Mayor Re-Touts Re-entry Center

At the Project M.O.R.E Re-entry Welcome Center, formerly incarcerated individuals receive a backpack with a towel, food, essentials, access to city resources, as their first step towards re-entry.

Welcome Center Director Keisha Gatison Tuesday morning showed off the center’s facilities and talked through their process with U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Mayor Justin Elicker, and New Haven Interim Police Chief Renee Dominguez.

Since opening in February at 830 Grand Ave., the center has greeted 72 formerly incarcerated individuals with those re-entry essentials and access to programs across the city. According to Gatison, some of these people have regained custody of their children, found stable housing, and locked down full-time employment. She estimated the center receives three people per day, typically by appointment and occasional walk-ins.

On their return home, individuals are dropped off at the center. Before drop-off, they are assessed on their needs, housing, employment, food security, or otherwise. At the center, staff provides information to suit each client.

“We have a system that works. We are here to provide the services that are needed or access to services that are needed. For individuals who have been incarcerated at some point in their life and need some direction or opportunity, please do not hesitate to contact us” Gatison said.

That information is also fully loaded on three computers for clients to search. For clients who struggle with technology, staff can link a TV to the computer and broadcast the information for clients.

The center has a fully stocked clothing closet with coats, work boots, khakis, and polos. ​“Things that they’ll need to start their jobs,” Gatison said.

None of the human beings actually served by the program were highlighted at the event, as was the case at a similar mayoral campaign-season repeat press conference Elicker held last week highlighting initiatives launched and publicized by his administration.

Outside the center Tuesday, community leaders and representatives from the center’s partner organizations spoke about the center in terms of violence prevention and wider community support. (Click here to read about the first press conference most of the officials involved Tuesday held in February at the center.)

Dominguez Tuesday noted the large uptick in violence over the past year. From January to July 6 in 2019 there were 29 nonfatal shootings and three homicides; the city had 46 nonfatal shootings and nine homicides over the same period in 2020. This year so far the numbers stand at 60 nonfatal shootings and 15 homicides.

Dominguez said programs like the M.O.R.E Re-entry Welcome Center are key to lowering those stats..

“It’s extra important for the New Haven Police Department because it’s all hands on deck. In order for us to stop the increase of violence we’re seeing in the city we need everyone’s help,” said Dominguez.

Elicker highlighted efforts like increasing walking beats, bicycle beats, and the number of street outreach workers to combat the rise in violence.

“We call ourselves a second-chance society. But how can anyone have a second chance when there’s barrier after barrier to someone finding a job, someone finding housing?” he said. ​“The work that this community has been doing recognizes that it is our ethical responsibility to show that people do deserve a second chance and that these resources do exist.”

Blumenthal spoke about the wider rise in crime on a national scale. ​“New Haven is not alone, our police should not be alone. This surge of crime, particularly violent crime, is a national phenomenon. New Haven reflects what is happening across the state of Connecticut and across the country. It is not acceptable, it’s not inevitable and it has to be met with a national response.”

Executive Director of the Connecticut Violence Intervention Program Leonard Jahad spoke about their efforts in conjunction with the center. ​“Right now we’ve been scrambling. Over the last 24 months, we’ve been working around the clock.”

The Connecticut Violence Intervention Program currently has a client-to-staff ratio of 25 to 1. Through federal grants, Jahad said he is hoping to expand their staff and reduce the ratio to 10 to 1.

In addition to violence prevention, Gatison also spoke about the center’s initiatives to reduce recidivism rates by increasing employment opportunities.

On Wednesday the center plans to host a career resources fair in the parking lot for individuals returning from incarceration.

“There are jobs available but people need the training for them. You’ve seen and I see again and again as I go around the state, employers are trying to hire but they can’t find people with the right skills. That’s why this program makes such sense in the time of the pandemic,” Blumenthal added.