According to the U.S. Department of Justice, there are currently over 2.2 million individuals serving time in federal and state prison, with 95 percent of those individuals being released and returning to their perspective communities across the nation. Majority of those individuals returning have needs that was either unaddressed while incarcerated or during the reentry process, which will negatively impact their ability to live a crime free productive life while in the community. Once released from prison, inmates are faced with a myriad of challenges such as finding stable housing, maintaining employment, combating substance abuse, and addressing physical and mental health problems. However, with the help of community support, offenders would less likely return back to prison and are …show more content…
The Second Chance Act is authorized to allocate funding to the federal and state for reentry programs. Reentry programs was designed to assist incarcerated individuals with a successful transition to their community after they are released. The act also have established a National Offender Re-Entry Resource Center for states, local government, service providers, faith-based organizations, correctional and community organizations to collect and disperse best practices and provide training and support for reentry. The Second Chance Act is an important step towards ensuring the rehabilitation of criminals so they can become productive members of society. Federal assistance is needed to help state and local governments implement programs to ease the transition for offenders and make sure they receive support so they can truly have a second chance to live a law abiding life. Specifically, the Second Chance Act provides grants to