The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“SECOND CHANCE ACT” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Labor was published in the Senate section on pages S2938-S2939 on April 10, 2008.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
SECOND CHANCE ACT
Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I rise today to acknowledge the Presidential signing of a bill that was two and a half Congresses in the making, the Second Chance Act. This bill, which focuses on reinventing the way in which we create prison reentry programs, will have a dramatic and positive effect on hundreds of thousands of lives--
lives that will be changed for the better.
I am equally pleased that the President signaled his support for this much needed legislation by hosting a bill signing ceremony this morning at the White House. I was delighted to join my colleagues in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, as well as the organizations that helped make this bill a reality--it was truly a magnificent event.
Over 650,000 individuals will be released from our Federal and State prisons, and 9 million are released from jails. Approximately two out of every three individuals released from prison or jail commit more crimes and will be rearrested within 3 years of release, placing increasing financial burdens on our States and decreasing public safety.
Recidivism is costly, in both personal and financial terms. Consider: The American taxpayers spent approximately $9 billion per year on corrections in 1982 and in 2002--nearly two decades later--taxpayers spent $60 billion. This current criminal justice system is not working, does not make our cities and States safer and is unacceptable and must be addressed.
The Second Chance Act will address these major issues in the area of corrections. By providing grant money to States through the Department of Justice and the Department of Labor, the bill encourages the creation of innovative programs geared toward improving public safety, decreasing the financial burden on States and successfully reintegrating ex-offenders into society.
Additionally, this bill authorizes two grant programs designed to aid nonprofit organizations--faith-based and community-based organizations--that provide programs to those incarcerated. As you may know, faith-based programs are very successful in reintegrating offenders into society. A 2002 study found that faith-based prison programs result in a significantly lower rate of re-arrest than vocation-based programs--16 percent versus 36 percent.
I and my Senate and House colleagues have worked extremely hard over the past 4 years on this measure that encompasses Federal, State, local, and nonprofit programs. I would especially like to thank Ranking Member Specter, Chairman Biden, and Chairman Leahy. Our partnership over the last years has been a true testament to bipartisanship. We were able to put aside our policy differences for the good of those in need and come together on a bill that will provide hope and aid to those incarcerated. The bill will also provide assistance to those most vulnerable and often overlooked--the children of incarcerated parents. Nearly half of all prisoners have children, and it is estimated that one in five of those children will follow their parent into the prison system--this broken system must change, and the Second Chance Act will facilitate such needed change.
Indeed this bill is much needed and will serve as a catalyst for systemic change. This bill is supported by the hard work and determination of over 200 organizations, such as Prison Fellowship Ministries, Open Society, the Council of State Governments, and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, as well as many State and local government correction officials and law enforcement officials--a truly bipartisan/bicameral coalition of partners committed to changing the criminal justice system.
I commend the tremendous--truly tremendous work these organizations completed on behalf of this bill. Without their partnership, the bill may not have become reality. Through their perseverance and help, much needed reentry resources will be funded to help give those in our prison system a second chance at life. Through substance abuse programs, education, and job training programs, those incarcerated will be given a second chance to be productive citizens. Perhaps most importantly, prisoners will be given a second chance to reconnect with their families through family-based treatment and mentoring programs.
This is a monumental bill that will change the lives of countless individuals and will keep our communities safer by reducing recidivism rates drastically--the goal, 50 percent in 5 years--and it can be done.
Kansas has proven it. In slightly less time than it took us to enact this bill--3 years--Kansas cut their monthly revocation rate by 44 percent . . . 44 percent. I understand that they can also track the recidivism rate for ex-offenders in the 12-18 months of a parolee's release. Even more striking, the State has been able to reduce, by 41 percent, the number of criminal convictions over the last 3 years--
proving that reentry programs work.
This is amazing, and I know that with the aid of the Second Chance Act other States are on their way to these successes as well.
I would like to also take a moment to recognize State Representative Pat Colloton from Kansas who was also here today to share in this celebration and is one of the leaders in Kansas on this issue.
Mr. President, this has been a great day for the supporters of the Second Chance Act. I commend them for their efforts, and I ask unanimous consent that the full list of organizations that support this program be printed in the Record for their outstanding work on this issue.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows:
Organizations that Support the Second Chance Act
Access Community Health Network of Chicago; Addictions Coalition of Delaware, Inc.; AdvoCare, Inc., Hancock, MD; All of Us or None Oklahoma; Alliance for Children and Families; Alston Wilkes Society, South Carolina; Alvis House, Inc., Columbus, OH; American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry; American Bar Association; American Catholic Correctional Chaplains Association; American Center for Law and Justice; American Conservative Union; American Correctional Association; Amercan Correctional Chaplains Association; American Counseling Association; American Jail Association; American Probation and Parole Association; American Psychological Association; The Arc of the United States; Arizona Statewide TASC: Treatment Assessment & Screening Center.
Association for Better Living and Education; Association of Citizens for Social Reform; Association of State Correctional Administrators; A T Roseborough & Associated, Inc.; ATTIC Corrections Services, Inc., Madison, WI; BASICS, Inc.--Bronx, New York; Big Brothers Big Sisters of America; BOP Watch; The Bronx Defenders; Broward County Regional Project Safe Neighborhoods Task Force; California Association of Alcohol and Drug Program Executives; Catholic Charities USA; Center for Community Alternatives; Center for Community Corrections, Syracuse, NY; Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO)--New York; Center for Law and Social Policy; Center for Public Justice; Center for Youth as Resources; Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice; Changin' Lives, Sugarland, TX.
