This report looks at the development and implementation of Project New Opportunity (PNO), a demonstration project created to provide reentry support to people being released from federal prison under President Obama’s Clemency Initiative and the United States Sentencing Commission’s (USSC) 2014 reduction in drug sentencing guidelines.
The key elements of PNO’s model were a staffing plan that relied on formerly incarcerated people as Reentry Consultants, and an “inside/outside” connection that introduces incarcerated people to their Reentry Consultant prior to their release and continues after release.
The new report is timely in light of the Senate’s recent passage of the “First Step” legislation. PNO provides another example of the benefits of sentencing reform, shorter sentences, and early release mechanisms.
