LibGuides: Libraries and Incarceration: Resources for Reentry

Literacy Programs

Children's Literacy Foundation
This program inspires children of inmates to read more often, connects children and incarcerated parents through stories, and gives prisoners extra confidence to read to their children, even if they are not strong readers themselves.
Frames Prison Program
The goal of Frames Prison Program is to increase literacy rates, reduce recidivism, and use storytelling to empower incarcerated persons with the US prison system.
Grow with Google Career Readiness for Reentry
This program aims to train people who have been impacted by incarceration on digital literacy skills they can use to get a job or start businesses.
Read Right
A reading and tutoring program for incarcerated youth and adults which helps struggling readers in juvenile correction facilities, prisons and other institutions.

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
This webpage includes recent guidance, communication, and resources related to improving access to HUD programs for people with criminal records and creating housing opportunities for formerly incarcerated people.
Reentry and Housing Coalition
Provides resources for potential housing options for people who are reentering the community from prison or jail.
Volunteers of America
VoA's 2017 article entitled Homelessness and Prisoner Reentry: Examining Barriers to Housing Stability and Evidence-Based Strategies That Promote Improved Outcomes explores the barriers individuals face finding stable housing when returning home from incarceration.

American Job Centers
Coordinated by the U.S. Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration, American Job Centers offer training referrals, career counseling, job listings, and other employment-related services.
Career One Stop
Career One Stop's Job Search Help for Ex-Offenders program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor, provides tips, information and resources to help individuals with a criminal record search for, apply for, and begin a new job.
Jails to Jobs
Website provides a free step-by-step plan for job seekers to follow as they carry out their job search, along with other resources.
Learn to Code with Me
A blog post entitled Jobs for Ex-felons in the Tech Industry from self-taught coder Laurence Bradford. The post provides a list of six tech jobs that justice-involved job seekers might pursue, the skills necessary for those jobs, and other resources.
Library of Congress Employment Resource Guide
A resource guide from the Library of Congress, with reentry and employment resources for justice-involved individuals.
Reentry Employment Opportunities
The Reentry Employment Opportunities (REO) program of the U.S. Department of Labor provides funding and employment guidance for practitioners working with justice-involved youth and young adults and adults who were formerly incarcerated.

All of Us or None
From the Legal Services for Prisoners with Children organization, a grassroots civil and human rights organization fighting for the rights of formerly-and currently-incarcerated people and their families.
The Formerly Incarcerated, Convicted People and Families Movement (FICPFM)
The FICPFM is a national network of civil and human rights organizations led by people with conviction histories and their family members. Their Can I Vote? tool linked above allows justice-involved individuals to determine their voting eligibility online, based on their states' current laws. The tool also provides information on restoring the right to vote.
Women's Prison Association
The nation's first organization for women impacted by incarceration, the WPA focuses on workplace skills, healthcare and housing needs, family reunification, and recidivism avoidance for justice-involved women.