Spotlight Announcement

3/11/2008: U.S. Senate Passes Second Chance Act

The U.S. Senate passed today the Second Chance Act of 2007. This landmark bill, introduced by Senators Joseph Biden (D-DE), Sam Brownback (R-KS), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), and Arlen Specter (R-PA), provides critical resources designed to reduce recidivism and increase public safety. The legislation passed the Senate by unanimous consent and now proceeds to the President’s desk for signature.

The passage of the Second Chance Act reflects the strong consensus that improving prisoner reentry is not a partisan issue, but a matter of public safety, improving lives, and making effective use of taxpayer dollars," said Assemblyman Jeffrion Aubry, Justice Center board member and chair of the New York State Assembly Correction Committee.

The Second Chance Act includes key elements of President Bush’s Prisoner Reentry Initiative, announced in the 2004 State of the Union address, which provides for community and faith-based organizations to deliver mentoring and transitional services. The bill will also help connect people released from prison and jail to mental health and substance abuse treatment, expand job training and placement services, and facilitate transitional housing and case management services.

"It is vitally important that we do everything we can to ensure that, when people get out of prison, they enter our communities as productive members of society, so we can start to reverse the dangerous cycles of recidivism and violence," said Senator Leahy. "I hope that the Second Chance Act will help us begin to break that cycle."

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, an estimated 95 percent of all state prisoners will be released—with half of these individuals expected to return to prison within three years for the commission of a new crime or violation of their conditions of release. This cycle of recidivism not only compromises public safety, but also increases taxpayer spending. A February 2007 report from The Pew Charitable Trusts stated that if federal, state, and local policies and practices do not change, taxpayers are expected to pay as much as $27.5 billion on prisons alone from 2007 to 2011 on top of current corrections spending.

"The Second Chance Act will provide an opportunity for realistic rehabilitation for the more than 650,000 inmates who return to their communities each year," said Senator Specter. “The bill’s focus on education, job training, and substance abuse treatment is essential to decreasing the nationwide recidivism rate of 66 percent."

"I am pleased that my Senate colleagues were able to pass legislation that will help combat the high rates of prisoner recidivism in America. Everybody – the ex-offender, the ex-offender’s family, and society at large – benefits from programs that equip prisons with the proper tools to successful reintegrate individuals into life outside of the prison walls," said Senator Brownback. "I am hopeful that with this legislation we will begin to see tangible results as governments and non-profit organizations work together to help ex-offenders."

For more information on the Second Chance Act, please click here or contact Sara Paterni.