PROJECTThe Transition from Jail to Community (TJC) Initiative

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  • TJC Initiative: About the Issue
  • The TJC Model
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  • The TJC Sites: Ada County, Idaho
  • The TJC Sites: Davidson County, Tennessee
  • The TJC Sites: Denver, Colorado
  • The TJC Sites: Douglas County, Kansas
  • The TJC Sites: Franklin County, Massachusetts
  • The TJC Sites: Fresno County, California
  • The TJC Sites: Hennepin County, Minnesota
  • The TJC Sites: Howard County, Maryland
  • The TJC Sites: Jacksonville, Florida
  • The TJC Sites: Kent County, Michigan
  • The TJC Sites: La Crosse County, Wisconsin
  • The TJC Sites: Orange County, California
  • TJC Staff & Advisors
  • TJC Intiative: Media Coverage
  • TJC Initiative: Resources for the Field
  • TJC Initiative: Related Links
  • Jail Reentry Roundtable Initiative

  • Local jails have contact with as many people in three weeks as state and federal prisons do in a year. Nine million men and women are jailed each year, many of them "frequent users" who cycle in and out of jail. Many people entering jails face major obstacles: 68 percent have drug or alcohol problems, 60 percent do not have a high school diploma or GED, 16 percent have a serious mental illness, and 14 percent were homeless at some point during the year before their incarceration. Overcrowding, limited program resources, rapid population turnover (80 percent of jail inmates are held less than a month), and the diversity of the jail population (60 percent of jail inmates are awaiting trial or sentencing) make it difficult for jails to effectively prepare individuals for successful reintegration into the community after release.

    The transition from jail to the community presents a unique opportunity for intervention. Short stays in jail facilities close to home mean that inmates are less removed from family, friends, treatment providers, employers, and other support. Jails cannot be solely responsible for the transition to the community; partnerships must be forged between jails and the local community.

    For more information about the challenges and opportunities of the jail-to-community transition, see Life after Lockup: Improving Reentry from Jail to the Community.

    Note: All statistics on this page come from the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Specific citations are available in Life after Lockup.

    Policy Centers Justice Policy Center