The Washington University in St. Louis Prison Education Project, in collaboration with the newly formed STL Reentry Collective, is excited to announce the release of a comprehensive new resource guide for formerly incarcerated people returning to St. Louis. Initially a project of the Prison Education Project Alumni Program, the guide will be continuously updated and permanently housed on the STL Reentry Collective website.
Since fall 2019, the Prison Education Project’s Alumni Program worked with undergraduate research assistants, formerly incarcerated people, local non-profits, and currently incarcerated people to develop the guide. The guide lists relevant social service organizations and details how to apply to those services, if there are eligibility requirements, and if the organization is accessible by public transportation. It also includes pointers on common situations people face during reentry, such as talking to landlords or employers about their history in the criminal legal system, opening a bank account, and navigating public transportation.
The full resource guide is available for free online. Thanks to a partnership with the Missouri Department of Corrections, it will soon be available in all prison libraries across the state for currently incarcerated people to access for free as well.