Over nine million people pass through America's local jails each year. These people often don't receive services, support, or supervision as they leave jail and reenter the community. To address these issues during transition, the National Institute of Corrections (NIC) partnered with the Urban Institute in 2007 to launch the Transition from Jail to Community (TJC) initiative.

TJC involves the development, implementation, and evaluation of a model for jail-to-community transition. The model is a new way of doing business that entails systems change and collaborative relationships between jails and community partners. The TJC model aims to improve public safety and reintegration outcomes. 

Publications

Process and Systems Change Evaluation Findings from the Transition from Jail to Community Initiative
This report describes TJC model implementation across the six TJC Phase I learning sites and presents findings from the cross-site systems change evaluation. The report summarizes key activities, site accomplishments and challenges, and lessons learned about implementation.

The Role of Screening and Assessment in Jail Reentry
This brief presents the TJC model's two-stage screening and assessment process to determine risk and need levels. It includes lessons learned from the implementation experiences of the Phase I learning sites that may help other jurisdictions in applying screening and assessment to their jail populations.

Case Management Strategies for Successful Jail Reentry
This brief presents the TJC initiative's approach to case planning and community handoff. It also discusses the role of case planning in the TJC model, the importance of continuity of care between the jail and community, and the components necessary for successful case planning.

TJC Online Learning Toolkit

To provide detailed implementation guidance, examples, and tools to jurisdictions seeking to address jail-to-community transition, the TJC team developed the TJC Online Learning Toolkit, which guides users through implementing the TJC model. Users can navigate the nine modules at their own pace. Each module incorporates examples from jurisdictions across the country, tools developed to facilitate implementation in the TJC learning sites, and links to additional resources.

Additional information about TJC and other NIC reentry efforts is available at the National Institute of Corrections.