Friday, September 1, 2006
Contact: Spence Jackson, 573-751-0290
Blunt Applauds Corrections for Securing $1.4 million in Grants
JEFFERSON CITY–Governor Matt Blunt announced that the Missouri Department of Corrections has received more than $1.4 million in federal grants.
“Taking advantage of available grants is yet another way we are working to stretch taxpayers’ hard earned money as far as possible,” Blunt said. “I applaud the Department of Corrections for working to secure these grants to help offset state expenses.”
The department secured a $900,000 Prisoner Reentry Initiative grant that will provide pre-release reentry services for at least 400 offenders during the next two years. It will fund four reentry specialists and four substance abuse specialists within the Missouri Prisoner Reentry (MPR) Initiative Project. The specialists will work with offenders in several transitional housing units across the state. The grant funding will also provide stipends to Connections to Success in Kansas City and the St. Patrick Center in St. Louis for travel expenses for mentors traveling to designated transitional housing units.
The department also received a $568,538 Protecting Inmates and Safeguarding Communities grant that will enable them to purchase updated camera and recording equipment to assist in alleged incident investigations. The grant is affiliated with the Prison Rape Elimination Act, which was signed by President George W. Bush in 2003. As a result of that legislation, the Bureau of Justice Assistance created the Protecting Inmates and Safeguarding Communities Program.
“These grants complement the Governor’s efforts to increase public safety by improving the Missouri Prisoner Reentry Process,” said Department of Corrections Director Larry Crawford.
In September 2005, Governor Blunt signed Executive Order 05-33 creating a permanent interagency steering team for MPR. The Department of Corrections is leading the initiative to pool resources and cultivate offenders’ success when they return to communities after being released from prison.
For more information contact Brian Hauswirth at (573) 522-1118.
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