City of Philadelphia - File #: 150550

• File #: 150550
• Version: 0
• Type: Resolution
• Status: ADOPTED
• File created: 6/4/2015
• In control: CITY COUNCIL
• Final action: 6/4/2015
• Title: Recognizing June 2015 as Re-Entry Month in the City of Philadelphia.
• Sponsors: Councilmember Johnson, Councilmember Goode, Councilmember Greenlee, Councilmember Neilson, Councilmember Tasco, Councilmember Jones, Councilmember Quiñones Sánchez, Councilmember Bass, Councilmember O'Brien, Councilmember Blackwell, Councilmember Squilla, Councilmember Henon, Councilmember Oh, Council President Clarke

Date	Ver.	Action By	Action	Result	Tally
6/4/2015	0	CITY COUNCIL	Introduced and Ordered Placed on This Week's Final Passage Calendar	Pass
6/4/2015	0	CITY COUNCIL	ADOPTED

Title

Recognizing June 2015 as Re-Entry Month in the City of Philadelphia.

Body

WHEREAS, Re-Entry and Returning Citizens are a part of Philadelphia and our historical judicial landscape; and

WHEREAS, According to Impact Services, a job services organization based in Kensington, 35,000 people return to Philadelphia from federal, state, and local prisons each year; and

WHEREAS, According to a 2013 Pennsylvania Department of Corrections report, Philadelphia has a 3-year overall recidivism rate of 65.5%, the second highest in the state; and

WHEREAS, Philadelphia's Gateway to Re-Entry is working tirelessly to lower that recidivism rate and help ex-offenders stay out of prison; and

WHEREAS, Philadelphia's Gateway to Re-Entry has greatly influenced the implementation of the laws established within the judicial system; and

WHEREAS, Re-Entry and The Work Release Programs have encouraged and motivated our returning citizens; and

WHEREAS, Re-Entry, when fully implemented, helps shape a positive narrative of the experience; and 

WHEREAS, Re-Entry provides human dignity and respect which impacts the thinking and mental acuity of each individual; and  

WHEREAS, Re-Entry gives Returning Citizens a voice and a vehicle for the expression of their humanity here in Philadelphia and throughout the nation; and

WHEREAS, Gateway to Re-Entry has provided ex-offenders with resources such as voter education workshops; and

WHEREAS, Gateway to Re-Entry has teamed up with a dozen private sector companies to help guarantee job placement for the ex-offenders it aims to help; and

WHEREAS, Gateway to Re-Entry has already provided 150 male and female ex-offenders with jobs at the Philadelphia Convention Center, the Kimmel Center, and Penn's Landing; and

WHEREAS, Philadelphia's Gateway to Re-Entry program is celebrating its third year helping ex-offenders reintegrate as productive members of our society; and

WHEREAS, Re-Entry supporters throughout the nation have banded together to sponsor June 2015 as Re-Entry Month in the City of Philadelphia, as a time to remind us that returning citizens should always be afforded the full rights of a citizen; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, THAT THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, Hereby recognizes June 2015 as Re-Entry Month.

FURTHER RESOLVED, That an Engrossed copy of this resolution be presented to Tracy L. Fisher and his team.

End