Chicago Coalition for the Homeless; Child Welfare League of America; Children's Defense Fund; Christian Coalition; Church Council of Greater Seattle; Church Women United; Citizens United for Rehabilitation of Errants--Virginia, Inc.; Coalition for Juvenile Justice; Coalition of Community Corrections Providers--New Jersey; Coalition to End Homelessness, Ft. Lauderdale, FL; Concerned Citizens Coalition, Front Royal, VA; The Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities Criminal Justice Policy Task; Force; Corporation for Supportive Housing; Correctional Education Association; Council of Juvenile Correctional Administrators; Covenant House; Criminon International; D.C. Prisoners' Legal Services Project; Delaware Center for Justice, Inc.; East Bay Community Law Center, Berkeley, CA.
East County One Stop, OR; Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; FAAM--Utah Chapter; F.A.C.E.--Baltimore, MD; Family Justice, New York, NY; Family Research Council; Family Service Agency, AZ; Federal Defense Associates, Santa Ana, CA; Federal Prison Policy Project; Federation of Families for Children's Mental Health; Fifth Avenue Committee; Fight Crime: Invest in Kids; Foster Family-based Treatment Association; Friends and Family of Incarcerated Persons, Las Vegas, NV; Gastineau Human Services Corporation--Juneau, AK; Goodwill Industries International; HARP (Housing Assistance and Resource Program), Lebanon, PA; Haymarket Center of Chicago; Heartland Alliance for Human Needs and Human Rights; Horizon Faith-based Communities in Prisons.
Human Kindness Foundation; Idaho Department of Correction; Illinois TASC; Indiana Citizens United for Rehabilitation of Errants; International Association of Reentry; International Community Corrections Association; Jacksonville Area Legal Aid, Prisoner Reentry Program; Jewish Prisoner Services International; Johnson Institute; Justice Fellowship; Justice Watch, Inc.; Kids First Coalition; Leadership Conference on Civil Rights; Learning Disabilities Association of America; Legal Action Center; Lifetrack Resources--Minnesota; Local Initiative Support Corporation (LISC); Lutheran Services of America; Marion County Reentry Court, Indianapolis, IN; Mennonite Central Committee Washington Office.
Montgomery County (MD) Department of Correction and Rehabilitation; NAACP; NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc.; NAADAC--The Association for Addiction Professionals; National AIDS Housing Coalition; National Alliance for the Mentally III; National Alliance of Faith and Justice; National Alliance to End Homelessness; National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice; National Association for Children of Alcoholics; National Association for Children's Behavioral Health; National Association of Counties; National Association of Drug Court Professionals; National Association of Protection and Advocacy Systems; National Association of School Psychology; National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors; National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors; National Black Caucus of State Legislators
(NBCSL); National Black Church Taskforce Initiative on Crime and Criminal Justice; National Citizens United for Rehabilitation of Errants (CURE).
National Coalition of Full Opportunity for Felons (NCFOF); National Committee on Community Corrections; National Consortium of TASC Programs Inc.; National Correctional Industries Association; National Council for Community Behavorial Healthcare; National Council of La Raza; National HIRE Network; National Independent Living Association; National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty; National Low Income Housing Coalition; National Network for Youth; National Re-Entry Resource Center; National Religious Affairs Association; National Sheriffs' Association; National TASC; National Transitional Jobs Network; National Urban League; New Hope Project--Wisconsin; New Jersey Community Corrections Association; New York City Departments of Correction and Probation.
New York Therapeutic Communities, Inc.; NY TCA; Noisette Foundation, North Charleston, SC; North Carolina TASC Training Institute; North West Community Corrections Center--Bowling Green, OH; Office of the Appellate Defender in New York; Ohio Community Corrections Association; Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction; Ohio TASC Partnership; Our Daughters & Sons Support Group, Newport News, VA; Pacific Mountain WorkSource; Physicians for Human Rights; Pioneer Human Services--Seattle, WA; Police Executive Research Forum
(PERF); Positive Resistance, Inc.; Presbyterian Church (USA), Washington Office; Prevent Child Abuse America; Prison Fellowship; Prison Ministry and Criminal Justice Commission of the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc.; Prisons Foundation.
Public/Private Ventures; Rebecca Project for Human Rights; Tarzana Treatment Centers; Region 1 TASC Regional Coordinating Entity of Coastal Horizons Center, Inc.; Resource Information Help for the Disadvantaged (RIHD, Inc.); Restoration Enterprises, Redding, CA; The Safer Foundation; The Salvation Army; Samaritan Village; Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law--Chicago; School Social Work Association of America; Seattle Ready4Work; Second Chance, San Diego, CA; Second Chance Ready4Work, Memphis, TN; The Sentencing Project; SHAR, Inc.; Society For Return To Honor, AZ; Southend Community Services/Our Piece of the Pie, Hartford, CT; State Associations of Addiction Services
(SAAS); Stay'n Out and Serendipity Programs.
Stella Maris, Inc.--Cleveland, OH; STEPS To End Family Violence, New York, NY; Students for Sensible Drug Policy; Therapeutic Communities of America; Transitional Living Centers, Inc.--Williamsport, PA; TurnAround Village, LTD; United Cerebral Palsy; United Church of Christ/Justice & Witness Ministries; United Methodist Church General Board of Church and Society; United States Conference of Catholic Bishops; United States Conference of Mayors; University of Alabama, Birmingham TASC; UrbaneKnights, Inc.; Virginia CURE; Volunteers of America; Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless; WestCare Foundation--Las Vegas, NV; The Wilberforce Forum; Women of Reform Judaism; Word of Hope Ministries, Inc./Ready4Work; Youth Advocate Programs, Inc.; Youth Law Center.
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