Berks County Reentry Service Center to host first-ever graduation

READING —Almost 75 individuals on parole who have participated in treatment and training at the Berks County Reentry Service Center will participate in the facility’s first-ever graduation on Tuesday, Dec. 6.  Because many of the graduates are employed during the day, graduates will stop by during the day to mark this important milestone and collect a certificate of completion.

To mark this important day for the graduates, their families, and the community at large, GEO Reentry Services will host an open house at the Berks County Reentry Service Center Dec. 6, at 11 N. 5^th Street, 3^rd floor, from noon to 1:30 p.m. Graduating participants and their families, community corrections officials, members of the judiciary and community service providers are invited.

Opened in 2013, the Berks County Reentry Service Center is currently funded by the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections’ Board of Probation and Parole and operated by GEO Reentry. It is one of several reentry centers opened throughout Pennsylvania as part of a state initiative to reduce recidivism, lower incarceration costs and enhance public safety. The service center offers day reporting, cognitive behavioral therapy, employment-readiness services, alcohol and drug services, as well as reentry planning, counseling and more. The center has a capacity for 150 participants.

The Berks RSC has achieved positive results with participants.

• In 2021, participants entered the program with an employment rate of 18 percent but exited with 94 percent employed, achieved through links to community resources, training and education on job seeking and retention skills.
• In addition, last year almost eight in 10 individuals referred to the Berks County RSC successfully completed the intensive reentry program.