The Fourth Annual STAR Summit welcomed more than 225 area reentry experts to discuss "Road to Reentry: Are We There Yet?"

In addition, City of St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department Chief Sam Dotson spoke about reentry from a law enforcement perspective, Representative Lacy Clay discussed reentry and how it effects his constituents, and Missouri Probation and Parole Regional Administrator Nancy McCarthy and ARCHS' Vice President Les Johnson discussed the role of STAR over the past four years.

In addition, Missouri Department of Corrections Director George Lombardi, St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley, and City of St. Louis Director of Human Services William Siedhoff provided opening remarks and an overview of reentry in the region and state. Dr. Fred Rottnek (Saint Louis University) gave a presentation called "Mental Health Continuum: From Jail to Community" and Dr. Carrie Pettus-Davis (Washington University) talked about engaging the family in the reentry process.

The Summit is hosted by the St. Louis Alliance for Reentry (STAR) and is sponsored by ARCHS, Lutheran Foundation of St. Louis, Missouri Department of Corrections, St. Louis Community College, St. Louis City, and St. Louis County.

• STAR Summit Photo Gallery

An ex-offender who graduated from ARCHS' 2008 prisoner reentry program in automotive technology was given a fully refurbished vehicle from Ranken Technical College as part of the Recycled Rides Program.

Antonio Bobo, along with his wife and five children, were presented with a 2006 Ford Taurus on December 4 from Ranken Vice President of Student Success John Wood.

Antonio participated in ARCHS' reentry program funded by the U.S. Department of Labor (2007-2008) that served 650 federal and state ex-offenders served (exceeding goal of 480). ARCHS' program secured 350 job placements (such as Bobo's) with a combined annual payroll valued at more than $5.6 million.

With the assistance of ARCHS, Bobo graduated from Ranken in 2008 with a certificate in automotive light maintenance training. Today, Bobo is an assistant manager at the Jiffy Lube in University City.

This program is not currently funded, and no cars or reentry training programs through ARCHS and Ranken are available at this time.

• VEHICLE GIVEAWAY VIDEO
• VEHICLE GIVEAWAY PHOTO GALLERY

More than 270 Attend STAR Summit II
New White Paper Released

The first in a series of “white papers” issued by the St. Louis Alliance for Reentry (STAR) is being released today (Tuesday, March 15) during a regional summit addressing prisoner reentry topics. Today’s summit is providing the community with an update on STAR’s 2010 accomplishments and 2011 goals. A documented rise in the use of heroin throughout the St. Louis region will be a topic of the summit. More than 270 people are attending STAR’s second annual community summit that features speakers such as Missouri Department of Corrections Director George Lombardi, St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay, St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley and prisoner reentry experts.

The ARCHS' Culinary Reentry Community Partnership is once again setting the table to provide ex-offenders the chance to cook up a new life path. Three weeks are left in the partnership class, and all 10 participants hope to graduate and enter the workforce with a valuable skill.

ARCHS’ ongoing partnership with St. Louis Community College provides participants with a fresh knowledge of preparation, cooking, sanitation, safety and much more. The class is five days a week.

“I told them at the start of the class they should take advantage of the opportunity,” said Chef David Green, who teaches the culinary class. “Each one of them has someone close to them who are counting on them. I know they all can make an impact on the industry.”