CSOSA joined with government and community partners on June 18th in presenting the latest Community Resource Day event, providing information about key services and programs in a videoconference to more than 240 returning citizens who will soon be released from incarceration.
The all-day program was attended by District of Columbia inmates who were viewing it in 22 prisons, with the biggest group watching from the Rivers Correctional Institution in Winton, N.C. The topics covered included release planning and supervision, family strengthening and support; education; employment readiness, training and placement; health care, housing, faith-based partnerships and Justice Involved Individual community partnerships.
Four times a year, the Office of Legislative, Intergovernmental and Public Affairs (OLIPA) partners with the Rivers Correctional Institution, the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), various D.C. government agencies and community-based resource and service providers to help people get ready for re-entry. More than 30 speakers presented on June 18th.
The presenters included representatives of CSOSA, the Mayor’s Office on Returning Citizen Affairs (MORCA), the University of the District of Columbia, the Office of the State Superintendent of Education, and a host of other partners. They described the services they provide, offered advice, and answered questions from the attendees. Some of the speakers were returning citizens themselves who have successfully transitioned into the workforce and community.
OLIPA also produces a Community Resource Day package, which is distributed to Rivers and federal corrections institutions that house a significant number of D.C. inmates. The package includes reference materials for those who want more information or who missed the presentations.
A team of CSOSA employees, organized by OLIPA’s Intergovernmental and Community Affairs Specialist (ICAS) Denise Reed, presented the event at the CSOSA field site located at 2101 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE. CSOSA’s Office of Information Technology provided support on the broadcast. CSOSA launched the Community Resource Day program more than 15 years ago. The next videoconference is expected to take place in September 2019.
