Founded in 1974, OAR is a community-based nonprofit organization working with men and women returning to the community from incarceration and offering alternative sentencing options through community service to youth and adults. Community Service Court-Diversion Program- Last year, we worked with 1,217 clients who came to us having been assigned Community Service hours by the Arlington and Falls C
hurch courts. About half of these clients are juveniles, so our staff spends extra time with them as a strategy for heading off future criminal behavior. Reentry Services - Each year we work with 850 men and women who come to our office for “reentry” services, including help finding housing, getting their birth certificates so they can get their social security card, and assistance accessing a host of social services. These social services include food, referrals for mental health and substance abuse treatment, education, and most importantly, employment. Educational Classes - Each year, we teach life skills classes to about 500 men and women using a cadre of trained and committed volunteers. These classes are taught inside the Arlington County Detention Facility and in the OAR office for our reentry clients. Classes taught include Job Readiness, Health Awareness, Computer skills, After-Release Planning, Impact of Crime, and others. By getting to know these individuals in the jails, they are more willing to come meet us in the OAR office when they get out. In addition to our education program on the “inside,” we have an employment program on the “outside.” The Post Released Employment Program (PREP) is an evening and weekend program which runs from 6:00 to 8:00 pm Tuesday and Thursday. In FY10, 206 individuals participated in the program, coming to the office, sometimes multiple times each week, to receive tutoring for their GED, life skills, work skills, and resume building. A cadre of about 30 dedicated volunteers works with these clients. The really good news is that of the 206 in the program, only 5.9% recidivated; the national average for those going back to jail within a year of their release is 31%. In addition to the work described above, we are active members of the Arlington Non Profit Network, Arlington Interfaith Council, state and local coalitions fighting homelessness, and the PAPIS Coalition for Reentry (a state organization), all of which are groups that provide ways for us to advocate for our clients in terms of services and policies. We held our third annual Second Chance Breakfast in which 275 community members and political officials came to hear about OAR and the plight of those returning from incarceration, contributing and pledging to contribute money and in-kind services. We continued our monthly “OAR Tours” so that all the various stakeholders can spend an hour at OAR hearing about our programs and our needs, including members of national organizations located in Washington, as well as Congressional staff. Most recently, we were active the Arlington County Reentry Committee (ACRC) and the Alexandria Reentry Council, composed of critical County agencies and nonprofits, to make sure that when an individual who is an Arlington County or an Alexandria City resident is released he/she has support and contacts within the community to make a successful transition back. We work extensively with many, if not most, of the non-profits, government agencies, and churches in our area on vital issues such as affordable housing, employment, mental health, substance abuse treatment, food stamps and vouchers, and other resources that form a safety-net for our clients and their families. We also write joint funding proposals and support one another through the Arlington Non Profit Network.
