North Carolina Governor’s 2024 Executive Order on Reentry

On January 29, 2024, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper signed an Executive Order joining the national Reentry 2030 initiative. What’s the Reentry 2030 initiative? According to the Reentry 2030 website, the initiative is being led by the Correctional Leaders Association, The Council of State Governments Justice Center, and JustLeadershipUSA. It describes the program as an initiative “to dramatically improve reentry success for people exiting prison and those under supervision” and a future of reentry that is human centered, coordinated, transparent, and equitable. It seeks to have all fifty states join the initiative, committing to creating and implementing state-level plans to accomplish three tasks: Scale up access to stable housing, education, employment skills training, behavioral health treatment, healthcare, and other supports. Remove unnecessary barriers to economic opportunity and mobility. Advance racial equity by using data to understand and address disparities in access to services, quality of services and outcomes. Participating states are expected to bring together diverse stakeholder teams; establish public goals and milestones; and track and share progress. According to the website, only two other states joined before North Carolina: Alabama and Missouri.  Why the Executive Order? The Executive Order lists a number of reasons for joining the initiative. They include, for example, that 95% of all people in prison will complete their sentence and return to their communities; that more than 18,000 people are released from North Carolina prisons annually; that providing education and training during incarceration can promote successful reentry and break the cycle of recidivism; that improved access [...]