Summer 2022 Fellow: Ingrid Chen ’25
Office Description
The Office of Reentry Services (ORS) promotes effective policies, practices and services to implement the Public Safety Realignment Program and the Reentry Strategic Plan approved by the Board of Supervisors. These plans are countywide efforts to reduce recidivism and ensure public safety through effective cross-system integration with health and human services and the criminal justice systems. ORS is responsible to coordinate, facilitate, and perform follow-up in all aspects of the Program and Plan, which include budget and fiscal oversight; policy and legislative oversight; departmental coordination; participation on various working groups, councils, networks, partnerships; data and evaluation oversight.
Most importantly, the ORS is responsible for overseeing the operations of the County of Santa Clara Reentry Resource Center (RRC) in San Jose and Gilroy, a centralized assessment and resource facility, where individuals released from custody and/or on Probation or Parole can receive service referrals and wrap around services to assist them in becoming stable and self-sufficient as they reintegrate into the community.
The County of Santa Clara government serves a diverse, multi-cultural population of 1.9 million residents in Santa Clara County, California, making it more populous than 14 states in the U.S. The County provides essential services to its residents, including public health protection, environmental stewardship, medical services through the County of Santa Clara Health System, child and adult protection services, homelessness prevention and solutions, roads, park services, libraries, emergency response to disasters, protection of minority communities and those under threat, access to a fair criminal justice system, and many other public benefits.
Potential Projects
The Fellow at the Office of Reentry Services will:
- Assist with Development of Town Hall and Client Conversation (cross representation of stakeholders) about health inequities and reentry efforts reaching out to our previous reentry medical directors
- Identify best practices in coordinating transportation services for clients using client navigators
- Prepare an inmate surveys (Jail Custody Programming) and Reentry Resource Center surveys (for Probation releases)
- Attend virtual (in-person) public meetings as requested by Director
- Receive opportunity to design and implement a project in consultation with ORS over the summer as per funding requirements
- Conduct research on the benefits of offering domestic violence or anger management courses in custody
- Guaranteed Basic Income for Career Training: Examine the goals of guaranteed basic income to alleviate poverty and how this addresses racial disparities and identify best practices that provide basic income to formerly incarcerated individuals enrolled in career training.
- Jail Alternatives: Research on the Alternatives to Incarceration programs in Los Angeles County as whether these types of programs work and whether other counties have established these programs
- Support a reentry-contracted provider’s program and/or event at the correctional facility or in the community
- Any other related tasks and responsibilities that may be required of the Fellow.
Desired Skills
- Strong research skills
- Strong organizational skills
- Strong written and verbal communication skills
- Excellent interpersonal skills
- Experience working collaboratively in a team structure
- Excellent skills in Microsoft applications
- Computer literate in other standard software applications.
