Cuyahoga County Office of Reentry Using Portman's Second Chance Act to Benefit Northeast Ohio Families and Taxpayers

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio) today congratulated the Cuyahoga County Office of Reentry for receiving a $685,000 Second Chance Act grant for planning and demonstration projects. The grant supports the Department of Justice’s aim to provide services and programs to help facilitate the successful reintegration of offenders as they return to their communities.

“I applaud the Cuyahoga Reentry Office for receiving a Second Chance Act grant, which is a testament to their dedication to public safety and successful reentry programs,” said Portman. “This grant will help the Cuyahoga Reentry Office continue to prepare individuals for reentry into their communities and help them become productive members of society. This is an example of how Second Chance is working in Ohio to reduce recidivism and costs to taxpayers, and why Washington needs to reauthorize this important program.”

Portman, a long-time advocate for fighting recidivism, authored the 2004 Second Chance Act when he was in the U.S. House of Representatives. In June, he and Sen. Leahy introduced the reauthorization of Second Chance, which improves and consolidates existing state and local grant programs, while reducing costs for the U.S. Bureau of Prisons and improving prisoner reentry policy at the federal level. It passed the Judiciary Committee and awaits action on the floor of the House and Senate.

Portman was recently honored with the President’s Award by the International Community Corrections and an award from the Hamilton County, OH Commissioner in recognition of his work on reentry. As Portman moves forward in his duties to represent Ohio, he remains committed to finding solutions to reduce recidivism, improve public safety and reduce costs to taxpayers.