When considering the movement to challenge the state of mass incarceration in the U.S., much of the motivation comes from volunteers and non-governmental organizations like The Sentencing Project and Black and Pink. These organizations, often composed of volunteers, have been the driving force behind countless nation-wide projects that provide safety nets for people who are or have been incarcerated, and they’ve also provided information campaigns on the reality of life in a U.S. prison. Yet non-governmental agencies do need support from federal, state, and local policies—and that is crucial in every city, especially as local governmental agencies are able to provide funding. In D.C., that is a role of the Mayor's Office on Returning Citizen Affairs.
The Mayor’s Office on Returning Citizens Affairs was first established in 2007, and it made history as the first legislatively-mandated office in the entire U.S. that specifically has a focus on serving formerly incarcerated individuals and addressing issues that affect reentry. This office serves as the main point of contact for people who were once incarcerated and planning reentry post-incarceration; certain issues the office focuses on are removing barriers to reentry and providing connections to employment, health, education, and housing services, which are all topics that incarceration heavily affects. Other focuses include case management services, family unification engagements, prison outreach, and records assistance. This holistic approach to services makes the Mayor’s Office on Returning Citizens Affairs a “coordinating and advisory agency for reentry.”
This office is crucial to addressing recidivism rates, which in the U.S. is 76.6% of prisoners being rearrested within five years according to the Harvard Political Review (Benecchi 2021). Factors influencing recidivism include unstable housing, no work or employment opportunities, and a lack of access to health services—specifically mental health services, as 43% of people in state prisons have been diagnosed with a mental disorder (Prison Policy Initiative). With the Mayor’s Office on Returning Citizens Affairs connecting people who were once incarcerated to a variety of services, the mental health of those going through reentry can be addressed and prioritized. Moreover, the D.C. government also has the Commission on Re-Entry and Returning Citizen Affairs that holds meetings to address what could be of most importance to people going through reentry after incarceration; governed by the Mayor’s Office on Returning Citizens Affairs, this commission most recently discussed how to address recidivism rates in D.C., and you can check out their last meeting agenda here.
Each year, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser disperses $7 million dollars across community-based organizations; the offices of the Mayor’s Office of Community Affairs disperse this money, with one of the major grants being the Immigrant Justice Legal Services Grant. This grant directly targets the legal fees that people immigrating often encounter, and it also handles issues of detainment and also asylum seeking. Nearly two dozen community organizations receive this grant to provide immigration legal services, and if you are part of an organization that has similar goals to this, you can apply to the Mayor’s Office of Community Affairs to receive funding. Providing assistance to organizations targeting legal services and protections breaks the boundary between government and non-governmental help—a crucial mixture as we look toward a future without mass incarceration, and a future where people who have been incarcerated have the opportunities to better their lives.
While organizations outside of the government have done critical work on the subject of incarceration when local, state, and federal governments have not, it is key for both sectors to work together. The Mayor’s Office on Returning Citizen Affairs is an example of this. Providing funding, access to services, and connecting people who were formerly incarcerated with employment opportunities helps prevent recidivism and support reentry while not negating or walking over the work community-based organizations have done. Instead, the Mayor’s Office on Returning Citizen Affairs works to directly support those organizations—whether that be with grants or with disseminating their information. This office is making history in doing so, and by acknowledging this, D.C. citizens can support its funding and advocate for more robust reentry programs.
If you find yourself in need of such services or with questions about the office, they can be reached at the email orca@dc.gov or at the phone number (202) 715-762.
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