Background
2016 – 2020
Project Safe Neighborhood: Welcome Home (PSN) and Smart Reentry are innovative initiatives aimed at preventing recidivism among men returning to Milwaukee neighborhoods from state correctional facilities. The Wisconsin Department of Justice, in collaboration with other project partners, launched both projects in 2016. While PSN ended in spring 2019, the work continues through Smart Reentry.
The Alma Center coordinates PSN and Smart Reentry services. Based on a comprehensive prison reentry model, PSN and Smart Reentry combine focused deterrence strategies with social supports. Participants in both programs receive communication from staff aimed to deter ongoing criminal involvement. Additionally, the programs provide post-release case management and referral services, and host Welcome Home Ceremonies where participants network with community stakeholders. In addition, Smart Reentry offers pre- and post-release peer and family supports.
The ICFW is leading the projects’ process evaluation, which has two functions:
- Catalog the programs’ novel approaches to reentry
- Contribute to continuous program improvement
Learn More
Issue Brief – The Promise of Prisoner Reentry Programming
Community Advocates Milwaukee Reentry Council and the Smart Reentry Program
ICFW Team
Edwin Bacalso
Sarwat Sharif
Dimitri Topitzes
Funding
U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice ProgramsPartners
Alma Center
Community Advocates Public Policy Institute
Medical College of Wisconsin
U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of WI
Wisconsin Department of Justice