• Pre-Employment Workshops
• Training Opportunities
• Community Offender Re-entry Program

The Community Offender Reentry Program (CORP) increases public safety in the community of Duluth through the support and stabilization of ex-offenders. CORP is a voluntary program which provides case management and mentoring for ex-offenders returning to the community of Duluth from incarceration. Through case management, CORP assists in the reentry process by helping adult offenders overcome barriers to housing, employment, education, relationships, transportation, mental/physical health, and sobriety. CORP’s mentor program connects ex-offenders to the community through one on one mentoring, pro-social groups, and activities.

CORP History

The Community Offender Reentry Program (CORP) began in 2005 as a three year pilot project. The idea behind the creation of CORP was to give ex-offenders a second chance to live productive law-abiding lives, thus creating a safer Duluth. “We hoped to develop a sustainable, comprehensive, and coordinated re-entry program that would reduce recidivism” asserted Executive Director Rebecca Ellenson.

In March, 2006, SOAR Career Solutions received two major grants to establish a prisoner re-entry program in Duluth. The Bush Foundation awarded the organization a three-year grant of $149,500. The Minnesota Office of Justice Programs awarded approximately $161,000 over two years to establish the project.
Working together with several other strong area partners and with widespread community support, a community-based reentry program was developed that provides career planning, job seeking skills training,  mentoring relationships, supportive services, and linkages to area resources for mental health, chemical health, housing, and other needs for ex-offenders.

SOAR developed CORP anticipating that the Second Chance Act would pass in Congress. When the Act finally passed, CORP had already existed for three years as a model program for a city its size.
In October 2009, the long hoped for renewable federal funding was secured! SOAR was one of the first nonprofits nationwide (of 507 applicants, 36 were selected) to be awarded the Second Chance Act Mentoring Grant. With this funding, CORP was able to hire more staff, expand into its own space, serve more clients and continue to help create a safer Duluth.

Partners

CORP is a response to identified community needs and comes as a result of extensive organizational planning. By working with the Northeast Regional Corrections Center (NERCC), Arrowhead Regional Corrections and the Minnesota Department of Corrections, we draw on the most current thinking in correctional practices and utilize evidence-based assessment tools and evaluation methods. CORP is also a member of both the St. Paul and Duluth Transition Coalitions, meeting monthly with many local and regional agencies involved with reentry.

Community

The city of Duluth has a population of 84,284 and is located at the southern end of St. Louis County, which has a total population of 198,136. In this medium-sized city, we have a county jail, a federal prison camp, a regional correctional center, and a work release facility.
In 2007, there were over 1,500 ex-offenders living in Duluth under supervision by Arrowhead Regional Corrections.  In addition, a large number of ex-offenders are released each year into the community who are not under supervision - persons who served their entire sentence and are not on probation or parole.  With this number of people returning to Duluth from correctional facilities, it is important that a reentry program exists to support offenders during their transition.

Need for Reentry Services

Most prisoners are coming home. However, many of them are likely to leave prison without proper preparation for reentry. While most correctional facilities provide various programming such as: chemical dependency treatment, sex offender treatment, anger management, cognitive change, parenting and GED classes, as well as further education opportunities, not all inmates are able to participate due to the length of their sentences and long waiting lists to get into the programs.
All prisoners face a multitude of barriers upon reentry, even those who have taken advantage of correctional facility programming. These barriers include finding a job and a place to live, meeting basic needs, dealing with mental health and substance abuse issues, lacking education, having no means of transportation and often no valid identification.  Ex-offenders are often unable to access assistance and support in overcoming these barriers.
After release, probation or parole (supervised release) is most often the only link for ex-offenders. Due to limited resources, extremely high caseloads, and the nature of the contact, supervising agents are often unable to provide intensive, individualized case management services.  Without coordinated reentry services or training in the specifics of ex-offender employment and transition services, community organizations each start from the beginning in trying to address the needs of ex-offenders.
Without assistance, the majority of ex-offenders return to criminal activity. Nationally, 60% of all ex-offenders re-offend within three years and 40% are re-incarcerated.  Many offenders are ready and willing to change; the attitudes and misconceptions of the public need to change as well. Being tough on crime is not helpful if we as a community do not give ex-offenders a chance to succeed.

Benefits

This program serves the community at several levels:

• Creates a safer community by reducing recidivism
• Serves over 100 ex-offenders per year, empowering them to become productive, law-abiding members of the community
• Provides more effective working relationships between agencies through increased collaboration
• Supports the correctional system in assisting ex-offenders as they transition back to the community
• Increases community education and awareness regarding myths and stereotypes of offenders as well as the challenges and barriers ex-offenders face in reentry
• Involves community members as mentors, interns and through academic service learning projects

Client Population

Our client population includes adult offenders with a wide variety of criminal records being released from the Northeast Regional Correction Center (NERCC), St. Louis County Jail, and state and federal correctional facilities. Approximately 80% of CORP clients are male, while 20% are female, representing various racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds.

Referrals

CORP is a voluntary program with referrals mainly coming from case managers within the correctional institution. To be eligible for CORP services an offender must be currently incarcerated. CORP begins working with clients 2-3 months pre-release.

SOAR Career Solutions   ·   205 West 2nd Street   ·   Suite 101   ·   Duluth, MN 55802
Phone: (218) 722-3126   ·   Fax: (218) 722-4617   ·   Email: info@soarcareers.org

This website was made possible through a grant from the Duluth/Superior Area Community Foundation.