The National Reentry 2030 program now has a third member, after the North Carolina governor’s executive order on Monday.
Alabama and Missouri are the others.
The Department of Corrections, which releases thousands of criminals each year, will partner with other Cabinet agencies to provide resources for “reentry services” with the goal of lowering recidivism.
In a press release, second-term Democratic Governor Roy Cooper stated, “Many formerly incarcerated people are eager to change their lives, get a job, and rejoin their communities.”
Cooper stated, albeit not in his statement, that the order is costly and requires funds. He will seek taxpayer funding for his efforts in the Republican-majority General Assembly.
Reentry 2030’s website describes its approach as human-centered, coordinated, transparent, and equal. Joe Gibbs, CEO of Game Plan for Life, complimented the governor “for giving people a second chance and for his ongoing leadership on this issue.”
Gibbs’ project operates a jail ministry near Nashville, Nash County, where Cooper grew up on a tobacco farm.
By 2030, Cooper wants the state to:
- Increase the number of high school and college certificates obtained by jailed people by 75%.
- Cut the number of jailed people who are homeless upon release by half.
- Local Reentry Councils provide reentry help to previously jailed people in all counties in the state.
- Increase the number of postsecondary degrees available in facilities by 25%.
- Grow the number of Pell Grant partners by 30%.
- Ensure that all eligible jailed individuals are given the chance to enroll for Medicaid prior to their release.
- Increase the number of apprenticeships completed by jailed inmates by 50%;
- Grow the number of second-chance employer partners by 30%.