Reentry Services
Approximately 1,000 people* are released from prisons throughout Connecticut each month. When it comes to family, more than ten percent are married and over fifty percent have dependents who are counting on them. Whether they have served one, ten or twenty years paying their debt to society, when people come back to our communities, they need extensive support to help them get back on their feet.
Primary Challenges Facing People Leaving Prison
%
Have a Moderate To Serious Substance
Use Disorder^
%
Have Five Years or Less of Employment or Vocational Training^
The Rate of Homelessness for People Who Have Been to Prison Just Once Versus the General Public+
Sources
*2023 OPM Criminal Justice Monthly Indicators.
^2023 CT State of Reentry report using data of individuals in DOC custody as of 06/01/2023 whose sentences end in six months.
+2023 Prison Policy Initiative, how your local public housing authority can reduce barriers for people with criminal records.
Our Approach to Reentry
Community Partners in Action operates two Reentry Welcome Centers (RWC), one in Hartford and the other in Waterbury, which serve as centralized hubs for people who are formerly incarcerated. Working with a large network of community partners who provide coordinated services ensures that the needs of people with a criminal history are met in a timely fashion to improve their likelihood of successful reintegration.
On the day of their release from prison, people who choose to enroll in a Reentry Welcome Center are transported directly to the Center by the CT Department of Correction (CT DOC), where they meet with their case manager and receive immediate assistance with basic needs, including:
- Bus passes
- Clothing vouchers
- Food gift cards
- Reentry Backpack with hygiene products
- Connection to cell phone service
Both Centers also serve people who are referred by community partners or individuals with a criminal background already living in the community who walk in. After basic needs are met, participants may be referred to substance use or mental health treatment, housing support or linked directly to services offered on site at the Centers, such as job readiness, career training, and peer support groups.
Whether people just need short-term basic needs assistance or stay with us for the full array of services, our Reentry Welcome Centers provide a critical link between people with a history of incarceration and the community services they need to achieve self-sufficiency and successfully transition back home for good.
Our Reentry Welcome Center Locations
Greater Hartford Reentry Welcome Center
716 Windsor Street
Hartford CT 06120
Tel: (860) 263-8476
Hours: Monday – Friday, 8:00 am – 4:00 pm
Greater Waterbury Reentry Welcome Center
77 Bishop Street, Ground Floor
Waterbury CT 06704
Tel: (203) 800-2279
Hours: Monday – Friday, 8:00 am – 4:00 pm
The Greater Hartford Reentry Welcome Center was founded in September 2018 in City Hall and has been operated by Community Partners in Action ever since. The Center moved to an expanded location in April 2022 and officially cut the ribbon on its 716 Windsor Street, Hartford location in July 2022.
The Greater Waterbury Reentry Welcome Center opened in December 2021, moving to a larger, dedicated floor at 77 Bishop Street in September 2022. The Center officially cut the ribbon on its new location in April 2023.
During the ribbon cutting events held July 2022 in Hartford and April 2023 in Waterbury, participants shared their reentry stories.
Cassandra, Participant
Greater Hartford Reentry Welcome Center
July 15, 2022
Samuel, Participant
Greater Waterbury Reentry Welcome Center
April 25, 2023
Leading the Greater Hartford and
Greater Waterbury Reentry Councils
There are ten Reentry Councils in Connecticut, each tackling the specific needs facing people returning home after incarceration in their region. Community Partners in Action chairs the Greater Hartford and Greater Waterbury Reentry Councils that meet each month to discuss a specific topic affecting the reentry population. Both Hartford and Waterbury Reentry Welcome Centers serve as convening spaces for meetings where there is information sharing and advocacy for citizens returning to the Hartford and Waterbury areas.
The Councils include people with lived experience, government leadership and 40+ community partners from nonprofits in multiple sectors including housing, health services, employment, legal and financial literacy services.
Beth Hines, Executive Director
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-
-
- Chair, Greater Waterbury Reentry Council
- Co-Chair, Criminal Justice Division of CT Nonprofit Alliance
- Member of the Criminal Justice Policy Advisory Commission-State of CT, CT Justice Alliance Steering Committee, Connecticut Reentry Collaborative
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Susan Gundeman, Program Operations Director of Reentry Services
- Co-Chair, Greater Hartford Reentry Council
- Member, Connecticut Reentry Collaborative
Donate a Reentry Backpack or
Organize a Donation Drive
A Reentry Backpack donation provides a person returning home from prison essential items to address their immediate basic needs – hygiene, clothing, food and transportation.
Our Reentry Backpack Program provides participants at our Hartford and Waterbury Reentry Welcome Centers with a free, gender-tailored backpack filled with the items you see listed below. Your donation will help to build stability in participants’ lives and save CPA thousands of dollars that can be redirected to support direct services.
If you would like to donate reentry backpacks or conduct a Reentry Backpack Drive at your work, church, organization or community, we ask that the backpacks be dropped off at the Welcome Centers already assembled. Refer to the backpack drive full list of core items downloadable PDF link below.
If you have questions or want to help, please contact: Sandra Bradford-Jennings, Development Director, sbradford-jennings@cpa-ct.org;
860-271-7198
Stories About CPA’s Reentry Services
Leading with Empathy
Now in her twenty-fifth year at Community Partners in Action, Virginia Lewis is Program Manager at the Greater Hartford Reentry Welcome Center. She thrives helping participants navigate their return to the community.
Opening Doors
The April 2023 Greater Hartford Community Resource Fair was brimming with people and more than fifty community organizations representing prospective employers, staffing agencies, the American Job Center, Husky Health, and behavioral health providers.
Making Second Chances Possible
More than three quarters of men and women in CT prisons are diagnosed with moderate to extremely serious substance use disorders. Beth Hines and Sue Gunderman carried a message of compassion for formerly incarcerated people at the 54th New England School of Addiction and Prevention Studies.