WASHINGTON

Washington joined the national Reentry 2030 initiative in September 2024, deepening the state’s whole-of-government commitment to breaking incarceration cycles by expanding access to housing, health care, and jobs. Through Reentry 2030, the state works with the CSG Justice Center to set and achieve bold new goals to improve life after jail or prison, making communities safer and healthier for everyone.

“The people in our prisons will rejoin us someday—they will be our neighbors. And our system must help them be better neighbors, rather than perpetuating a cycle that led them to incarceration.”

—Former Washington Governor Jay Inslee

Washington’s Reentry 2030 GOALS

  • Ensure zero returns to homelessness after incarceration.
  • Make sure 40% of people are employed 6 months after incarceration.
  • Enroll 100% of eligible people in Medicaid 90 days before release. 

Washington’s Reentry 2030 PROGRESS

  • Expanded its Reentry ID program to provide free state identification and driver’s licenses, along with birth certificates, before release
  • Developed a standardized release checklist to streamline reentry statewide 
  • Activated Medicaid benefits up to 90 days before release, increased Medicaid enrollment upon release from approximately 45% to 60%, and started offering medication benefits for 30 days after release
  • Created the nation’s first mobile dental clinic that is owned and operated by a corrections agency
  • Launched reentry targeted case management
  • Embedded federally funded employment specialists in correctional facilities beginning in late 2025
  • Hosted 21 second chance hiring events and 64 in-custody employment workshops with nearly 400 second chance employers
  • Increased completions of adult basic education (including GED prep) by 182%
  • Expanded college access via the federal reinstatement of Pell Grants

Contact Valerie Carpico for more on Washington’s Reentry 2030 initiative. View all Reentry 2030 states.

Washington’s Reentry 2030 NEWS