Recognizing June 2016 as Re-Entry Month in the City of Philadelphia.

WHEREAS, In 2015 City Council passed a resolution recognizing June 2015 as Re-Entry Month in Philadelphia; and

WHEREAS, Gateway to Re-Entry has brought Philadelphia into a national network of municipalities recognizing June as Re-Entry Month; and

WHEREAS, An estimated 35,000 people return to Philadelphia from federal, state, and local prisons each year, and there are approximately 300,000 returned citizens in Philadelphia; and

WHEREAS, High recidivism rates carry heavy consequences for the individuals, families, and communities most directly impacted; and

WHEREAS, According to the Washington Post, the cost of corrections operations exceeds $40,000 per prisoner which ranks near the most expensive; and

WHEREAS, Philadelphia is coming together to create better opportunities for returning citizens to fully re-integrate into their communities; and

WHEREAS, Over 100 governmental and non-governmental agencies and organizations involved in the Philadelphia Reentry Coalition are actively collaborating to reduce recidivism in Philadelphia; and

WHEREAS, Philadelphia’s increasing focus on reentry is occurring in the context of a growing emphasis for the importance of reentry at the national level, as evidenced by the announcement by the U.S. Department of Justice of the inaugural National Reentry Week in April 2016;

now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, THAT THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, Hereby recognizes June 2016 as Re-Entry Month.

End