Photo by Shirley Ruhe.
Brian Moran, Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security for the State of Virginia, outlines the state’s recent legislation addressing the problems and challenges of prisoners. Moran was the keynote speaker at the Offenders Aid and Restoration (OAR) Second Chance breakfast on April 6. He said Virginia now has the second lowest recidivism rate in the country. “In this year’s budget we have requested 16 mental health specialists to address the problems of prisoners and we offer free college credits to provide education so they can get jobs on reentry.” OAR was founded 42 years ago as a community-based non-profit serving Arlington County and the cities of Alexandria and Falls Church. They provide reentry services for men and women returning home from incarceration. In fiscal year 2015 OAR served 2,698 clients: 1,863 community service clients, 556 reentry clients and 463 pre-release clients.