By: Katie Sobiech
The Reentry Program in Summit County continues to grow and improve, according to Bernie Rochfield, executive vice president of Oriana House.
Rochfield, involved in reentry work for the past 30 years, has witnessed first-hand how things have progressed.
“Things have grown so much, even in just the last 2 ½ -3 years,” Terry Tribe Johnson, Summit County Reentry Coordinator, agreed.
By: Katie Sobiech
Now that we’ve discussed what works, what doesn’t, and the waves of change that are beginning to crash in on the reentry world in Summit County, it’s time to address a huge barrier. This wall has barricaded ex-felons in, giving them hardly any other options but to go back to their criminal lifestyles over the years.
This barrier is employment.
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By: Katie Sobiech
So far we’ve discussed the gaps in the system and what doesn’t work in the area of reentry, but the question that arises now is what does work? And how can we encourage these ideas worth spreading?
The Summit County Reentry Network (SCRN) and Oriana House have found a few things to be key in helping ex-offenders turn their lives around. This includes role playing, and taking the Ohio Risk Assessment System (ORAS) test, to determine their level of offense so that they can provide the best plan possible.
Their goal is to eliminate the faults in the system and work out the kinks that they’ve found throughout the years. This change may be exactly what the reentry world needs in order to reduce recidivism rates, and ultimately change our community. (more…)