§353H-31 Adult offender reentry programs and services. (a) The director of public safety may authorize purchase of service contracts, in accordance with chapter 103F, subject to legislative or other appropriate funding, for adult offender reentry programs and services that establish or improve the offender reentry system and in which each adult offender in state correctional custody is provided an individualized reentry plan.

(b) Subject to funding by the legislature or other appropriate sources, the department of public safety shall authorize the purchase of service contracts for activities that:

(1) Coordinate the supervision and services provided to adult offenders in state custody with the supervision and services provided to offenders who have reentered the community;

(2) Coordinate efforts of various public and private entities to provide supervision and services to ex-offenders after reentry into the community with the offenders' family members;

(3) Provide offenders awaiting reentry into the community with documents, such as identification papers, referrals to services, medical prescriptions, job training certificates, apprenticeship papers, information on obtaining public assistance, and other documents useful in achieving a successful transition from prison;

(4) Involve county agencies whose programs and initiatives strengthen offender reentry services for individuals who have been returned to the county of their jurisdiction;

(5) Allow ex-offenders who have reentered the community to continue to contact mentors who remain incarcerated through the use of technology, such as videoconferencing, or encourage mentors in prison to support the ex-offenders' reentry process;

(6) Provide structured programs, post-release housing, and transitional housing, including group homes for recovering substance abusers, through which offenders are provided supervision and services immediately following reentry into the community;

(7) Assist offenders in securing permanent housing upon release or following a stay in transitional housing;

(8) Continue to link offenders with health resources for health services that were provided to them when they were in state custody, including mental health, substance abuse treatment, aftercare, and treatment services for contagious diseases;

(9) Provide education, job training, English as a second language programs, work experience programs, self-respect and life-skills training, and other skills needed to achieve self-sufficiency for a successful transition from prison;

(10) Facilitate collaboration among corrections administrators, technical schools, community colleges, and the workforce development and employment service sectors so that there are efforts to:

(A) Promote, where appropriate, the employment of persons released from prison, through efforts such as educating employers about existing financial incentives, and facilitate the creation of job opportunities, including transitional jobs, for such persons that will also benefit communities;

(B) Connect offenders to employment, including supportive employment and employment services, before their release to the community; and

(C) Address barriers to employment, including obtaining a driver's license;

(11) Assess the literacy and educational needs of offenders in custody and provide appropriate services to meet those needs, including follow-up assessments and long-term services;

(12) Address systems under which family members of offenders are involved with facilitating the successful reentry of those offenders into the community, including removing obstacles to the maintenance of family relationships while the offender is in custody, strengthening the family's capacity to establish and maintain a stable living situation during the reentry process where appropriate, and involving family members in the planning and implementation of the reentry process;

(13) Include victims, on a voluntary basis, in the offender's reentry process;

(14) Facilitate visitation and maintenance of family relationships with respect to offenders in custody by addressing obstacles such as travel, telephone costs, mail restrictions, and restrictive visitation policies;

(15) Identify and address barriers to collaborating with child welfare agencies in the provision of services jointly to offenders in custody and to the children of those offenders;

(16) Collect information, to the best of the department's ability, regarding dependent children of incarcerated persons as part of intake procedures, including the number of children, age, and location or jurisdiction for the exclusive purpose of connecting identified children of incarcerated parents with appropriate services and compiling statistical information;

(17) Address barriers to the visitation of children with an incarcerated parent, and maintenance of the parent-child relationship, such as the location of facilities in remote areas, telephone costs, mail restrictions, and visitation policies;

(18) Create, develop, or enhance prisoner and family assessments curricula, policies, procedures, or programs, including mentoring programs, to help prisoners with a history or identified risk of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking reconnect with their families and communities, as appropriate, and become mutually respectful;

(19) Develop programs and activities that support parent-child relationships, such as:

(A) Using telephone conferencing to permit incarcerated parents to participate in parent-teacher conferences;

(B) Using videoconferencing to allow virtual visitation when incarcerated persons are more than one hundred miles from their families;

(C) Developing books on tape programs, through which incarcerated parents read a book into a tape to be sent to their children;

(D) The establishment of family days, which provide for longer visitation hours or family activities; or

(E) The creation of children's areas in visitation rooms with parent-child activities;

(20) Expand family-based treatment centers that offer family-based comprehensive treatment services for parents and their children as a complete family unit;

(21) Conduct studies to determine who is returning to prison and which of those returning prisoners represent the greatest risk to community safety;

(22) Develop or adopt procedures to ensure that dangerous felons are not released from prison prematurely;

(23) Develop and implement procedures to assist relevant authorities in determining when release is appropriate and in the use of data to inform the release decision;

(24) Utilize validated assessment tools to assess the risk factors of returning offenders to the community and prioritizing services based on risk;

(25) Facilitate and encourage timely and complete payment of restitution and fines by ex-offenders to victims and the community;

(26) Consider establishing the use of reentry courts to:

(A) Monitor offenders returning to the community;

(B) Provide returning offenders with:

(i) Drug and alcohol testing and treatment; and

(ii) Mental and medical health assessment services;

(C) Facilitate restorative justice practices and convene family or community impact panels, family impact educational classes, victim impact panels, or victim impact educational classes;

(D) Provide and coordinate the delivery of other community services to offenders, including:

(i) Housing assistance;

(ii) Education;

(iii) Employment training;

(iv) Children and family support;

(v) Conflict resolution skills training;

(vi) Family violence intervention programs; and

(vii) Other appropriate social services; and

(E) Establish and implement graduated sanctions and incentives; and

(27) Provide technology and other tools necessary to advance post-release supervision. [L Sp 2007, c 8, pt of §2]