Dedicated organizations, such as The Osborne Association, The Fortune Society, and Hour Children are important partners in any re-entry journey – they have the understanding and the contacts to help you move forward.  Many start their work on the inside in hopes that you will be motivated to continue with them when you are released.

Guides to re-entry services are published by a number of organizations and can be state and county specific. A list of guides for counties throughout New York, as well as several national resources, is available from the Reentry Resource Center: New York.  One of the most comprehensive re-entry guides, the New York Public Library’s Connections Guide, is updated annually and produced in both English and Spanish.

Linked here are two overviews of legal barriers facing those with criminal records. One is New York State specific “Collateral Consequences of Conviction: A Reminder of Some Possible Civil Penalties” (2011). The other reviews barriers by state provided by the Legal Action Center, “After Prison: Roadblocks to Re-Entry” (2009).