The amount of time spent in a social reintegration center may vary, but the maximum stay is usually less than one year and normal stays range from one to six months. On rare occasions, a person convicted of a crime could spend their entire sentence in a social reintegration center and never have to enter a detention center. Most people go to social reintegration centers because it is a mandatory condition for leaving prison. Some people can also go to social reintegration centers without it being necessary, simply because the center offers accommodation.
Technically, people who are going to be released can refuse placement in residential reentry centers (RRC) after incarceration, but doing so would require remaining in prison. The time you or your loved one will spend in a social reintegration center will vary, so there is no limit to the amount of time you can spend there. Your loved one may remain in a social reintegration center throughout their sentence. In other cases, inmates only stay in a social reintegration center for a period of 14 days, and some people never spend time there.
Contrary to the belief that social reintegration centers are providers of support services, most social reintegration centers are an extension of the prison experience, with surveillance, onerous restrictions and intense scrutiny. For example, a community prison may primarily house people who have been ordered to serve their full sentences at the center, but also some people who are preparing to be released. Although social reintegration centers are not suitable for everyone, they can be an important step on the road to recovery for many people. This ambiguity means that it is almost impossible to determine how many people are in social reintegration centers every day—and how many social reintegration centers specifically funded by the state are there.
Unfortunately, there is much less information about how many social reintegration centers and residents of social reintegration centers run or contracted by the state are there. These centers work with prison departments to house people who are released from prison, often as a condition of obtaining probation or another supervision or housing plan after release. Social reintegration centers provide residents with a structured environment that includes daily registrations, curfew and home meetings. Social reintegration centers authorized by the state can be referred to by various terms, such as transition centers, reentry centers, community recovery centers, etc.
