Lawmakers hear plan to create state Office of Reentry Services, with proposed funding shift to a workforce special revenue account

Representative Seekins Crow told the Senate Business and Labor Committee that House Bill 718 would create an Office of Reentry Services in the Department of Labor and Industry to improve coordination of services for people leaving incarceration and reduce recidivism.

Why it matters: Supporters and state agency witnesses said a small, three-person office could reduce duplication across state programs and improve case management and workforce connections for people reentering communities. Agency witnesses and the bill sponsor also connected HB 718 to a separate funding bill (House Bill 656) that would allow the Employment Security Account (ESA) to fund reentry and workforce programs.

Representative Seekins Crow said the office would "put together a collaboration and an office of reentry services in the Department of Labor and Industry" to coordinate case management that begins in custody and continues to "off paper" when someone finishes parole or probation.

Sarah Swanson, commissioner of the Montana Department of Labor and Industry, described the proposed office as a three-person team based in the…