Wisconsin
Awarded $540,000
Federal Grant
to Expand
Reentry
Initiative
in Milwaukee County
MILWAUKEE
– Governor Jim Doyle announced today that Wisconsin has been awarded a
$540,000 grant by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to enable the
Department of Corrections (DOC) to expand upon its model Prisoner
Reentry Initiative in Milwaukee. The award is the third of its kind that
Wisconsin has received since 2006 to strengthen supervision service
delivery strategies for offenders returning from confinement to
southeastern Wisconsin.
"Wisconsin
continues to lead the country in efforts to promote the successful
return of offenders from prison back into the community, which results
in fewer new crimes, fewer new victims and improved community safety,"
Governor Doyle said. "Funding under this grant will support a vital
component of our strategy to make Milwaukee a stronger, safer community
in the long run.”
Funds from
the two-year grant will go toward building upon the existing
multi-agency criminal justice collaborations operating in Milwaukee
County, targeting a minimum of 200 offenders being released from
confinement to the community. The funds will be used to provide direct
services for the development of pre-release risk and needs assessments,
individualized transition plans, pre-release treatment, as well as
post-release core services in the areas of education, employment
training and placement, AODA treatment, and family and other social
supports.
The DOC
will continue to partner with many local, county and state agencies and
faith/community-based organizations in the implementation of the grant.
A portion of the grant will be connected with a future DOL grant that,
once awarded, will provide additional funds to enhance community-based
services.
In all,
Wisconsin has been awarded more than $1.5 million in federal dollars to
implement prisoner reentry in southeastern Wisconsin, including $450,000
awarded by the DOJ in 2006 for offenders returning to Milwaukee County
and a combined $585,000 awarded in 2007 by the DOJ and the U.S.
Department of Labor (DOL) to focus on prisoner reentry in Racine County.
The awards support a multi-agency, cross-disciplinary infrastructure to
promote system-wide efforts aimed at implementing reentry best
practices.
“Milwaukee
County residents are already seeing the public safety benefits of the
Prisoner Reentry Initiative, and this grant will help us take the effort
to a new level,” DOC Secretary Rick Raemisch said. “We are committed to
keeping our focus on practices that will promote accountability and
provide opportunities for offenders to succeed at leading productive,
law-abiding lives."
