What’s Happening In Reentry Contracting?

"Reentry services" have become big business in the U.S. Broadly defined by the Bureau of Justice Statistics as services "related to the transition of offenders from prison to community supervision" (see Reentry Trends in the U.S.), a range of programs fall into this category – including housing, mental and behavioral health counseling, electronic monitoring, employment services, case management, etc. These services are purchased primarily by federal, state, and local corrections agencies.

The reason for the growth in the purchase of reentry services is obvious. There are 6.8 million prisoners in the United States – over 780,000 have a . . .