STATEMENT REGARDING PRESIDENT OBAMA’S POSITION ON CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM

November 3, 2015

Mission: Launch is encouraged by President Obama’s commitment to “promote rehabilitation and reintegration” for those women and men who have successfully completed their prison/jail sentences.  Yesterday in Newark, New Jersey the President shared a two-step approach towards clearing a path towards greater self-sufficiency post incarceration for the more than 600,000 individuals that exit prisons and/or jails in America.

This plan will: (1) ensure grants are given for the purpose of promoting second chances, including technological training, and scalable solutions; and (2) banning the box within the federal government. It will take additional actions towards fully addressing the complexities of mass incarceration; however, we are pleased with and acknowledge this important step.

As an organization, Mission: Launch is exclusively focused on prison re-entry. We believe reducing the prison population strongly hinges on our ability to significantly reduce recidivism, while creating pathways towards successful, sustainable re-entry strategies. Our approach has always included technology because we believe it will enable greater opportunities for reconnection post incarceration.

With modern tools, accurate perceptions of the formerly incarcerated, and a commitment to true rehabilitation we will no doubt close budget gaps caused by the cost of mass incarceration; create more pathways to self-sufficiency, and, scale interventions nationwide so that re-entry becomes more effective and efficient in America.

About Mission: Launch, Inc.

Mission Launch, Inc. is a 501(c) (3) tax-exempt organization, and is the founding and managing member of the Rebuilding Re-entry Coalition. The corporation is committed to the elimination of bias against Returning Citizens so that they can rejoin society and live out their full potential free of the stigma, which is an invisible life sentence. The mission of the organization is to build software that upholds human rights, design opportunities for civic engagement, and amplify inclusive thought leadership, so that social outcomes for those with an arrest or conviction are improved.

Teresa Y. Hodge

Executive Vice President & Founder

T: @ Mission_Launch  @TeresaYHodge

‍