Reentry Capital: A Framework for Building Health Outcomes in Criminal Justice Populations and Communities

Each year, more than 700,000 individuals exit criminal justice systems and return to their communities. Criminal justice involved individuals have higher rates of mental and physical health problems as well as substance use than the general population. Additionally, the communities to which criminal justice involved individuals return have few resources to address their needs. Despite local and national efforts to provide these individuals with services that promote successful community reentry, successful outcomes are difficult to achieve. Complicating these efforts are observations that the communities most impacted by the criminal justice system have few resources to meet individual and community needs. This shortcoming underscores a challenge that is often faced: few assets and/or resources to address reentry needs across individuals and communities. This paper presents a theoretical conceptualization of “Reentry Capital,” an asset-driven framework for building both individual and community capacity to improve health and well-being across individuals, community, and society. Reentry Capital has the potential to impact social, civil, cultural, economic, human, community, and health capital for individuals transitioning from the criminal justice system to the community and the communities to which they return. It also focuses on identifying types of capital that are available to individuals and communities with emphasis on bridging existing individual and community capital and leveraging that capital to promote health and well-being for criminal justice involved individuals, their families, and communities. Discussion will focus on efforts to build and restore Reentry Capital in a comprehensive way to promote positive health outcomes across individual and community levels.