Monday, August 25, 2008 

(315)  798-5800

Picente, McNamara Announce $256,394 State Grant
For Oneida County Re-Entry Task Force
                       

                        Oneida County Executive Anthony J. Picente, Jr. and Oneida County District Attorney Scott D. McNamara today announced that the Oneida County Re-Entry Task Force has received a $256,394 grant from the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services. The state’s Re-Entry program goal is to reduce recidivism in communities and increase public safety through improved coordination and collaboration among local criminal justice, workforce development, social services, educational, health and mental health systems.

            “The mission of the Re-Entry Task Force is to use these state dollars to provide case managements and support services that help the State Division of Parole in its efforts to successfully aid inmates in making the transition from prison back to their home community,” Picente said. “ Oneida County participates in this state initiative because we believe that successful re-entry to society is important for the greater good of the community as well as the offender and his family.”

            “From a public safety perspective, it is important that offenders are reintegrated into the community because if they are not, they are a very real source of potential crime,” McNamara said. “The justice system believes that people who have broken the laws must pay their debt to society. When that debt is paid, they have the opportunity to turn their lives around. The Re-Entry program is designed to help the community and the offender because the goal is the same – that people who return from prison don’t go back there.”

            The Oneida County Re-Entry Task Force functions in collaboration with the Second Chance Project operated by the Workforce Investment Board of Herkimer, Madison and Oneida Counties and the Oneida County Office of Workforce Development.

           “When someone comes back home from prison, they have a range of needs and problems; what the Task Force does is help coordinate services so that we can address those problems and not let them become a barrier to someone finding work,” said Workforce Development Director David Mathis. “One of the real keys to the success of this task force has been the support we have received from the District Attorney, the Sheriff, the Utica Police Department and all of our justice system partners. We all want the same thing – to help men and women who have made a mistake get work, keep work, and stay out of the justice system.”

            “Studies show that having and keeping a job is the best indicator of whether or not a returning offender will stay crime-free,” said Alice Savino, Executive Director of the WIB. “The goal of Re-Entry is to help people who have one strike against them get the education, training, and support services they need to find a job, keep that job, and stay out of jail. The community also gains because we help local employers. Employers are always looking for people who will be motivated to keep a job, to stay out of trouble and to succeed. People who have made mistakes and are aware that they need to make changes in their lives can be the kind of workers our employers want and need.”

            Local and state agencies that work with or are part of the Oneida County Re-Entry Task Force include: NYS Division of Criminal Justice Services; NYS Division of Parole;  NYS Office of Mental Health, NYS Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services; Oneida County District Attorney's Office, Oneida County Executive's Office, VESID (State VR agency), Regional Parole Office, Utica Police Department, Oneida County Department of Mental Health, Oneida County Department of Probation, Oneida County Department of Social Services, Workforce Investment Board, Oneida County Workforce Development, Rescue Mission of Utica, YWCA (operates domestic violence / victim programming), Johnson Park Center, Utica Municipal Housing Authority, Insight House (drug treatment), JOBS and HOPE (homeless employment program) Oneida County Continuum of Care, Mohawk Valley Housing Coalition, Mohawk Valley Council on Alcoholism/Addictions, Inc., Oneida County Life Skills Project // Oneida County Sheriff, Cosmopolitan Center- Fatherhood Initiative Program, City of Rome Weed & Seed Program, Rome Police Dept., Family Nurturing Center.

            “The Re-Entry Task Force uses extensive collaboration and coordination among agencies and an outstanding spirit of teamwork to enhance community safety by promoting successful offender re-entry,” Picente said. “With the support and leadership of the District Attorney’s office, the focus on finding and keeping employment that comes from our Workforce System, and the efforts of the community-based and faith-based partners that work with the justice system, we are working together to make the community safer.”