Washington Joins Reentry 2030 Initiative 

Monday, September 16, 2024

Washington becomes the sixth state to join Reentry 2030! By joining Reentry 2030, Washington’s Department of Corrections, alongside other state agencies and community-based organizations, will enhance the state’s reentry system by reducing barriers and expanding access to essential resources. This initiative will help people returning from incarceration obtain stable housing, secure employment, and access healthcare and behavioral health treatment services throughout Washington. 

Washington’s bold goals include the following: 

• Zero returns to homelessness,  

• 40% of people released from incarceration will be employed six months post-release, and 

• 100% of eligible people released from incarceration will be signed up for Medicaid 90 days before release. 

To support this effort, Governor Jay Inslee signed an executive order that strengthens the state’s commitment to reducing recidivism by removing barriers to successful reintegration. 

“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,” said Gov. Jay Inslee. “By helping spearhead Reentry 2030, we’re making better neighbors. We’re breaking that cycle. And we’re taking the lead for others to follow,” said Governor Jay Inslee.

“Reentry is never easy for those in our care and custody,” said Department of Corrections Secretary Cheryl Strange. “The barriers they encounter while trying to find a job or a place to live can be frustrating, and that frustration can quickly morph into hopelessness and desperation. We have always had some of the nation’s most innovative reentry programs, but this initiative will take them to a whole new level.”

In case you missed the launch event, watch the live event by clicking below: