Exploratory discussions with leaders in any one of the health or social services systems, like mental health, housing, and workforce development, will sooner or later turn to their capacity to serve people released from prison and jail. Before getting representatives of these groups to the table, it is important to be familiar with the culture, funding, philosophy, service-delivery structure, and oversight of each system. Without such an appreciation, initial discussions are unlikely to be constructive or productive. Brief sketches in the sidebar, "Sample Challenges to Understanding Service Systems Essential to Re-Entry," illustrate some of the complexities of various service systems that potential re-entry partners must appreciate to increase the odds of a successful early meeting. These are intended only as examples, and do not represent either all the complexities of the specified systems, or the universe of systems that are critical to re-entry. (See Part III, Elements of Effective Social Systems, for a system-by-system outline of some of the key components of several social systems whose participation is central to re-entry efforts in any community.) And just as service systems may be mysterious to criminal justice practitioners, the criminal justice system can confuse service system partners. These partners may not know the difference between probation and parole or prison and jail, for example, or may assume that a police chief or judge can speak for a jurisdiction's entire criminal justice system.

Time spent studying any of these systems will soon make apparent that each is a patchwork of programs, services, and funding structures, and, as in the case of criminal justice, the word "system" may very much be a misnomer for each. Willingness on the part of those spearheading a re-entry initiative to demonstrate a deeper appreciation of the challenges facing organizations that could become partners on the initiative will encourage critical representatives to come to the table with greater understanding and sense of cooperation.