Newark Plans To Give 75 Ex-Cons Jobs, Healthcare To Fight Murder Rate

NEWARK, NJ — What are Newark authorities planning to do with 75 of the city’s most high-risk ex-cons? Give them jobs and healthcare, officials say.

A federally funded, $1 million grant will help support dozens of ex-convicts in Newark who are returning home from jail and are at risk of committing or being involved in a homicide, city officials announced Thursday.

Workers in the program – dubbed the “Newark Reentry Initiative” (NRI) - will identify and work intensively with 75 individuals in this high-risk population, providing them with “wrap-around services” including a case manager, a social worker and a mentor.

Participating ex-cons will also be provided with “transitional employment” that will help them obtain employment experience, teach them soft skills and help them build up their resumes, officials said.

The NRI will also have emergency funds available to assist the participating ex-cons with housing, healthcare and any other emergency needs, city officials stated.

The Second Chance program - a partnership between the City of Newark and Rutgers University School of Criminal Justice - will be funded with a $1 million U.S. Department of Justice grant, officials said.

"Statistics show that individuals returning from incarceration to society are more likely to be involved in a homicide as perpetrators or victims within their first year of release," Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said. "We have to end this tragic cycle.”

"Ever since my time as [ex-mayor] of Newark, I have been committed to fixing our broken criminal justice system by addressing the profound over-incarceration of Americans and creating better pathways to reentry," said U.S. Senator Cory Booker (NJ). "Our broken justice system has fractured American families, disproportionately undermined communities of color, and wasted taxpayer dollars.”

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According to a Newark city news release:

• There were 104 homicides in Newark during 2015
• 31 % of Newark homicide victims were killed within 12 months of release from state prison or Essex County custody
• 53% of Newark homicide suspects were involved in a murder incident within 12 months of release from state prison or Essex County custody
• Of the murder victims, 84% were known to the criminal justice system and had an average of 9.4 prior arrests

Photo: Federal Bureau of Prisons

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