With sufficient preparation, counsel and support, the return of the individual to his or her family can be one of the most crucial and positive elements of his or her successful reintegration to community life. It can be a time of mixed emotions, changing relationships, and shifting roles for the returning inmate and family members as they readjust to life in the community together. ^[1]   If the needs and strengths of the family are recognized and addressed or engaged, family members can provide needed stability and support for the individual and pave the path for successful reintegration. Conversely, if the family's needs are neglected during the process of incarceration, release, and re-entry, family members and the person released can be placed in a situation of substantial risk.

Transition planners or other corrections staff should first offer to family members, as with victims, information and a chance to be included in the process of their family member's return to the community. The prisoner's family should be notified of the date of release as soon as it has been established (as well as any updates, should that date shift). In addition, representatives of the department of corrections, alone or in conjunction with community-based family services providers, should encourage the family to learn about the responsibilities that their relative will have during community supervision. Making sure that the individual's family has basic information about his or her re-entry is the first step towards easing his or her transition back into the family.

Example: Family and Friends, Multnomah County Department of Community Justice and Citizens United for Rehabilitation of Errants (OR)

Family and Friends is a series of orientations for family and friends of inmates who will be released within six months to post-prison supervision in Multnomah County. The orientations are designed to help friends and family members understand the goals and requirements of post-prison supervision so that their loved ones will have a better chance of succeeding after they leave prison.

Example: Reentry Management Team, Community-Oriented Re-Entry, Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections

Approximately six months prior to an individual's release, he or she can invite family members to a group family orientation day, where family members can learn about the Ohio's Reentry Project. If, following the orientation, certain family members wish to participate further, the family members are invited to the institution to join the inmate's Reentry Management Team. The Reentry Management Team, which is established at the start of incarceration, consists of the individual, service providers, a case manager, and a faith-based representative. The family members, who provides support, ideas, and assistance, join only toward the end of incarceration and may remain on the team even after the person who has been incarcerated transitions back to the community. The Reentry Management Team is one component of Ohio's Community-Oriented Reentry Program, which is funded by a SVORI grant.