U.S. Attorney Polite Announces Events in Honor of National Reentry Week

U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced that his Office will observe National Reentry Week through the following special events and programs:

Monday, April 25, 2016           Launching of National Reentry Week

2:00 pm                                       with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)

                                                      Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Lourdes Castro Ramirez

                                                      Educare of New Orleans

                                                      Columbia Parc Facility

                                                      3801 St. Bernard Avenue

                                                      New Orleans, LA

Wednesday, April 27, 2016    Reentry Challenges…Bridging the Gap

8:30 am                                      Pollock Federal Correctional Complex

                                                     1000 Airbase Road

                                                     Pollock, LA

Thursday, April 28, 2016       Reentry Simulation hosted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office

10:00 am                                   for the Southern District of Alabama

                                                    Arthur Outlaw Convention Center

                                                    1 South Water Street

                                                    Mobile, AL

In visiting with inmates at the federal prison, Polite will be the first sitting U.S. Attorney in Louisiana to visit Pollock FCC.  He will be joined by Lilia Valdez-Lindsley of the Veterans Administration and Hakim Kashif, a former federal inmate who has successfully returned to the New Orleans community as a college student and criminal justice advocate.

Earlier today, the Eastern District of Louisiana kicked off its National Reentry Week activities when 11 returning citizens graduated from the Rise and Recover post-release reentry program.  A partnership between the U.S. Probation Office, the U.S. District Court, the Federal Defenders Office, the U.S. Marshals Service, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Rise and Recover provides individuals with job training, life skills, conflict resolution skills, and drug treatment.  If the individual completes the 14-month program, he or she receives a one-year reduction in supervised release time.

The Obama Administration has taken major steps to make our criminal justice system fairer, more efficient, and more effective at reducing recidivism and helping formerly incarcerated individuals contribute to their communities.  An important part of that commitment is preparing those who have paid their debt to society for substantive opportunities beyond the prison gates, and addressing obstacles to successful reentry that too many returning citizens encounter.

As part of this effort, the Department of Justice designated the week of April 24-30, 2016, as National Reentry Week. Leadership from across the Administration are traveling during National Reentry Week in support of these many events and are encouraging federal partners and grantees to work closely with stakeholders like federal defenders, legal aid providers, and other partners across the country to increase the impact of this effort.