This program supports returning citizens leaving the Centre county Correctional Facility (CCCF). Often times they leave jail with almost nothing, specifically lacking a cell phone and other technology that will helps them to communicate with family and support systems as well as apply for jobs. Providing returning citizens with cell phones and/or laptops also improves their chances of success post incarceration and enables them to fully participate in modern society, where you really need to have a smart phone or a laptop and access to the internet in order to engage in the world.

Our current reentry programming offers a weekly support group for women as well as a monthly career skills and reentry class co-taught by myself and Keith Mernin from PA CareerLink. This programming was originally supported by a PCCD grant that ended in June of 2024. The Awesome Grant would enable us to continue to provide retuning citizens with the technology they need to succeed on the outside.

In addition to the reentry programming we offer pre-release, I would like to add a post-release support group to the CACJ’s programming. I think that this programming would be most successful if it was made virtual as most of our clients are not remaining in Centre county post-release. Keith and I have built rapport with our clients over a number of months and in some cases longer, and being able to “stay with them” post-release could be helpful to them and also helpful for us as practitioners in order to hone our programming and track progress, which is often a challenge after our clients are released. A post-release support group could also allow guest speakers attend from human services agencies from the counties where the clients reside, helping to ensure wrap-around services.