BUFFALO – Community Resources for Justice will open a 42-bed community-based residential reentry program in Buffalo early next year, expanding its services for individuals transitioning from incarceration to the community into Western New York.
The new program will replace the former Buffalo Halfway House, a 51-bed reentry center that operated on Glenwood Avenue from 1974 until late 2017. CRJ agreed to purchase the property from Buffalo Halfway House, Inc., in early 2018 and reached a contract agreement with the Federal Bureau of Prisons in November.
CRJ has begun renovations of the building and is scheduled to begin serving men and women exiting the federal prison system in March of 2020.
A 140-year-old nonprofit organization based in Boston, CRJ has operated community-based residential reentry programs under contract with local, county, state, and federal agencies since 1965. CRJ currently operates reentry programs in Boston, Massachusetts; Pawtucket, Rhode Island; Albany, New York; and Manchester, New Hampshire.
“Buffalo Halfway House has a long history of supporting the Buffalo community by providing individuals with the building blocks to start new, productive lives after incarceration,” CRJ President & CEO John Larivee said. “CRJ is pleased to be in a position to continue that legacy of supporting individuals to make positive, sustainable life transitions.”
Community-based residential reentry programs provide safe housing, intensive case management, and accountability while individuals work to secure permanent housing and employment and access job training, counseling, and other services during the final months of their sentence. Participating in a residential reentry program can significantly reduce the likelihood that someone will end up back in the criminal justice system after their release.