Remarks of Director Paul A. Quander, Jr.
Regarding Reentry Week 2005
Mayor’s Weekly Press Briefing
January 26, 2005
CSOSA launched our Faith Community Partnership in the summer of 2000 with an open call to the District’s faith institutions, inviting them to join us in addressing the issue of reentry, which at that time was entering the public spotlight. We hoped this initiative would take root, and it has. I’m very pleased to be here announcing our fourth Reentry Week celebration. I’m even more pleased that our Faith Community Partnership continues to grow. What began with a handful of concerned citizens is now a network of almost 50 faith institutions. Since the program began, over 200 offenders have received faith-based mentoring, support services, or both. The fact that this initiative keeps gaining momentum is a testament to our city’s commitment, our clergy’s compassion, and the importance of helping offenders get reentry right. Reentry isn’t just about each person’s individual struggle; it’s about the health and safety of our communities.
I also want to thank the District government and particularly Mayor Williams, who has shown his support for this initiative from the beginning. The District partners with CSOSA in a number of reentry initatives, all of which are part of the collaborative Comprehensive Reentry Strategy. This year’s Reentry Week events will focus on implementation of the strategy and call attention both to the services that are available to returning offenders—such as treatment, employment assistance, and mentoring—and the gaps that remain in critical service areas, such as housing. We hope to highlight both the work that’s been done and the work that remains before us.
I particularly invite you to join us at the Faith Community Partnership’s Citywide Assembly. For four years now, we have brought together everybody involved in this initiative—pastors, mentors, returning offenders, community supervision officers—to recognize our achievements and celebrate the power of faith to change lives. It’s a very powerful expression of what this initiative is all about. I hope you will join us on Thursday, February 3 at St. Luke Center, 4923 East Capitol Street SE, at 6:30 p.m.
I hope each of you will join us at some or all Reentry Week events.