Excerpt from POLITICO, published January 3, 2024
Written by Dave Abel, CEO Aventiv Technologies
By 2030, it’s projected that a staggering 100 million Americans will have faced an arrest or conviction. Their arrest or conviction will leave them grappling with the repercussions of having a criminal record, which extends the sentence for years to come outside of the correctional facility by making it more difficult to find housing or a job and increasing the chances of recidivism. Finding pathways to help residents with records overcome the challenges associated with reentering society and achieving self-sufficiency is vital when we consider that 1.9 million incarcerated Americans have a nearly 70 percent recidivism rate. We must focus on providing tools for reentry at entry. There are solutions in plain sight to help overcome the stigmas attached to an era of mass incarceration and to create pathways that are more equitable.
For far too long, given challenges from funding to staffing, correctional facilities have been digital deserts that make it difficult for incarcerated individuals to access the critical tools and resources — from education to skills and job training to faith and reentry content — that can help them prepare to successfully return to their communities. The landscape is shifting via public and private partnerships, including many with our facility customers, making it possible to provide resources to correctional facilities that reduce these digital deserts. Investments in technology and policy change can connect incarcerated individuals so they can envision their true potential, while also creating a safer environment inside the correctional facility that benefits both incarcerated individuals and security personnel.