Ohio Ex-Offender Reentry Coalition Reentry Repository

The Ohio Ex-Offender Reentry Coalition through the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction announces the launching of a Reentry Program Repository. This “first of its kind in Ohio” is intended to be used by service and treatment providers, offenders, agency personnel at the state, county, and municipal level, advocacy organizations, colleges and universities, and citizens across the state. Its purpose is to provide timely and easy-to-access information on programs in Ohio that will aid offenders in their successful transition back to their home communities. The Office of Offender Reentry within the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction oversees the Ohio Reentry Program Repository. Subject Matter Experts have been identified to review program applications submitted through the website.

What is a Reentry Program?

Reentry starts when an offender is initially incarcerated and ends when the offender has been successfully reintegrated in his or her community as a law-abiding citizen. The reentry process includes the delivery of a variety of research and evidence-based program services in both pre-and post-release settings, designed to ensure that the transition from prison or jail to the community is safe and successful.

The Subject Matter Experts will be looking for the following strategies and tools when reviewing a submitted program. Ideally, program submissions should include at least three of the evidence-based principles noted herein. These principles, informed by research, should:

  1. Rely on validated risk and needs assessment tools to identify offenders’ risk to reoffend and criminogenic needs.
  2. Direct programming and interventions to medium and higher risk offenders targeting their dynamic criminogenic needs (e.g., substance abuse, impulsive behavior, criminal peers, criminal thinking). Monitor low risk offenders with a “light touch.”
  3. Develop more or less intensive individualized case planning for offenders based on the principles of risk management established in (1) and (2).
  4. Ensure that the programs or treatment interventions are grounded in the principle of responsivity relative to different learning styles, cultural/gender differences, and literacy levels.
  5. Encourage the recognition and correction of thinking errors, and provide opportunities to practice and role play newly-learned behaviors.
  6. Use a higher ratio of incentives to sanctions in promoting behavioral change through responses to non-compliance or misconduct should be met with swiftness, certainty and proportionality.
  7. Deliver services in natural environments, where possible, with a focus on the final outcome of recidivism reduction.

Submitting a Program Application

If you are interested in submitting a program for review and posting in the Ohio Reentry Program Repository, please contact DRC.ReentryPrograms@odrc.state.oh.us.

To access the list of approved reentry programs, click here.