From April 2021 through December 2023, the Indianapolis Office of Public Health and Safety initiated a coordinated case-management program providing services to reentrants in and departing the Duvall Residential Center (DRC), using funds the U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Assistance provided through a Second Chance Act Innovative Reentry Initiative (IRI) grant. The DRC is a male-only work-release facility where residents are generally only permitted to leave for work, school, or medical attention. Clients in this program included those between 18 and 35 who were classified as moderate-to-high risk of returning to the justice system.
Stakeholders designed the program to provide coordinated case management to clients with access to literacy, high school equivalency, education, employment training, and employment certification programs. They also wanted to connect clients to wraparound services to remove barriers that get in the way of successful reentry. Overall, the program sought to build program capacity and partnerships among the city’s justice-involved service providers to deliver services, prevent recidivism, and improve public safety in Indianapolis and Marion County.
Dr. Eric Grommon, of the Paul H. O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, and analysts from the Center for Research on Inclusion and Social Policy (CRISP) evaluated the program’s impact. This policy brief summarizes their report findings and program impacts.
