Second Chance Act of 2007 : hearing before the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security of the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, One Hundred Tenth Congress, first session, on H.R. 1593, March 20, 2007.

Abstract: This paper is a policy analysis of the Second Chance Act of 2007. The intent was to examine the effectiveness of the policy to address the barriers to reentry and the cause of mass incarceration and high rates of recidivism in the United States. The analyst performed an extensive literature review by utilizing various sources, including government documents, legislation, and scholarly journals, to review societal changes and events of the criminal justice system leading up to the enactment of the policy.

Second Chance Act of 2007: hearing before the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security of the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, One Hundred Tenth Congress, first session, on H.R. 1593, March 20, 2007.

Explores the challenges faced by convicted offenders over the course of rehabilitation and reintegration. Each chapter focuses on a specific phase of the process.

The Second Chance Act of 2007: Community Safety Through Recidivism Prevention ("SCA") is an initiative "to reduce recidivism, increase public safety and help State and local governments better address the growing population of ex-offenders returning to their communities." Part I of this article sets out the reentry landscape in which the SCA was passed and examines the new rehabilitative model that is reflected in the SCA. Part II of this article examines the SCA's expansion of drug-related programming, including its call for prosecution drug treatment alternatives to incarceration and its amendment of the definition of "violent offender." It also examines the call for family-based substance abuse treatment in community settings and in prisons. Part III of this article analyzes the SCA's authorization for the creation of reentry courts, its expansion of authorized reentry services and its creation of recidivism reduction targets as a condition of funding. Part IV of this article considers the federal prison reentry initiative, which requires the Director of the Bureau of Prisons to remove obstacles to reentry, expands drug treatment and placement in community correctional facility, and pilots an early release program for non-violent offenders over the age of sixty-five. Finally, Part V of this article highlights the limitations of the SCA, including its failure to amend federal laws that create obstacles to reentry in the first instance and its authorized funding allocations.

This brief on legislation outlines the provisions of the Second Chance Act, which was signed into law in April 2008.