the assets and opportunities available for people coming home. To date, the data collected is significant and providing opportunities for local communities to coordinate their reentry efforts.
Experts in corrections, community development, workforce development, and human resources created a questionnaire for law enforcement, service providers, and employers. The responses are providing a significant amount of information. Over one hundred employers shared their hiring practices for returning citizens. Seven county jails, fifty-nine service providers from each county in the region, and the Michigan Department of Corrections provided data on their populations and programs. Data on the type of programs, health of the populations, and cost to the community are revealing where the opportunities and gaps exist in reentry.
The data reveals that the necessary resources exist – but in silos. Programs, employers, service providers, and people with criminal histories are disconnected from each other. The result is failure to access available resources and duplication of services. The current data collection will address those issues. Assistance is necessary turn the data into an asset map for the region.
Collecting this data allows the service providers, law enforcement, and businesses, engaged in the working group to see the region’s reentry landscape. To understand and address the demographics of our jail and prison population, and to clearly identify the challenges, services, and opportunities people have when coming home, a digital map needs to be developed. The objective for this funding is to complete the data collection and disseminate it. Making it accessible to service providers, decision makers, and most importantly, returning citizens is essential to an effective and aligned reentry system.
What we have learned from the data so far demonstrates the need for an asset map. Assets exist – but many are unknown. For instance, through the Working Group, a job provider and service provider realized that while they are located only blocks apart, they were unaware of the services each provided. Both serve clients that can benefit from the other. We are learning that returning citizens gather at GED classes and many also need housing assistance. But the two needs are treated discreetly and service providers lack time, resources, and the ability to identify supports for areas outside of their specialties. Returning citizens often have several needs, and service providers often specialize in singular solutions.
The data also demonstrates different challenges across the region: neighboring counties have significantly different drug abuse rates, high school completion rates, and access to public transportation. Mapping this data allows counties to collaborate on what is successful in their area, to identify duplicative services, and to share resources they do not provide with clients. Mapping the reentry landscape is the goal of this project and we are a leading partner in this effort. But it cannot be completed or disseminated without BJA’s technical assistance support.
To finalize the map, Working Group representatives led by Talent 2025 will complete the data collection and ensure all stakeholders are represented in the map. The map then needs to be made publicly available, online. An interactive map that allows users to tap on their community and see the reentry landscape will be invaluable. The map will allow people to access services, decision makers can see service gaps, employers to see available training, and communities to identify partners.
The success of the data collection project will depend in large part on the community’s ability to fully map they system then to make it available to the public. Support for the completion of the data collection and for robust development of an interactive web presence that disseminates the results is crucial.
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An asset map will: (1) allow returning citizens to find opportunities; (2) facilitate efficient and creative collaboration among service providers; (3) facilitate previously unknown referrals among service providers; and (4) show key correlations to policymakers, who can use it to influence their decisions. For example, the data reveals that in one urban county, over 80% of individuals who are committed to the Michigan Department of Corrections are unemployed at the time of arrest. This information – coupled with the fact that nearly 50% of individuals from this county also lack a high school degree or GED – shows educators where they are needed. It reveals correlations helpful to workforce development agencies. This data can focus resources on a specific, high-risk population.
The ambitious goal of mapping reentry in our 13-county region is well underway. Completion and compilation of the data will support community engagement activities and inform decision regarding programs, policy, and partnerships. Alignment, access, and community awareness of reentry services are crucial to building an efficient network of opportunity and support.
A comprehensive, bold, and innovative approach is necessary to make these silos into a web. Though we would welcome an equally experienced data collection provider selected by BJA, the current data collection underway by Talent 2025 is connected to the community and effective. Talent 2025’s unique partnership with business, policy makers, and service providers allows it to exhaust all of the data points in each county to ensure that all stakeholders are represented. What is more urgently needed – in fact, what will ensure the project’s success or relegate it to only research relevance – is a digital data map. Reporting the data is essential. Reporting it to people who can use it will be invaluable. Through its efforts, BJA has developed the capacity of communities to address crime, mapped data of high-crime neighborhoods, and mapped community assets – all with the goal of enable communities to collaborate and improve their outcomes. Completion of this regional reentry map and the map’s accessibility will enable organizations, service providers, law enforcement, policy makers, employers, and returning citizens to see the real-time reality of their reentry community. Such a large-scale project requires assistance for completion and mapping expertise.
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