Bill Text: TX HR387 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Introduced

Texas House Resolution 387 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: Expressing support for full reinstatement of Project Re-Integration of Offenders.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-04-16 - Committee report sent to Calendars [HR387 Detail]

Download: Texas-2019-HR387-Introduced.html

	86R11771 BPG-D

	By: Reynolds	H.R. No. 387



	R E S O L U T I O N
	WHEREAS, Reducing recidivism is key to controlling costs in
	the correctional system; and
	WHEREAS, In the 1980s, Texas launched Project Re-Integration
	of Offenders, better known as Project RIO, to prepare inmates to
	participate in the workforce following their release; coordinated
	by the Texas Workforce Commission and the Texas Department of
	Criminal Justice, the initiative provided job assessment
	specialists to train inmates for employment; upon release, former
	prisoners received referrals to Project RIO through their parole
	officers; by 1998, the program had a pool of more than 12,000
	employers willing to hire former offenders; and
	WHEREAS, The National Institute of Justice, a program of the
	U.S. Department of Justice, praised Project RIO as one of the most
	ambitious state government programs for placing parolees in jobs;
	it published an extensive report citing marked improvement in the
	percentage of former inmates securing employment and a significant
	reduction in the percentage of high-risk parolees reincarcerated;
	and
	WHEREAS, Considerable hard evidence has shown that when
	inmates find decent jobs soon after release, they are less likely to
	resume criminal behavior, and Project RIO has played a vital role in
	preparing offenders for a successful transition to life beyond
	prison walls; now, therefore, be it
	RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 86th Texas
	Legislature hereby express support for the full reinstatement of
	Project Re-Integration of Offenders; and, be it further
	RESOLVED, That the chief clerk forward an official copy of
	this resolution to the executive directors of the Texas Department
	of Criminal Justice and of the Texas Workforce Commission.