In 2003, the U.S. Department of Justice, in conjunction with other federal agencies, initiated funding for 89 reentry sites across the country under the Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative (SVORI)

Question

Define and comment on the three phases of the SVORI initiative and the target populations they are geared towards.

Answer 1

SVORI programs are geared toward serious and violent offenders, particularly adults released from prison, as well as juveniles released from correctional facilities.
Phase 1—protect and prepare: institution-based programs. Phase 1 programs are designed to prepare offenders toreenter society. Services include education, mental health and substance-abuse treatment, job training, mentoring, and full diagnostic and risk assessment.
Phase 2—control and restore: community-based transition programs. Phase 2 programs work with offenders prior to andimmediately following their release from correctionalinstitutions. Services provided in this phase includeeducation, monitoring, mentoring, life skillstraining, assessment, job skills development, and mentalhealth and substance-abuse treatment.
Phase 3—sustain and support: community-based long-term support programs. Phase 3 programs connect individuals who have left the supervision of the justice system with a network ofsocial services agencies and community-based organizationsto provide ongoing services and mentoring relationships.