WHEREAS, Re-Entry and Returning Citizens are a part of Philadelphia and our historical judicial landscape; and
WHEREAS, According to Impact Services, a job services organization based in Kensington, 35,000 people return to Philadelphia from federal, state, and local prisons each year; and
WHEREAS, According to a 2013 Pennsylvania Department of Corrections report, Philadelphia has a 3-year overall recidivism rate of 65.5%, the second highest in the state; and
WHEREAS, Philadelphia's Gateway to Re-Entry is working tirelessly to lower that recidivism rate and help ex-offenders stay out of prison; and
WHEREAS, Philadelphia's Gateway to Re-Entry has greatly influenced the implementation of the laws established within the judicial system; and
WHEREAS, Re-Entry and The Work Release Programs have encouraged and motivated our returning citizens; and
WHEREAS, Re-Entry, when fully implemented, helps shape a positive narrative of the experience; and
WHEREAS, Re-Entry provides human dignity and respect which impacts the thinking and mental acuity of each individual; and
WHEREAS, Re-Entry gives Returning Citizens a voice and a vehicle for the expression of their humanity here in Philadelphia and throughout the nation; and
WHEREAS, Gateway to Re-Entry has provided ex-offenders with resources such as voter education workshops; and
WHEREAS, Gateway to Re-Entry has teamed up with a dozen private sector companies to help guarantee job placement for the ex-offenders it aims to help; and
WHEREAS, Gateway to Re-Entry has already provided 150 male and female ex-offenders with jobs at the Philadelphia Convention Center, the Kimmel Center, and Penn's Landing; and
WHEREAS, Philadelphia's Gateway to Re-Entry program is celebrating its third year helping ex-offenders reintegrate as productive members of our society; and
WHEREAS, Re-Entry supporters throughout the nation have banded together to sponsor June 2015 as Re-Entry Month in the City of Philadelphia, as a time to remind us that returning citizens should always be afforded the full rights of a citizen; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, THAT THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, Hereby recognizes June 2015 as Re-Entry Month.
FURTHER RESOLVED, That an Engrossed copy of this resolution be presented to Tracy L. Fisher and his team.
End