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Prisoner Re-entry
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This program includes both reentry grants focused on serving returning adults and youth focused grants aimed at youth involved or at risk of involvement in crime and violence. The objectives of the youth reentry grants include increasing the employment, employment retention, and earnings rate of released individuals while also decreasing their rate of recidivism. The objectives of youth reentry grants include preventing in-school youth from dropping out of school, increasing the employment rate of out-of-school youth, improving the reading and math skills of youth, reducing the involvement of youth in crime and violence, and reducing the recidivism rate of youth. The REO program facilitates a smoother reentry for justice-involved individuals and helps them reintegrate into their communities. The goal is to develop strategies and partnerships that facilitate successful workforce outcomes for participants.
This chart shows obligations for the program by fiscal year. All data for this chart was provided by the
administering agency and sourced from SAM.gov, USASpending.gov, and Treasury.gov.
For more information on each of these data sources, please see the
About the data page.
Reentry Employment Opportunities Program awarded funds to 26 grants this year to service adult and young adult participants.
The Reentry Employment Opportunities Unit comprised of 32 grant programs from 2010 to 2021. There were 410 grants awarded in the amount of $765M. Currently there are seven active initiatives comprising of 174 grantees throughout the country.
The Federal Bonding Program provides bonds to cover six months of employment for justice-involved individuals. There are currently 31 states with federal bonding grants totaling approximately $3M.
The Department is committed to using its REO funding to build the evidence base on workforce development interventions serving justice-involved adults and youth. To support job placement, the Department maintains the Federal Bonding Program, which provides fidelity insurance to employers that hire persons with criminal records, as well as other at-risk job candidates.
Employer relationships are critical to the success of reentry grants. Grantee feedback indicates that the majority of Reentry Employment Opportunities grants have long-established relationships with employers in their communities. REO grantees tend to work most with medium-sized employers (50 - 249 employees). The vast majority partner with warehouse and logistics companies, followed closely by construction and manufacturing, and culinary and food service companies. About half of the grantees reported working with the health care industry.
These employer partnerships and contributions have led to improved outcomes for participants. The most recent adult data indicate that median earnings in the 2nd quarter after exit have increased from $5,720 to $6,400 - a 10% increase from January 2022. Similarly, the employment rate in the 2nd quarter after exit has increased for both adults and youth to 68% and 66%, respectively. For comparison, the employment rates in the 2nd quarter after exit were 40% and 46%, respectively, in December of 2020. Credential attainment remained relatively steady at 89% for adults and 70% for youth when compared with employment outcomes.
Fiscal Year 2024: In FY 2024, REO awarded approximately $107,000,000 to serve youth, young adults and adults who are justice-impacted. Through the youth and young adult initiative, in coordination with the Administration’s comprehensive strategy to prevent and reduce gun violence and other violent crime, we partnered with violence prevention agencies and organizations. The adult initiative served adults both pre-and post-incarceration, including providing post-release supportive services to adults who were incarcerated in federal prison system.
Single Audit Applies (2 CFR Part 200 Subpart F):
For additional information on single audit requirements for this program, review the current Compliance Supplement.
OMB is working with the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) and agency offices of inspectors general to include links to relevant oversight reports. This section will be updated once this information is made available.
