Plan for helping prisoners return to the community

(a) The department of corrections and rehabilitation shall develop a comprehensive and effective offender reentry system plan for adult offenders exiting the prison system. (b) The department of corrections and rehabilitation shall develop comprehensive reentry plans and curricula for individuals exiting correctional facilities in order to reduce recidivism and increase a person's successful reentry into the community. The reentry plans shall include, but not be limited to: (1) Adopting an operational philosophy that considers that offender reentry begins on the day an offender enters the correctional system. Each offender entering the system shall be assessed to determine the offender's needs in order to assist the individual offender with developing the skills necessary to be successful in the community; (2) Providing appropriate programs, including, but not limited to, education, substance abuse treatment, cognitive skills development, vocational and employment training, and other programs that help to meet the assessed needs of each individual; (3) Developing a comprehensive network of transitional programs to address the needs of individuals exiting the correctional system; (4) Ensuring that all reentry programs are gender-responsive; (5) Issuing requests for proposals from community-based nonprofit programs with experience with offenders in the area of reentry; and (6) Instituting model reentry programs for adult offenders. [L Sp 2007, c 8, pt of §2 ; am L 2022, c 278, §29]