Rapid City, S.D. (KELO) — For the past 20 years, the Rebound Program in Rapid City has been helping people previously incarcerated get back on their feet, and not reoffend.
This re-entry program begins when someone’s still behind bars.
“Once we establish that correspondence, we go over to the jail and meet with individuals every day we’re doing this. Assess their needs, do a risk assessment and find out what they really need to successfully re-enter the community,” Assistant Director Alex Purcell said.
Eli Livingston was involved in Drug Court when he got out of jail over a year ago. He’s been involved with Rebound ever since.
“So I was in jail when I heard about it, and then upon getting released from jail I found a place to live and then I came on over to Rebound to see if they could help me. Because I kind of lost clothes and everything, so they kind of helped me get my stuff together,” Rebound Member Eli Livingston said.
The resources available are tailored to each member’s specific needs.
“Vital documents are a big deal, connecting to transitional housing, permanent on-going housing, permanent mental health services, medications, physical health. We’ve really started to look at the whole person approach,” Purcell said.
Rebound members are 70% less likely to be incarcerated again compared to people not enrolled in the program.
“I meet with Rebound every week. I have a place to live, I got clothes, I got minutes on my phone, I got all my court costs paid off, I work hard. Just having the support is a huge relief. You know, I can come over here and ask where do I go, what do I do about this?” Livingston said.
For the past two decades, Rebound has helped over 2,400 people with their needs after release from the Pennington County Jail.
