Financial Support for Reentry

June, 2007NC-DOC

Capacity Building Training

Agenda

• Welcome & Introduction• Criminal Justice Snapshot• Profile & Needs of (ex-) offenders• Funding Landscape • Source of Funds• Use of Funds• Planning for Support• Funding Opportunities & Fundraising Strategies• Recommendations to Potential Grantees• Recommendations to Potential Donors• Question & Answer

Introduction to RSI

Reentry Strategies Institute (RSI) is the only national criminal justice intermediary explicitly focused on reentry. Our goal is to be the most comprehensive and trusted resource of information on reentry for key decision makers (e.g. community organizations, businesses, philanthropists and government officials).

Through the provision of training, networking and best practice, RSI seeks to facilitate a national dialogue on reentry and generate human and financial support for formerly incarcerated people and their local communities. To this end, we have created the Reentry Donors Network (RDN).

The mission of RDN is to increase the financial resources to support criminal justice and reentry. We accomplish this task by engaging our members through peer-to-peer exchange, regional and national events, and through on- and offline programming that supports creative collaborations. We seek to create an ecosystem that supports reentry and criminal justice.

Criminal Justice Snapshot

• Globally, their are 8,750,000, people currently incarcerated throughout the world.

• United States accounts for 4.6% of the world's global population, but is number one country in terms of incarcerated populations with over 22% of the world's global incarceration rate.

• The U.S. incarcerates on average 1,348 males and 123 females per 100,000 United States prisoners.

• The average cost of incarceration to American society is $60 billion annually or $22,000 per individual nationwide and a high of $36,000 per individual in California.

Profile of (ex-) Offenders

• 80% have substance abuse

• 16% have mental illness

• 70% are high school dropouts

• 10% are homeless• 62% owe monies

• Child support arrearages

• Ban on food stamps and TANF

• Lack state-issued documentation

• Affordable housing is limited

Needs of (ex-) Offenders

• Pre-release training and support• Single point of contact upon reentry• Access to safe and affordable housing• Knowledge of available benefits and services

prior to release• Family reunification and support• Employment and/or related skills training• Access to health services (mental, substance)• Access to reliable transportation

Funding Landscape

• The U.S. is spending over $110 million per day for supervision.

• The U.S. spends over $6 billion a year on costs related to recidivism.

• Over 50% of CJ funding comes from the federal government.

• Significant funding is being targeted at the state level.

• Funds available for CBO use are smaller due to

deployment of funds through government agencies.

Source of Funds

Where does money come from?

Individuals76%

Corporations5%

Foundations12%

Bequests7%

Source: Giving USA 2006

Source of Funds

• Individuals• Foundations• Corporations• Government• Other

Use of Funds

Where does money go?

Religion37%

Education15%

Health9%

Human Services10%

Public-society benefit5%

Arts, Culture, Humanities5%

Environment, Animals3%

International Affairs2%

Foundations8%

Other6%

Source: Giving USA 2006

Planning for Support

• Set programmatic and financial goals– What program areas are of greatest

importance?– Which program areas are relevant to the

donor and match their giving profile?– Set short-term and long-term financial

goals– Identify additional sources of funding– Involve relevant stakeholders– Create a calendar of activities

Planning for Support

• Make donors aware of your organizations– Use Newsletters, events, media and

volunteers– Fundraising methods

• Face-to-face• Phone• Direct mail• Grant proposals• Planned gift• Other

Planning for Support

• Develop donor cultivation plan– Develop donor prospect list

• Time, tithe, talent• Database development

– Create Case Statement and request for support– Identify lead staff/volunteer– Submit required/requested information only– Make the Ask!

• Money• Time• Contacts

Funding Opportunities

• Leverage individual and institutional investments to sustain effective and meaningful criminal justice work

• Create a mechanism for highly focused and collaborative funding to advance systemic and structural change in support of marginalized communities

• Promote movement building amongst diverse funders through coordinated and collaborative grantmaking opportunities that support constituents of criminal justice, within issue areas such as housing, education, economic development, etc.

Funding Opportunities

• Support scale by syndicating philanthropic investments to support systemic and structural change

• Mitigate risk and support innovation through collaboration and coordination amongst donors

• Engage diverse donors through multidisciplinary funding strategies to effect criminal justice and its affinity areas (e.g. housing, health, education, etc.)

Fundraising Strategies

• Leverage Best Practice. – We recognize that in order to advocate

for additional funding in reentry, we must not only identify need, but also demonstrate the capacity of groups to receive the funds and do the work. The goal of this work is to insure the support of successful program models, minimize replication in the field, and insure significant impact and scale.

Fundraising Strategies

• Provide funders with multidisciplinary engagement opportunities. – We recognize the lack of homogeneity in

funding criminal justice work. There are nuances based on gender, race, geography, and age. Our research and engagement opportunities reflect a broad array of investment strategies including urban vs. rural service delivery, supporting faith-based vs. community organizations, serving supervised vs. unsupervised ex-offenders, meeting the needs of incarcerated women vs. men, etc.

Fundraising Strategies

• Promote coordination and collaboration at all times. – We believe that the magnitude of work to be

supported is beyond the scope and capacity of any single entity or institution. We support the coordination and collaboration of service delivery and funding opportunities in order to maximize successful outcomes and minimize fragmented grant making and service delivery.

Recommendations toPotential Grantees

• Need for collaborative effort• Longer program length required• Funds to serve as collateral or held in reserves• Flexible and stable banking relationships• Knowledgeable staff• Dedicated staff for related activities• Strong relationship with family, case/social

worker and other key stakeholders

Recommendations toPotential Grantees

• Partner with existing groups who are providing key intervention strategies (e.g. housing, health)

• Include pre-release service delivery, where possible

• Develop activities that support employment• Require support services as needed• Maintain ongoing communication with case

manager or social worker• Initiate rigorous screening and intake process• Mandate periodic evaluations and check-in

Recommendations to Potential Donors • Extending time horizon grants

– Three-year grant cycles are not long enough to support effective reentry programs.

• Increase investment or grant size– There is a need to understand scale of funds required

for systemic change and the funds being deployed in opposition of reentry (e.g. prisons are $37b market).

• Require collaboration amongst multidisciplinary organizations– Reentry requires a multi-sector approach to support

individuals returning home.

Recommendations to Potential Donors

• Allow for mistakes• Geographic and regional focus due to

consolidated reentry• Multi-sector approach – grants, PRIs, etc. • Must be multidisciplinary – programs and donors• Include external evaluation• Ability to make modifications through grant term• Diverse leadership• Collaboration required• Link funding to policy/systemic outcomes

Questions & Answers