Free Indeed Reentry Project, Inc. is a community-based, philanthropic, grass roots organization committed to helping persons who have been released from prison to establish socio-economic stability e.g., assisting in job placement, facilitating access to drug-free housing, and providing other supportive services. Former inmates can become productive, tax-paying citizens and will save taxpayer doll
ars by lowering the direct and collateral costs of incarceration. The health, safety, and well-being of the citizens of the community, as well as the person reintegrated, will be restored and maintained. Services include (onsite):
Intake: Determine eligibility and services needed
Referrals from County of Los Angeles Probation Dept., and CA Dept. of Corrections & Rehabilitation (CDCR), etc. Case Management: Individualized Service Plan
Expungement Assistance: Petition for dismissal, early termination of probation, certificate of rehabilitation/governor’s pardon
Walk-ins welcome
Workforce Development: Clothing closet for job interviews, mock interviews, and job skills training (e.g. workplace etiquette & ethics, typing, computer software, social media & networking)
Referral services (offsite):
Job placement
Partner with companies that hire ex-felons
Collaborate with organizations that support these endeavors e.g. National H.I.R.E. Network
G.E.D. Preparation
Housing: Shelter, safety, hot meals, hygiene supplies
Clinical: Substance abuse, mental health
Family reunification
Financial literacy
Life skills classes
Benefits counseling
Goal: To reduce recidivism by addressing the issues that formerly incarcerated people face upon their release from prison. To provide pertinent information and be a wide-ranging resource center that assists individuals in locating life-changing community resources. The ultimate goal is to help foster stronger and safer communities. Purpose: For someone recently released from prison, the fastest road back into prison is to violate one’s parole. Unfortunately, many parolees have nowhere to go, no marketable skills, and no recourse to remain on the right path. FIRP, Inc. offers these individuals the opportunity for a structured transition back into society. Vision Statement: Our vision is to make people in our communities aware of the possible opportunity to remove huge socio-economic barriers which are preventing his/her restored well-being and potential prosperity due to a past criminal history. Philosophy Statement: Defining Reentry and Reintegration (Return and Restore)
Reentry and reintegration are both a philosophical approach to criminal justice as well as the process of family and community reintegration. Reentry is the approach to the criminal justice system that works towards successful reintegration of a convicted person from the point of adjudication (judgment, sentencing) within the system. Therefore, reentry begins at the time of adjudication, and is finished when those persons are successfully reintegrated back to their communities. By focusing on community reintegration, reentry seeks to identify and meet the needs of the individual at each point of the process in a way that supports success in the community. Also, this meaning of reentry underscores the belief that a person who successfully completes the process is much more likely to lead a productive, crime-free life than when they entered the criminal justice system. Reentry and reintegration is a process which begins at the time of adjudication, plans for, and provides the necessary services and support system to empower the formerly incarcerated individual to reenter the public, achieve socio-economic steadiness and successfully reintegrate back into family and community life, as well as complete probation and parole without being re-incarcerated. believes that the reentry process consists of five stages:
1. Arrest and Adjudication: the period from arrest through adjudication.
2. Incarceration: the period of time when an individual is incarcerated within an institution.
3. Pre-Release: the activities that occur inside the institution to prepare a person for release once a date of release is known. Depending on the institution, the timeframe for this stage may vary with some lasting no more than a few hours and others for months.
4. Release/Reentry: the period of time beginning at release from the institution through the time at which the individual is stabilized back into the community.
5. Reintegration: the period during which a person is reintegrated within their community and is actively pursuing a path towards a healthy and productive life. Individuals released from imprisonment back into greater Los Angeles and the surrounding communities will become part of FIRP, Inc.’s integrated and supportive service network comprised of community and faith-based organizations, government and public agencies, and the greater community. This project will jointly create a pathway for the successful reentry and reintegration of formerly incarcerated individuals back into the community. will also assist individuals to complete forms to petition the court system for expungement of criminal history, and requests for Certificates of Rehabilitation/Governor Pardons. Guiding Principles: Our guiding principles consist of:
Developing and spearheading programs and training models
Facilitation of training sessions and classes
Publishing and disseminating relevant information
Convening meetings, supporters, fundraisers, and benefactors as needed
Promoting alliances with community-based organizations, government and public agencies and the broader community
