Utah Reintegration Project

Utah Reintegration Project (URP) founded on December 4, 2019 the day Chairman Fred Hampton of the Chicago Black Panther Party was murdered in his bed while sleeping, is a grass-roots decolonizing anti-authoritarian inclusive community led, collectively organized, initiative, housed in the Chief Diversity Office and the Department of Criminal Justice at Salt Lake Community College, promoting transformative justice, alternatives to incarceration, equity, liberation of all people, and social justice. Reintegration is a welcoming inclusive active engaging process compared to reentry, which is not community-based and welcoming. URP influenced by the Black Panther Party Ten Principles has four essential initiatives that assist those getting out of incarceration - (1) housing, (2) employment, (3) academic education, (4) and activism.

The four wrap-around initiatives for URP include: (1) housing, which includes locating possible clean, safe, affordable housing near public transportation and assisting them in setting up utilities and food, and developing impersonal skills; (2) employment, which includes developing interview skills, job training, and scheduling; (3) academic education, which is informing and welcoming them into college opportunities at Salt Lake Community by introducing them to an academic advisor and financial aid coordinator; and finally, (4) discussing with former and current incarcerated people what policies, rules, laws, and systems need to change to minimize recidivism, create alternatives to and end punitive justice, and better the current conditions of those actively incarcerated.