FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? OJP
JULY 15, 2002???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? 202/307-0703
VIRGIN ISLANDS TO RECEIVE FEDERAL FUNDS FOR OFFENDER
REENTRY EFFORTS
WASHINGTON,
DC ? Attorney General John Ashcroft announced today that the Virgin Islands
will receive a total of $1,000,000 to support prisoner reentry initiatives. The
Virgin Islands award was among 68 grants totaling $100 million to support
efforts to ensure public safety and reduce victimization by helping returning
offenders become productive members of their communities.? Forty-nine states, the District of Columbia
and Virgin Islands will receive the funds.
The
grants, awarded by the Justice Department?s Office of Justice Programs (OJP),
are part of the Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative, an
unprecedented collaboration among the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce,
Education, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Justice,
Labor and Veterans Affairs.??
?By
educating and treating offenders, we are not only helping them improve their
lives, we are reducing the chance they will return to crime and drug abuse,?
said Attorney General Ashcroft.?? ?My
hope is that the reentry programs will improve public safety and reduce the
burden on law enforcement and corrections.?
The
Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative will build on innovative
reentry efforts in states for both juveniles and adults with the goal that
these efforts serve as nationwide models.
Reentry efforts will begin while offenders are still in correctional
facilities, continue through offenders? transition back into the community and
help sustain ex-offenders through services such as employment training and
substance abuse and mental health treatment.
Efforts will be tailored to any one, or combination of, the following
age groups: Youth (ages 14 ‑ 17); Young Adult (ages 18 ‑ 24) and Adult
(ages 25+).? These efforts involve close
coordination among institutional corrections, law enforcement, community
corrections and other community-based service providers.
Within
the Virgin Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands Bureau of Corrections will receive
$1,000,000 to target offenders between the ages of 14 and 24.? It will partner with various service agencies to address the
challenges of recidivism, substance abuse, physical and mental health, as well
as to provide services that address of workforce participation, independent
living training, and peer support.
?These
programs are all tailored to meet the unique needs of the state and local
communities,? added Ashcroft.? ?But they
draw together different disciplines to develop state-of-the art, integrated
reentry efforts.?
The
Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative is designed to address all
three stages involved in returning an offender to the community.? The process involves education, treatment
and life skills programs while offenders are in institutions, services and
supervision as they reenter the community and networks of agencies, and
individuals to support offenders as they become productive and law-abiding
members of their communities.
More
information about the Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative and other
OJP programs is available on OJP?s Website at www.ojp.usdoj.gov .? Media should contact OJP?s Office of
Congressional and Public Affairs at 202/307-0703.
# # #
OJP 02207
?