2.  Brings attention to how society’s reaction to the
following elements deepens a person’s criminality
-imprisonment
-stigmatizing social exclusion
 Points out that state’s “get tough” policies cause an
“unintended” consequence of lawlessness
 Offenders are worse off after release of imprisonment
due to facing significant barriers to employment and
homelessness (Lilly et al, 2011).

3. Stripping returning citizens of the following civil rights
proved to be the wrong direction for federal and state
legislatures as recidivism rates soared (Lilly et al, 2011).
 voting
 public housing
 driver’s license
 food stamps
 loans for higher education
“Within the last decade or so, there has been a new
realization that failing to address prisoner reentry and
pursuing a policy of stigmatizing reintegration
exacerbate recidivism and pose a threat to public
safety (Lilly et al, 2011, p. 164).”

4. Enacted in 2008 and designed to improve the quality
of lives for people returning home from prison, the
Second chance Act authorized $165 million dollars
in federal grants to nonprofit organizations and
governmental agencies to provide the following
services:
 Employment assistance
 Substance abuse treatment
 Housing
 Family programming
 Mentoring
 Victims support (Justice Center, 2012).

5. U-Turn Permitted is a program that was developed to cater the
needs of the North Lawndale community. The most pressing
need was services for returning citizens. UTP is a four week job-
training program that provides the following
strategies, techniques, and skills to returning citizens (NLEN, 2012).
 Conflict Resolution
 Anger Management
 Team Building
 Resume Development
 Financial Coaching and Asset Building
 Public Benefits Screenings
 Interviewing Skills
 Racial Healing
 Ongoing workforce coaching
 Job Placement (Sweet Beginnings, LLC is the largest employer of
UTP graduates)

6. In 2004, The City of Chicago’s Department of Family and Support
Services launched the “Transitional Jobs Program.” This program
was developed to help returning citizens transition back into the
workforce by providing low risk subsidized positions to
employers, and by providing case management and job readiness
training to participants. Sweet Beginnings, which is a wholly owned
subsidiary of North Lawndale Employment Network (2012), hires only
graduates of the UTP program through the TJ program and helps
participants to gain the following skills in a green and very interesting
industry:
 Customer Service
 Inventory
 Packaging
 Shipping Products
 Display setups

7. The following qualities are also demonstrated
by participants hired at SB:
 Punctuality
 Workplace etiquette
 Interpersonal communication
 Independent work habits
 Teamwork
Currently, the recidivism rate for past SB
employees is 4%, compared to the IL
average of 55% (NLEN, 2012). Clearly, this
program works!

8. With over 35,000 inmates being released from
Illinois prisons in 2003, and over half of them
returning to inner city Chicago communities
(City of Chicago, 2012), like labeling
theorists, it is important to focus on how
local government and community will react
to their return (Lilly et al, 2011). Reentry
programs reflect how the community’s
reaction plays a key role in the reintegration
process. Hundreds of returning citizens are
released in communities everyday and it is
important for them to have a fair shot at
rebuilding their lives.

9.  City of Chicago. (2012). Ex-Offender Re-Entry
Initiatives. Retrieved from
https://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/mayor/supp
_info/ex-offender_re-entryinitiatives.html
 Justice Center. (2012). The Second Chance
Act. Retrieved from
http://www.reentrypolicy.org/documents/0000/1277/2.14.
12_Second_Chance_Act_Fact_Sheet_.pdf
 Lilly, J. R., Cullen, F. T., & Ball, R. A. (2011). Criminological
Theory: Context and Consequences (5th ed.). Thousand
Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
 North Lawndale Employment Network. (2012). Sweet
Beginnings, LLC. Retrieved from
http://nlen.org/?page_id=37
 North Lawndale Employment Network. (2012). U-Turn
Permitted. Retrieved from http://nlen.org/?page_id=41