Case Support

Planning for Return to Community

Successful re-entry takes planning on a variety of different fronts. Below are helpful resources and external links that will help you plan.

COVID -related

ReEntry Planning Resources for Incarcerated Individuals

Finances

Healthcare

Jobs

Lifestyle

Resources/Manuals/Guides

  • An Incarcerated Veterans Guidebook from Washington State – Guide (PDF)

This handbook is a tool for Veterans Incarcerated and their families who wish access to services to support a new and better way of life. This guidebook is designed to assist veterans incarcerated, in the State of Washington, and their families, laws do vary from state to state.

  • Children of the Incarcerated: Collateral Victims of Crime – Russell-Brown (2015) – Resource Guide

This resource guide shines light on the national problem of parental incarceration—an invisible, collateral consequence of mass incarceration. We highlight national and Florida trends and identify available resources for academics, caregivers, and concerned citizens.

Along with local organizations, The Seattle Public Library (SPL) offers court-involved individuals—and their families—information and resources to help during and after incarceration. SPL has also compiled programs, discussions, and resource lists related to criminal justice and the impact of incarceration, including audio recordings

WA organizations led by incarcerated people and returned individuals

Building Positive Communities.  There are chapters of this organization in several DOC facilities in Western WA.  Coordinating with other organizations in partnership with the BPC  is the Village of Hope Seattle.

The mandate of Civil Survival is to change policy by educating a broader and more diverse voter base. By engaging individuals who are focused on changing one big personal issue, we create social and political change.

F.I.G.H.T. was started by a group of Asian & Pacific Islander (API) men who were at one time incarcerated in the Washington State prison system.  F.I.G.H.T. is a direct outgrowth of the organizing that many of us did through different API groups in different prisons. F.I.G.H.T. support both current and formerly incarcerated APIs through mentoring, advocacy, outreach, and political education.  

I Did the Time supports individuals and families who are working to overcome barriers associated with past offenses with political advocacy and organizing.

 

Led by previously incarcerated and formerly justice-involved people, Weld Seattle is a nonprofit organization with the mission to equip system-impacted individuals with housing, employment, and resources, conducive to recovery and successful reintegration into society.

Other WA re-entry resource organizations

4People‘s mission is connecting people to resources and opportunities. 4People provides fast, quick lists of resources and services in each county.

Arms Around You is a re-entry program that provides referrals and resources to formerly incarcerated individuals coming out of correctional facilities, the homeless community, victims of domestic violence and substance abuse, as well as those dealing with transitional needs due to unexpected life changes. 

The Freedom Project supports healing connection and restorative communities both inside and outside prison through the strategies of Nonviolent Communication, mindfulness, racial equity and anti-oppression.

 

Community Legal Assistance

Reentry Services Legal Aid

This Spokane-based organization provides legal aid support to people returning to community from prisons and jails. The founders of Revive Center for Returning Citizens began organizing justice-involved populations in 2013 as a grassroots policy advocacy group called “I Did the Time”.  After working hand in hand with peers, members of this group began to identify the common struggles among citizens who were returning to society from jails, institutions, and prisons. “Re-entry is a process, not a program.”

 

Reentry Initiated through Services and Education (RISE) Project

Reentry Initiated through Services and Education (RISE) provides free, comprehensive civil legal services to eligible mothers impacted by incarceration in order to facilitate family reunification. RISE provides comprehensive civil legal services to eligible low-income mothers in order to assist with the broad range of civil legal issues that need to be resolved in order for mothers to reunite with their children post-incarceration and build stability for their families.

 

Spokane Dream Center Legal Clinic

The Legal Clinic at Spokane Dream Center provides free, limited legal counsel for those in the Spokane area who cannot afford to hire an attorney. Although they are not able to represent anyone in court, they are able to give legal advice, as well as referral to attorneys in the area.

 

The Way to Justice

This non-profit law firm, located in Eastern Washington, believes in empowering the community through advocacy and access.  The Way to Justice is a community law firm led and created by women of color. Through direct representation, impact litigation, policy reform, and advocacy work, we address the barriers facing individuals who have been negatively impacted by our justice system.