Northeastern Law’s Criminal Justice Task Force has jointly launched the Massachusetts Reentry Resource Directory, an online resource to help returning citizens, their families and other marginalized communities access services that may be crucial to successful reentry. This web-based app, at MAreentryresources.org, lists 33 service categories, including child welfare, domestic violence, education, employment, homelessness prevention, mental health services and public housing assistance and includes information on more than 1,200 resources available for Massachusetts residents across the state.

Designed for individuals reentering the community post-incarceration, reentry service providers, probation officers, judges and other advocates, the app is the result of several years of work completed by Suffolk University Law School’s Legal Innovation & Technology Lab, in partnership with Northeastern Law’s Criminal Justice Task Force Reentry Subgroup, led by Donna M. Cuipylo ’95, a former supervising attorney for the Committee for Public Counsel Services; Dismas House of Worcester; and the Crime and Justice Institute (CJI), with generous financial support from the Gardiner Howland Shaw Foundation and additional assistance from Al Kaneb, a philanthropist interested in criminal justice issues, and the Chief Justice Ralph Gants Fund for Racial Equity and Access to Justice.

Together, these groups collaborated to collect and maintain data on currently available services across the state, which can be tracked based on proximity to the commonwealth’s 18 Community Justice Support Centers. These support centers provide assistance to clients, including formerly incarcerated individuals, helping them avoid further involvement with the justice system. Users can access this digital resource to search for programs and services in a particular geographic area using parameters such as location and service category. Once a service has been selected, users are guided to Google Maps, where they can review and plan for any transportation needs.

Northeastern Law’s Criminal Justice Task Force and its partners hope that utilizing such technology will help alleviate the burden on justice-involved individuals, who presently must sift through outdated or misleading online resources to find relevant support. It will also revolutionize pre-trial and post-incarceration practices, said Professor Deborah Ramirez, director of the Criminal Justice Task Force and faculty co-director of Northeastern Law’s Center for Law, Equity and Race.

“I want to thank the Gardiner Howland Shaw Foundation, Al Kaneb and the Gants Fund for their generous support, and I want to applaud Attorney Cuipylo for her tireless efforts to launch this app,” said Ramirez. “I am grateful to the Criminal Justice Taskforce Reentry Subgroup and its co-chairs, Justice Sydney Hanlon [ret.] and Judge Rosalind Miller [ret.], who have done an extraordinary job of educating the community about the reentry resources available at the Community Justice Support Centers. Our hope is that this app will be used to provide marginalized communities with the resources they need to lead productive lives.”