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Office of Reentry pauses new pilots but keeps core services amid budget constraints
Summary
Cuyahoga County’s Office of Reentry told council that it will postpone several new initiatives — including a transportation pilot, justice housing intermediary and expanded grief counseling — but will keep core programs and jail‑based navigators in place under the proposed 2026 budget.
The Office of Reentry told Cuyahoga County Council on Oct. 28 that proposed budget constraints require postponing several planned initiatives while preserving core services, including jail‑based reentry navigation and rapid reentry housing funds.
Director Cyndian Best said the office currently operates two reentry resource navigators who are embedded in the county jail four days a week and that the office will continue the Northstar Reentry Resource Center, GED and basic education programming, legal clinics, and a rapid reentry housing fund for recently released residents. "We want our residents really to know that Cuyahoga County aspires to be a place that supports life after criminal justice involvement," Best said.
The nut graf: new initiatives that were to be funded in the 2026 budget — a green‑belt transportation pilot to transport returning residents to other counties or to long‑term housing, an intermediary to oversee an eight‑point justice housing plan, and expanded grief counseling for justice‑impacted families — will be paused. Best said the initiatives were budgeted but not yet under contract and therefore were the first to be postponed.
Council members pressed about staffing and continuity; Best said the office will keep seven staff positions and that most postponed initiatives were structured as contracted projects rather than new permanent hires. Members also discussed possible partnerships with other counties or faith‑community transportation solutions for returning residents who need relocation assistance.
Ending: Best said the office will explore alternative funding and partnerships to revive postponed initiatives as resources allow, while maintaining core reentry services and jail navigators.
