More than 20 community-service providers gathered recently at GEO Reentry’s Delaney Hall Residential Reentry Center to participate in “Reentry Day,” an event geared to exposed the facility’s residents to valuable resources available in the community. Additionally, several speakers addressed the facility’s residents, sharing words of encouragement and wisdom for living a crime-free lifestyle when they transition to the community.
The Delaney Hall Residential Reentry Center providers transitional housing, treatment and training, and links residents to local resources in an effort to facilitate successful reentry and reduce recidivism. Residents at the facility participate in evidence-based treatment designed to reduce criminal behavior.
Maryam Bey, coordinator of Reentry Services for the City of Newark, and several other community representatives attended the event. The event included a morning and afternoon session to accommodate many residents. Eight speakers delivered inspiring messages, including Newark Deputy Mayor for Employment Rahaman Muhammad, Ms. Bey, and others from the Newark area.
“We are pleased to support our treatment and training with important events such as this to help residents with employment and educational opportunities as they reenter society,” said Richard McCourt, Senior Area Manager Northeast, GEO Reentry Services. “I am grateful to the Mayor’s Office, community partners, and staff for making this event a huge success.”
At the event, tables were set up in the lecture hall for residents to gather brochures and ask questions of the representatives from attending organizations. Each resident left with a folder prepared with community contact information. Representatives also visited the Women’s Unit at the facility to share brochures and information and share a message of hope.
Chapman said feedback on the event from residents was positive, and a future event is in the works. “We presented a strong message that reentry programming works,” said Alan Chapman, Facility Director of Delaney Hall.
Representatives from Shani Baraka Center for Women; Newark’s Department of Labor, Division of Vocational Rehabilitation and the Department of Labor Reentry Program; National Career Institute; West Ward Victim Outreach; and the City of Newark attended.
Delaney Hall provides evidence-based reentry programming to residents referred from Essex and Union counties and the New Jersey Parole Board. The center provides programming that includes Cognitive Behavioral Treatment, substance abuse programming, anger management, educational training, gender-responsive programming, and individual and group counseling to create a reentry services continuum of care for residents.