Improving the Return of Inmates to Society

I commented a couple of weeks ago, in response to a post by Michael P. about a NYT report regarding the prison population in the US, on the failure to provide sufficient assistance to released inmate to facilite their reintegration into society.

Two new Urban Institute reports discuss how more can be done to "improve the odds of inmates' successful return to society," through partnership between local jails and community organizations.  Life after Lockup: Improving Reenty from Jail to Community examines concrete reenty steps and profiles a number of reetnry programs around the United States.  The Jail Administrator's Toolkit for Reentry "is a handbook on such issues as assessment of inmates' needs, identifying community resources, educating the public, and measuring success."  The news release accompanying the reports observes that in an average 3-week period, local jails have contact with as many people as state and federal prisons do in an entire year, creating great potential for their assistance in the transition from incarceration to society.