Drop-in Assistance
Drop in assistance is available for clients who need questions answered about specific issues, for which information and resources are available on-site, or that can be addressed in one or two meetings with a volunteer. Materials provided include, but are not limited to, county resource guides; college financial aid applications and information; catalogs for local community colleges; DMV information; GED program information; information on employment opportunities. Men who identify longer term needs simply return as often as they need to develop more comprehensive parole plans.
Long-term Case Management
Our services are available on an ongoing basis, year-round for clients who need multiple meetings with a volunteer advisor to assist them in long-term planning, including employment, education, medical needs, drug/alcohol treatment, and housing. Volunteers will assess a client's needs then return in ensuing weeks with materials specific to those needs, such as college catalogs, contact information at unions in the client’s area of parole, and parole agent contact information.
Special Needs Assistance
We provide reentry assistance in close cooperation with CDCR staff to clients with special needs to try to ensure that they receive the care they need once released.
We assist with program placement and work closely with parole and probation to help our returning citizens as needed.
Parole Clothing at San Quentin
Most people in incarceration are required to pay $38 out of their maximum $200 gate money for gray sweat suits to wear out of the prison when they parole. CRP is partnering with other community organizations to collect and distribute donated clothing to our clients at San Quentin that they can wear home when they parole.
Workshops
CRP provides expert speakers one to two times per month to talk about topics of interest to people in incarceration, such as resume building, health issues, job interview skills, drug treatment, financial management, immigration, and other topics pertinent to reentry to the community. We partner with outside agencies to provide these workshops and materials.
Training
Reentry is dynamic as legislations, community resources and procedures change. We constantly research and update our resources as well as train our volunteers and encourage them to attend workshops so they can provide the latest, most accurate quality information to their clients.
Cooperation and Expansion
At CRP, we value our reentry partners. We will continue to sponsor and participate in events that raise awareness about reentry issues through new volunteer recruitments, attending conferences and participating in available jail, prison, and community activities.
Intermediate and long-term expansion plans include providing systematic delivery of our services to people in the reception center at San Quentin as well as other prison facilities in California. Design and implementation of an evaluation plan is also an important medium-term goal in order to measure our work's impact as well as provide data to support replication efforts. In a continued effort to create awareness around the challenges and successes of reentry, we will keep educating about new legislation, issues and resources via an increasing number of communication tools such as social media and beyond.