RALEIGH - On December 10, 2024, Governor Roy Cooper announced the release of the first Reentry 2030 Progress Report. This report, which was directed by Executive Order 303, provides a scorecard of progress made towards objectives, strategies, and metrics established by the Joint Reentry Council in its Reentry 2030 Strategic Plan, which was released in August. Additionally, the Report contains updated state reentry accomplishments, along with recommendations to the General Assembly for legislative actions to improve reentry in North Carolina this upcoming 2025 Session.

“The Reentry 2030 Initiative is both the right thing and the smart thing to do for our state,” said Governor Cooper. “It’s the right thing to give people opportunities to be ready for release from prison with strategies to take care of themselves and their responsibilities along with the training to get a job. It’s also the smart thing to reduce repeat offenders and keep the public safe.”

“The Joint Reentry Council and our statewide network of stakeholders have been instrumental in our historic work to improve reentry in North Carolina,” said Department of Adult Correction Secretary and Joint Reentry Council Chair Todd Ishee. “This is only our first Progress Report, and the achievements we’ve made in the first year are a testament to the dedication and passion our Reentry 2030 initiative has inspired.”

“When North Carolina became one of the first states to join Reentry 2030 in January, the state laid out bold goals for improving reentry dramatically by 2030,” said Megan Quattlebaum, director of the CSG Justice Center. “Since then, North Carolina has rapidly built up partnerships, mapped out a plan to achieve the Governor’s vision, and achieved key successes that will have an impact on thousands of North Carolinians. We commend Governor Cooper, Secretary Ishee, local leaders, and grassroots organizations for enthusiastically taking on this work and setting a national example for an approach that will transform reentry systems.”

Of the 133 strategies laid out in the Reentry 2030 Strategic Plan in August, 50 are already in progress or completed. Additionally, of the 95 performance metrics in the Plan, the Joint Reentry Council has so far collected 68 baseline statistics. This progress reflects the hard work of state agencies, reentry partners, and the Joint Reentry Council subcommittees in building cross-sector, whole-of-government collaboration.

The Reentry 2030 Progress Report also contains legislative recommendations for the General Assembly to consider in the 2025 Session, many of which are recommendations to invest in expanding successful existing reentry programs across state agencies.

Read the Reentry 2030 Progress Report.

Read the Reentry 2030 Strategic Plan here.

Read Executive Order 303 here.