In addition to data collected during the initial intake process, the program planning team should solicit input from victims or victim advocates, community members, and family members of the person who is incarcerated. Sometimes these individuals know the person in prison very well and can provide information that may not come through in his or her testing or self-reporting. In other cases, successful re-entry may depend on the offender's ability to live, work, or interact with certain key individuals, such as family (including co-parents) and victims. Program planners should consider those individuals' needs at an early stage to lay the groundwork for better interactions and relationships after the person in prison is released.

While victims, families, and community members should be notified of the opportunity to provide input and encouraged to participate, none of these parties should be required to contribute. The responsibility of the program planners is to carefully consider the input of these parties and to weigh their advice and requests against other needs of the person in prison and institutional resources.

Victim input may be particularly appropriate (and desirable) in cases involving intimate partner violence, sex offenses, child abuse/sexual assault, and any type of repeat victimization such as stalking. Similarly, victim input might be sought in any case where the offender has a history of domestic violence-regardless of whether the offense for which he or she has been incarcerated relates to domestic violence. Based on information from the victim, for example, the program planning team may decide to incorporate a particular kind of counseling or cognitive-behavioral therapy into the individual's programming plan. On the other hand, where a victim advises intake coordinators or the program planning team (personally, in writing, or through a victim impact statement) that he or she has particular concerns about financial restitution, the team may focus on financial issues, budgeting, and workforce training in their plan. Victim advocates may be especially helpful in translating the concerns and interests of victims into programming suggestions. Additionally, in cases where the victim is unknown or declines to participate in the process, jurisdictions can also gather victim-related information from victim advocates or other intermediary sources.

Family members may themselves be victims of the offender, with interests and expectations similar to those of nonfamily victims. But family members who are not or do not consider themselves victims also have a role to play in the program planning process. Families can help identify the individual strengths, areas of interest, and other motivating factors of inmates, so that program planners can ensure that inmates are engaged in meaningful ways. Acknowledging the natural coping skills and other resources of inmates and their families allows the program planning team to tap into and build on existing strengths in developing institutional programming. For example, if program planners learn of family members who are steadily employed and could serve as mentors or provide support in securing employment for the person in prison or jail, they might be able to direct the inmate into a particular stream of vocational training. Family members may be able to provide information about child-care arrangements or programs based in their neighborhoods-information that can guide the program planners in assigning the person to classes that prepare him or her to resume responsibilities or engage with services in the community. Taking account of family members' concerns may also help them to feel valued in the process and may inspire them to make further efforts to help the re-entering family member upon his or her release. Moreover, their involvement and support may be another way to engage the individual in his or her programming plan and the activities it prescribes.

Example: Case management teams, Missouri Department of Corrections

The Missouri Department of Corrections (DOC) is in the process of implementing case management teams that will work with offenders from the time of intake through the release period. At intake, a case management team will form to create the first phase of a Transition Accountability Plan, which will outline a programming plan for the period of incarceration. With the consent of the individual, family members will be asked to join him or her on this team, which will also include rehabilitation staff, the institutional parole officer, an institutional case worker, and representatives of outside agencies. The Missouri DOC has received an NIC Transition from Prison to the Community Initiative (TPCI) grant to support this project.

Nonvictim, nonfamily members of the community may be more difficult to reach and to categorize unless the programming team reaches out to existing community advocacy groups. Yet these community members may provide helpful information. For instance, local business owners, nonprofit enterprises, or local workforce investment program staff might be able to inform the program planning team about workforce opportunities that may be available to the person after his or her release, including areas of potential employment or paid work experience such as transitional jobs. Local leaders might also be able to suggest projects or programs that could be restorative for the community and that a person could work on or prepare for during his or her incarceration, including apology letters or work release assignments. Finally, community representatives might provide a source for mentors, organizations, or faith-based groups that can work with people while they remain incarcerated, becoming themselves a part of the programming plan.

Example: Ready4Work Initiative (National)

Ready4Work is a re-entry workforce development initiative of the Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration and Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. Public/Private Ventures, a nationwide nonprofit organization, is overseeing the implementation of the program in Jacksonville, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, Milwaukee and several other cities. Ready4Work partners local business leaders, faith-based and community nonprofit organizations, corrections, parole and probation officials, workforce investment boards, and volunteer mentors to train and employ individuals who are being released from correctional facilities. Ready4Work programs provide individuals with case management, job training, placement services, and mentoring prior to their release and after re-entry.