Reentry 2030
Momentum Builds as Four More States Launch in 2024
By Anne Ellis and Darby Baham
Reentry 2030, a national initiative supported by the CSG Justice Center, aims to transform reentry while creating safer communities. People reentering their communities after release from jail or prison often face a lack of resources and barriers to employment, education and housing, which can lead to continued cycles of incarceration, hospitalization or homelessness.
In an effort to break these cycles, Reentry 2030 is helping states that commit to the initiative by providing support and evidence-based solutions tailored to their specific needs.
As a public safety strategy that requires a whole-of-government approach, Reentry 2030 intends to reduce recidivism, improve public safety and empower people to rebuild their lives.
The success of reentry programs is essential not only for the people directly affected, but also for creating stronger, more resilient communities across the nation.
In 2024, North Carolina, Nebraska, New York and Washington joined Alabama and Missouri in committing to reaching ambitious reentry goals — and more states are poised to join them in the coming months, working with the CSG Justice Center to shape a brighter future for reentry. While program goals are state-specific, they all emphasize collaboration across multiple systems and government agencies.
The following are just a few examples of the ambitious, but achievable, goals set by the newest states to launch Reentry 2030 programs:
Reentry 2030 State Goals
Employment
NEBRASKA Provide support so at least 90% of people who are released will be gainfully employed within 30 days of parole placement.
WASHINGTON Ensure that 40% of people released from incarceration will be employed six months after release.
Community Safety and Supervision
NEW YORK Reduce the recidivism rate to 17% — compared to the national average of 27%.
Education
NEBRASKA Promote education, with increases of 30% in GED completion during incarceration, 15% in the number of GED proctors and 50% in college coursework enrollment.
NEW YORK More than double the rate of incarcerated people participating in college.
NORTH CAROLINA Provide access to educational and employment opportunities by increasing the number of high school and postsecondary degrees earned during incarceration by 75%.
Housing
WASHINGTON
Commit to zero returns to homelessness.
Health
NEW YORK Secure substance use treatment for 100% of people who need it prior to release.
WASHINGTON Ensure that all eligible people are enrolled for Medicaid upon release.
Documentation and Administration
NEW YORK Ensure that 100% of eligible people will have received or requested a Social Security card and birth certificate prior to release.
NORTH CAROLINA Launch a Joint Reentry 2030 Council.
Legislative Efforts Supporting Reentry 2030
Many of the goals associated with Reentry 2030 require a whole-of-government approach, and state executive and legislative branches are stepping up to support these efforts.
Alabama’s SB 162 was signed into law, reestablishing the Study Commission on Interagency Cooperation and Collaboration on the Rehabilitation and Reintegration of Formerly Incarcerated Individuals to develop a strategic plan for reducing recidivism, strategies to expand access to educational and reentry support programs, strategies to ensure access to health care coverage and connections to behavioral health care upon reentry, and more.
In Nebraska, the passage of LB 631 expanded resources for people returning to the community after incarceration and increased community engagement around criminal justice. The law also established Community Work Release and Reentry Centers, and created the National Career Readiness Certificate Pilot Program.
In North Carolina, Gov. Roy Cooper signed Executive Order 303 in January 2024, establishing a whole-of-government approach to improving economic mobility, mental and physical health, and housing opportunities for people who were previously incarcerated as part of the state’s Reentry 2030 Strategic Plan.
“I am leaving here today with a different mindset. There’s a poster right when you enter medical, and it states: ‘I choose to live by choice, not by chance.’ Never again will I take a chance with my freedom. Never. I have been given skills.”
Carlton Jones, Alabama Prep Rehabilitation Center Graduate, at the Reentry 2030 launch (Alabama Daily News)
Remembering a Champion for Justice
In 2024, the CSG Justice Center mourned the loss of Vermont Sen. Richard (Dick) Sears Jr., one of its staunchest supporters and a long-serving, dedicated member of the CSG Justice Center Advisory Board. He served 24 years in the state Legislature, including 20 years as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, where he passionately championed reentry reform efforts that drastically reduced Vermont’s recidivism rates.
Working closely with the Justice Center, Sears brought together people from all three branches of government and leaders across the state to focus on decreasing prison populations and reducing recidivism through probation and parole improvements, prison- and community-based treatment, and effective reentry programming — key elements that align with the goals of Reentry 2030.
Sears was also a generous man who treated everyone with great respect. He relentlessly sought to tackle everything from the driving forces of racial disparities in sentencing to strengthening Vermont’s policies to help people better transition from incarceration to the community.
“Sen. Sears never forgot the people on whose behalf he was working,” said Megan Quattlebaum, director of the CSG Justice Center. “In a choice between head and heart, he said a hearty ‘yes’ to both.”
Vermont Sen. Dick Sears
“Strengthening reentry services for formerly incarcerated people is both the right and smart thing to do.”
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper