HB 1600: Post-Release Services Pilot Program

House Bill 1600, sponsored by Rep. Becky Currie, would create the post-release service pilot program designed to reduce recidivism by providing a variety of support services to people who leave prison.  

The program will offer help provide connections to employment, housing, drug and alcohol counseling, family reunification guidance, anger management counseling, personal finance and budgeting, and other coordinated support services.  

All program participants will receive their social security card, a provisional driver’s license, and their birth certificate. Not having these items makes obtaining a job much more difficult. The initial pilot program will include up to 1,000 people who will start the program as soon as they are released from prison.  

By providing these services, former inmates will have a better chance of being rehabilitated and avoiding a return to prison.  

Empower Mississippi supports this legislation. 

HB 1600 has been referred to the House Corrections and Appropriations A Committees. You can read the bill here.