Community
Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about
things that matter.
– MLK Jr.
FACT:
More young (20 to 34-year-old) African American men without a high school diploma or GED are currently behind bars (37 percent) than employed (26 percent). (PEW)
The very large number of children in our community that are impacted by prisons deserve attention. This revolving door of generational incarceration is impacted only to the degree that communities are actively involved in the social solutions. The majority of the individuals who are incarcerated are coming home, whether the community is ready or not, both juvenile and adult.
FACT
2:1 is the ratio of inmates to children of the incarcerated. In other words, for every 2 inmates, there’s 1 child in our community trying to find their way through the muddiness. (Justice Department)
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We partner, collaborate & network with community stakeholders. Together, we address the challenges of reentry & advocate for effective solutions within community.
Benefits of RBN programming for the City, County and State include:
- New revenue streams through federal social service dollars, FAFSA, tax credits, voter registration, and census inclusion as a result of the Benefit Bank resource at the RBN Center.
- New jobs.
- New vocational training, community service, and internship site.
- Safe space for at-risk families to explore healing
- Bridging at-risk families with their communities
- Reentry resource networking hub.
I truly believe that reentry is and will remain a major process
that works to assist offenders, their families and other stakeholders
in becoming participants in increasing and sustaining
safe, secure and successful communities where we all can live.
— Terry Collins, former ODRC Director
Community Education and Speaker’s Bureau
Speakers are available for community groups, schools, churches, and any other organization.
Community Service Site
RBN is an approved community service site for both adults and juveniles who are assigned community service hours through the courts. We recognize this as an opportunity to assess participants skills and needs and to introduce them to asset-building projects, community networking and mentoring programs, while they fulfill community service hours.
Ohio Benefit Bank Site
RBN has a dedicated office space for Ohio Benefit Bank intake and resource specialists who focus on networking reentry resources for RBN’s targeted audience of moderate to high-risk ex-offenders and their families, and the families of the currently incarcerated. This service includes the filing for state and federal entitlements, FAFSA college applications, voter registration, and filing federal and state income taxes for low-income participants.
Opportunities
With the intention of developing vocational skills, social solutions, and mentorships, RBN offers internship, work study, research, volunteer, community service and partnership opportunities with community stakeholders and local colleges.
Policy
RBN retains the right to determine from among applicants for services those it can serve appropriately, within the limits of its resources. Due to the presence of families in our programs and building, sex offenders may not be eligible for some programs.