Identifying partnering agencies and community leaders is a key component to the success of the TJC model. You will find that some will be government agencies, but the majority will probably be agencies providing services at the local level. The long-term goal is for the agencies to form a coordinating reentry council, so including the right agencies and the appropriate agency representative is essential.
The spectrum of your possible collaborators is wide open:
Key stakeholders include:
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Here is how to start:
Begin by making a list of all the government and nongovernment agencies and community-based organizations your agency presently works with to help transition people from jail to the community.
Next, identify any other government and nongovernment agencies and community-based organizations that have contacts with the jail population pre- or post-release but which are not formally engaged in the transitional process.
Finally, identify the government and nongovernment agencies and community-based organizations that play a key role in meeting the risks and needs of the returning population but have no connection to the jail.
“We recently created an organizational structure allowing us to meet frequently with other local community based providers, and local and state supervision agencies that share our broader mission for a safer community. These reentry committee meetings spawned action, innovation, and joint projects, and it has resulted in energizing Kent County’s reentry efforts. The Sheriff’s Office has always been on good terms with groups such as pretrial services, Friend of the Court, public schools, community corrections, homeless advocates, treatment centers, probation and parole, and in the past we have periodically cooperated on individual projects. When we purposefully aligned ourselves with the mutual goal to address our common public safety interests in attacking the barriers to successful offender reintegration, we began to fully realize the many benefits of this level of collaboration.”
—Captain Randy Demory
Sheriff’s Department and Chair of the Community Reentry Coordinating Council (CRCC)
Field note: Denver Crime Prevention and Control Membership (2011) |
Bob Anderson, Denver Public Schools, Prevention and Intervention Initiatives, Director |
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