Located in western Michigan, Kent County is the fourth largest population center in Michigan. Covering 864 square miles, the County is home to 604,142 people. With a population of 201,835, the greater Grand Rapids area forms the urban center of the county.
The Kent County Correctional Facility is a system of buildings that house the inmates committed to the custody of the Sheriff. The system primarily includes the Main Jail, the Community Reentry Center, and the Honor Camp. The annual population coming into the jail climbed to over 31,000 this year for the first time. The average length of stay is fifteen days. The average daily population of all inmates in 2008 was 1,254. The Kent County Correctional Facility ranks among the top 100 largest jails in the nation.
Kent County's Community Corrections Advisory Board (CCAB) has been in existence for over 20 years and focuses primarily on distributing community corrections funding. However, over the years, the board has become the de facto criminal justice coordinating council and formally recognized the evolving importance of inmate reentry. Out of this emerged the Community Reentry Coordinating Council (CRCC), which concentrates on broadening and unifying the various reentry efforts in Kent County.
Having already been witness to the state-level Michigan Prisoner Reentry Initiative, the CRCC membership saw the importance of a local reentry movement. With full support of the Sheriff and his command staff, judges, police personnel, county and city commissioners, the county administrator, area service providers and leaders from other key partnering organizations, the timing was right for Kent County to join the Transition from Jail to Community Initiative.
Although Kent County is already actively implementing targeted interventions such as screening and assessment, community collaboration, data-driven programming, and discharge planning, much work remains to be done. We believe that TJC will give structure and credibility to Kent County's current reentry direction and add new ideas and programming where needed./P>
For more information, contact Kent County TJC Site Coordinator and Inmate Program Coordinator Rob Steele: Rob.Steele@kentcountymi.gov.
