HARTFORD, Conn. (WTIC Radio)—A report on the Greater Hartford Reentry Welcome Center (RWC) released Thursday reveals an urgent need for additional housing and health services for people returning from incarceration.
The City of Hartford and the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving evaluated the center's first year of operation between September 2018 and September 2019 to document its strengths and to make recommendations for ongoing challenges, according to city officials.
Community Partners in Action operates the RWC which supports those who have been released from prison with services and referrals in order to encourage a successful reintegration into the community.
The RWC assisted 458 unique individuals during its first year, officials said, and the report highlighted its successes and benefits.
Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin said locating the RWC inside Hartford City Hall has been beneficial. The report also finds that bringing people directly to the Center upon release, rather than dropping them off on the street, reduces the likelihood of trauma.
"Having a team that is welcoming everybody through those doors with a spirit of compassion and empathy and support is really important, because for so long and for so many people, the process of coming home was a very lonely one, and it still is, but this team at the RWC is a critical part of helping to change that," Bronin said Thursday morning.
Referrals to community organizations also plays a critical part in helping those that arrive at the RWC, Bronin said.
However, the report highlights the need for additional work to provide greater access to housing and health services.
According to the report's key findings, "participants in the evaluation generally agree that the most critical and widespread unmet need for people released at the end of their sentences is access to stable housing. A majority of the people who seek services at the Center lack shelter and a safe, stable place to live."
Bronin notes that improvement in providing stable housing was made amid the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in building partnerships, but he said the progress made is something that needs to be extended and expanded.
In terms of health, the report recommends building more efficient systems and program relationships in order to address mental health and addiction within the end-of-sentence population.
The report indicates that the population requires more opioid addiction treatment beds and stronger linkages to mental health and addiction services.
Tackling mental health and addiction among those who are released from prison requires state and national-level attention, Bronin said, because the RWC can't tackle the problem alone.
Besides stable housing and health services, the report advises improvement in documentation and referral tracking, participant engagement, and involvement with more partners to deliver workshops and other skill-building activities at the RWC.
"We're successful when they're successful," Bronin said about those that are released from incarceration. "Our communities are successful when they're successful. Families are successful when they're successful. Neighborhoods are successful when they're successful. We all have a stake in the success of everybody who comes home to Hartford and that's why this work is so important."
