Oversight of the Bureau of Prisons and Inmate Reentry

PURPOSE:

• To examine Bureau of Prisons (BOP) policies related to BOP’s Release Preparation Program and use of Residential Reentry Centers, including reviews made by the Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General (DOJ OIG) and the Government Accountability Office (GAO). 
• To discuss policy related to “The Fair Chance Act.”

BACKGROUND:

• On June 28, 2017, the Committee held a hearing on efforts to reduce recidivism, to rehabilitate offenders, and to facilitate a successful transition from prison to community. 
• In 2016, the DOJ OIG released reports regarding reentry policies and procedures that made a number of recommendations to improve the agency’s Residential Reentry Centers, home confinement, and release preparation programs. 
• GAO also issued a report that BOP could better track data and information in order to measure the effects of placing inmates in RRCs or home confinement has on recidivism rates.
• The Fair Chance Act, introduced by Ranking Member Cummings, requires that Office of Personnel Management (OPM) run a criminal record check only after a federal agency extends a conditional offer of employment.