In Ohio, a closed prison is being repurposed into a re-entry center for ex-convicts, but it may have an impact that goes beyond re-entry.
The facility is currently slated to provide job placement, GED preparation, and other key reentry services for offenders leaving prison. Officials note, however, that the facility may also be able to house a diversion program—in lieu of prison—for nonviolent offenders. This “one-stop-shop” style of re-entry services is a more efficient way of providing necessary supervision for offenders and easing their transitions back into society. Right On Crime and the Texas Public Policy Foundation recently profiled a re-entry program for juvenile offenders that uses a similar system very effectively.