The Male Community Reentry Program in Long Beach, California, recently hosted a family reunification dance, showing how family connections enhance successful rehabilitation and reintegration. The event, one of many family reunification reentry efforts at the center, was organized by GEO Reentry, which manages the center in partnership with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
The event brought together reentry participants and their daughters for an evening of bonding, reflection, and celebration.
GEO Reentry Services manages residential reentry centers like this for correctional agencies that offer individuals a safe, structured, supervised environment, as well as employment counseling, job placement, financial management assistance, and other programs and services. RRCs help individuals on parole gradually rebuild their ties to the community and facilitate supervising their activities during this readjustment phase.
Opened in 2004, the Long Beach Community Reentry Program is funded by the CDCR’s Division of Adult Parole Operations. The Long Beach Center Residential Reentry Center offers transitional housing and groups and classes for individuals on parole, including behavioral cognitive treatment, substance use education, anger management and stress management, life and parenting skills and more. In addition, the center links program participants to valuable resources in the community, such as housing, health and job readiness programs, to enhance reentry success.
The father-daughter reunification event concluded with dances and keepsake photos to preserve the evening’s memories. For many, it was not only a celebration of family but a milestone on the path to healing and growth.