The Federal Interagency Reentry Council: A Record of Progress and a Roadmap for the Future.

This report describes the activities and outcomes of the Federal Interagency Reentry Council, a council designed to reduce recidivism among former prisoners and improve outcomes related to employment, education, housing, health, and child welfare. Comprised of more than 20 federal agencies, the Reentry Council coordinates and leverages existing federal resources, dispels myths and clarifies policies, elevates programs and policies that work, and reduces the policy barriers to successful reentry. The following accomplishments of the Reentry Council in its first five years are described: removed barriers to employment for people with criminal records, expanded access to correctional education, reduced barriers to housing, increased access to health care coverage and physical and behavioral health services, launched new efforts to address record-cleaning and related legal aid, informed the public discourse, created direct and centralized access to critical information that is often hard to find, established new staff positions to support and institutionalize reentry efforts, and engaged directly impacted communities. Specific agency actions are discussed that have increased access to employment, education, healthcare, housing, and children and family services, and improved reentry outcomes for special populations. 115 references.