Re-Entry to Recovery

• Author: Debra Brucker
• DOI: 10.1177/0887403405282962
• Published date: 01 September 2006
• Date: 01 September 2006
• Subject Matter: Articles

10.1177/0887403405282962Criminal Justice Policy ReviewBrucker/ Work Re-Entry for Mentally Ill Offenders

Re-Entry to Recovery

A Promising Return-to-Work Approach

for Certain Offenders With Mental Illness

Debra Brucker

Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ

A demonstration project being designed by the Social Security Administration (SSA)

and Rutgers University may provide an effective option for assisting eligible offenders

with mental illness in obtaining employment during re-entry to their communities. The

project, Early Intervention (EI), will provide temporary cash stipends, immediate

Medicare, and innovative employment services and supports to eligible applicants for

Social Security disability insurance (DI). The EI project is a broad departure from previ-

ous SSA employment initiatives in both philosophy and structure, addressing a host of

commonly cited barriers to employment for persons with disabilities in new and different

ways. Should the demonstration project prove successful and be adopted into a national

program, EI has the potential to provide an important source of support to eligible

offenders with mental illness who are transitioning back to their communities.

Keywords: disability; offender re-entry; social security

Ademonstration project being designed by the Social Security Administration

(SSA) and Rutgers University may providean effective option for assisting eligi-

ble offenders with mental illness in obtaining employment during re-entry to their

communities. The project, Early Intervention (EI), will provide temporary cash sti-

pends, immediate Medicare, and innovative employmentservices and supports to eli-

gible applicants for Social Security disability insurance (DI). In the fall of 2003, the

program was highlighted by the commissioner of SSA as one of four work opportu-

nity demonstrations that are part of a new agency approach to disability determination

(Barnhart, 2003). The EI project is a broad departure from previous SSA employment

initiatives in both philosophy and structure, addressing a host of commonly cited bar-

riers to employment for persons with disabilities in new and different ways. Should

the demonstration project prove successful and be adopted into a national program, EI

has the potential to provide an important source of support to eligible offenders with

mental illness who are seeking employment.

302

Criminal Justice

Policy Review

Volume 17 Number 3

September 2006 302-313

© 2006 Sage Publications

10.1177/0887403405282962

http://cjp.sagepub.com

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Author’sNote: Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Debra Brucker, 4 Dumont

Round, Hillsborough, NJ 08844; e-mail: brucker@rci.rutgers.edu.