Through a public procurement process, the County contracted with Resource Development Associates (RDA) to facilitate a stakeholder-driven planning process and draft an updated reentry Strategic Plan. This Plan is meant to expand beyond AB 109 and address the expressed goals and needs of the County’s reentry system.
With oversight and guidance from the Office of Reentry & Justice (ORJ), this planning process considered an array of factors including the reentry population to be served; the County’s jail and community supervision system; the reentry service provider network; and findings of previous evaluation efforts.
To guide the overall development of the Strategic Plan, a Local Planning Group was convened. This diverse body included membership from state corrections, multiple County agencies, local service providers and community representatives. The Local Planning Group used a collaborative process to identify key reentry system needs related to jail-to-community transitions, post-release program access and linkage, economic security, housing access, behavioral health, and the use and coordination of data.
To understand and appropriately address the local reentry system’s strengths and needs that emerge from its landscape of services, programs, and organizations, the strategic planning process was organized into five phases: Project Launch & Discovery, Needs Assessment, Direction Setting, Strategy Development, and Plan Development. The first two phases laid the groundwork for the Strategic Plan by engaging reentry system stakeholders and assessing Contra Costa County’s realm of reentry populations, services, and outcomes.
RDA analyzed the needs assessment data, including community input provided through public forums that were held in each of the County’s three regions, to identify strengths, challenges, and gaps within the current reentry system. RDA then convened and presented its findings to the Local Planning Group in the Direction Setting phase to ensure that the reentry planning effort was grounded in data.
Informed by these key needs, the Local Planning Group set the following vision for the County’s reentry system:
We envision a county where individuals involved with or impacted by the justice system are treated fairly; have the opportunity to make meaningful, positive contributions; and help build a safe and healthy community.
To achieve this vision, the Local Planning Group set forth six specific goals that frame the Strategic Plan:
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Implement structures, tools, and procedures necessary to help returning residents achieve successful transition from jail to community.
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Ensure timely and appropriate connections to effective services and resources that support reentry.
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Increase the likelihood of post-release success by enhancing opportunities for returning residents to attain economic security.
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Improve housing accessibility matched to the needs of clients.
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Improve timely access to behavioral and health care services.
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Enhance the use and coordination of data to ensure quality of services and inform decision-making.
These key recommendations, alongside the results of the strategic planning process, are presented in this document, which serves as the completed Strategic Plan (Attachment A). The Strategic Plan is meant to serve as a living document that provides high-level guidance on designing and implementing structural and programmatic improvements to the County’s reentry system over the next five years.
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