Workshop On

Advocacy for Offenders’ Re-entry

 

Workshop Aim: To create a framework to promote successful re-entry of people coming home from jail and prison in social life?

 

Objectives:

–       To exchange information on successful practices in reintegration of people coming home from jail,

–       To improve the NGOs capacity to carry advocacy work for re-entry of people released from prison.

 

Participants: NGOs representatives from Russia, Latvia, Hungary, Poland, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova, Albania, Bulgaria and Romania.

            We will bring together relevant actors from the target group countries and will give them the opportunity to exchange experiences in assisting offenders for successful reintegration in society. They will also have the opportunity to network and develop cross border projects.

The workshop will be focused on learning from United States experience in the area of improving the legislation in re-entry. During the workshop participants will be assisted to adapt the US experience to region needs and culture.

Successful experiences from the region may be adapted by participants to their local conditions.

 

Workshop topics

 

Section one focused on NGOs:

–      Community-level projects, good programs on reentry,

–      Income generation/ labor market integration projects,

–      Service provider work vs. advocacy,

–      Family engagement

Section two – state role

–      State response to prepare for/ support re-entry (e.g. a law on re-entry, or a state program, or dedicated funding, etc.),

–      Probation/ local governments, social services and other services providers’ role on reentry,

–      Political and media influences,

Section three – community support

–      How to remove barriers (e.g. discrimination) to reentry (e.g. in many countries we have a requirement that people have to present the certificate of no criminal record to get a job),

–      Identifying related service networks to broaden potential impact,

–     the importance of informal networks

–      the importance of working with ex-prisoners and family members

 

South-African guests will present the network and the website they established.

 

At the end of the workshop needs for further actions to assist NGOs that are service providers will be indentified.

 

The workshop will last for 2 days.

Expected results

–      Exchange of information on positive activities in the regions on reentry,

–      Indentifying positive policies in the region,

–      Networking of NGO active in the field of reentry of offenders,

–      Improved capacity to advocate for the needs of those returning home from jail and prison and their families  ,

–      Participants will gain information from other countries’ experiences with cost effective and creative Reentry strategies including legislative initiatives in the US, advocacy coordination in S. Africa, amongst other strategies that have generated national momentum.

–     The workshop aim is to improve the NGOs capacity to advocate for offenders’ re-entry.

 

Supported by a grant from Open Society Foundations