Second Chance Act

Key Provisions

Most of the objectives of the act are carried out through grants to state and local reentry demonstration projects, including reentry courts, and to nonprofit organizations for mentoring and other transitional services. In fiscal year 2009, $25 million was appropriated for programs under the act, and $114 million was appropriated in fiscal year 2010. Projects are encouraged to utilize evidence-based practices and programming, such as validated risk assessment tools, and are required to meet specific performance outcomes relating to the long-term goals of increasing public safety and reducing recidivism. These performance outcomes include reduction in recidivism rates, reduction in crime, increased employment and education opportunities, reduction in violation of conditions of supervised release, increased housing opportunities, reduction in drug and alcohol abuse, and increased participation in substance abuse and mental health services.

The Second Chance Act was created to address issues surrounding prisoner reentry, increase public safety, and reduce recidivism. Services provided ranged from substance abuse treatment to family counseling to training on parenting skills for those with minor children.

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One of the main elements of the act is its emphasis on drug treatment. First, it aims to divert people from prison by providing grants to prosecutors at the state and local levels to develop or expand drug treatment programs as alternatives to incarceration. Second, the act authorizes grants to improve existing in-prison drug treatment, including drug treatment that continues after a person has been released from prison during any period of post-prison supervision that person is required to serve. Finally, the act increases the eligible pool of people for drug court admission by altering the definition of a “violent offender” so that people convicted of a violent offense punishable by less than one year of imprisonment are now eligible to participate in drug courts.

The act also recognizes the importance of family to the reentry process and accordingly authorizes grants for the development of family-based [Page 407]treatment programs in prisons and the community. The prison-based treatment programs would provide comprehensive services ranging from substance abuse treatment to family counseling and training in parenting skills for incarcerated parents of minor children. In addition, the act supports the creation of family-based substance abuse programs in the community as alternatives to incarceration.

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