Carbon County agencies are working to reignite a fire in a proposed offender re-entry program that was started two years ago.

Recently, the county re-entry coalition met to regroup its efforts to move forward with its strategic plan that was created over a six-month period in 2015 and 2016.The re-entry strategic plan is a fluid document that identifies programs to help those leaving incarceration in various areas, with a goal of cutting down on the rate of recidivism at the county prison.Former inmates returning into society face a number of roadblocks because a lack of a network in place, including housing issues, addiction and mental health treatment, family issues, unemployment and financial stress.They also face laws that restrict them from housing, employment options, parental rights, access to governmental benefits, education, voting and more.Richmond Parsons, Carbon County chief adult probation officer, said it is time to regroup after the county was unsuccessful in securing a grant to help with the program's implementation.The group looked at objectives that had been set in the planning stages to see where the coalition was at, what initiatives were completed, what needed to be improved upon or still had to be done, what key components were missed and should be added and how the coalition can achieve the goals set forth in the plan moving forward.One hurdle the group identified was the lack of streamlined data collection between offices to allow all people moving through the court system to have the same data available at each agency to provide the best information for how to succeed in helping that individual.Parsons spoke about the Ohio Risk Assessment System, a validated risk assessment system that adult probation and prison staff will be trained on in the coming months.This will allow an assessment to identify medium and high risk offenders and help provide a targeted plan to best meet their needs.In addition, the group briefly touched on current work release policies for inmates; changing procedures in the adult probation's zero tolerance policy; and better addressing both mental health and drug and alcohol dependency in the prison, as well as treatment options that are available or may be a solution moving forward.The coalition has also completed a resource guide of available agencies in the county that can be utilized by individuals.Moving forward, the coalition will continue working to create partnerships and treatment programs to provide services to people leaving prison to help them successfully re-acclimate to society through support networks, including housing, employment and counseling if needed.