North Carolina Department of Corrections Releases Executive Order 303 Progress
By Fay Harvey
RALEIGH, N.C. — In January 2024, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper signed Executive Order 303, an initiative establishing a whole-of-government approach to improving reentry for formerly incarcerated individuals. In EO 303, Cooper outlined 26 objectives aimed at improving economic mobility, expanding housing opportunities, improving healthcare access and removing barriers to successful community reintegration — followed by objectives, strategies and performance metrics to track goals met.
“The Reentry 2030 Initiative is both the right thing and the smart thing to do for our state,” said Cooper in a statement. “It’s the right thing to give people opportunities to be ready for release from prison with strategies to take care of themselves and their responsibilities along with the training to get a job.”
Since the 133 strategies were released in August 2024, 50 have already been completed or are in progress. Of the 95 performance metrics, 68 baselines have been collected. A progress report released earlier this month details the accomplishments achieved by state agencies, reentry partners and the Joint Reentry Council subcommittees.
In the first year of EO 303, North Carolina’s Department of Adult Correction (DAC) has seen many improvements:
Educational Opportunities
- The DAC has created a catalog of educational and program resources available at each facility as well as a searchable database for apprenticeships available at community colleges and four-year universities in the state. Additionally, the DAC partnered with TransTech Driving School to provide training that allows inmates to earn a Commerical Driver’s License.
- DAC and the Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) are continuing to partner to provide reentrants with state identification cards, and DAC Rehabilitation and Reentry staff have identified a key barrier: a frequent lack of verified individual social security number. DAC is pursuing a data sharing agreement with the Social Security Administration to verify social security numbers automatically, a solution that will substantially increase identification card issuance.
- Campbell Law School held a driver’s license restoration clinic at Carteret Correctional Center to assist in legal issues holding individuals back from receiving their driver’s license.
Access to Healthcare
- The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) secured $99 million from the General Assembly to strengthen mental health and substance use services and supports for justice-involved individuals, and $5.5 million has been allocated towards North Carolina Formerly Incarcerated Transitions, a program that supports reentrants with severe mental illnesses. The funding will leverage the existing programs in place that offer psychological and physical healthcare services alongside community support such as access to housing, transportation and cellphones.
- The DAC has begun submitting Medicaid applications and holding informative Medicaid sessions for inmates anticipating release. NC Medicaid has also allowed the DAC to access a portal for tracking inmates’ Medicaid applications.
Reentry Efforts
- Three new local reentry councils were created after a $750,000 Department of Commerce grant was awarded across three local Workforce Development Boards.
- The total number of facilities dedicated to reentry has risen to 21 after seven additional facilities were added. The DAC has also issued a request for 11 additional local reentry councils to bring the total to 31.
- The DAC and DHHS held training courses for local reentry council staff on the obligations of child support, ensuring reentrants understand ways to make timely payments.
- The Recidivism Reduction Call Center was founded by Joint Reentry Council member Kerwin Pittman to help reentrants find jobs, secure housing and make connections to outside services as they exit incarceration.
As the DAC progresses in its goals, the group aims to prioritize adding peer support programs, enhancing workforce-specific trainings, expanding scholarships, developing incentives for community college professors, and establishing career advisors for pre- and post-release and veteran assistance in 2025.