Re-named Philadelphia office to help ex-offenders stay out of jail

The city of Philadelphia is working to cut down on the number men and women making a return trip to jail.

The city of Philadelphia is working to cut down on the number men and women making a return trip to jail.
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The Mayor’s Office of Re-Entry has been transformed into the Office of Reintegration Services for Ex-Offenders, or RISE. Deputy Mayor Everitt Gillison says that 65 percent of ex-offenders nationally find their way back to prison. But of more than 300 who have gone through the Philadelphia program, under 5 percent have wound up back in jail.

“There is a moment in a person’s life when they are at their very bottom, and they can say
I can go to my father’s house, and I can choose to be and go in another direction,” Gillison said. “We will provide
those supports to help you walk back, for at least up to one year.”

The key to the program is finding employment for ex-offenders, and Gillison says his office offers training for everything from the green economy to telecommunications and networking.