Dallas Invests $500,000 in Housing, Jobs Re-entry Aid

The Dallas City Council approved up to $500,000 in housing and job training support for people leaving prison in what a supporter called a first step toward reimagining public safety, the Dallas Morning News reports. The council’s unanimous vote will use state grant money to try to reduce recidivism, an effort that includes a two-year contract with the Regional Black Contractors Association of North Texas Inc.

Dallas was recently a test site for a prison reentry pilot program. The program’s leader, Carrie Pettus-Davis, a criminal justice researcher and founding executive director of the Institute for Justice Research and Development at Florida State University, said the city was well ahead of the curve on providing reentry services for its large ex-offender population.