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Pennsylvania Secretary of Corrections John E. Wetzel will speak at the symposium Re-Entry: Challenges and Opportunities at 11:30 a.m. on May 23 at the University City campus of Lincoln University, 3020 Market Street, Philadelphia. Wetzel is widely recognized as one of the thought leaders in corrections today. He is a national consultant and speaker whose areas of expertise include staffing, vulnerability assessment, mentally ill offenders, developing employment opportunities for formerly incarcerated offenders, population management, mitigating impacts on the families and children of incarcerated individuals and effecting system change.
Wetzel has served as Secretary of Corrections since December 2010, under Republican Governor Tom Corbett and Democrat Governor Tom Wolf. His tenure has seen an elimination of a 24-year average growth of 1,500 inmates per year, presiding over the first population reduction in Pennsylvania in over four decades. Additionally, he oversaw the restructuring of the Community Corrections system, the mental health system and a re-engineering of internal processes to yield a more efficient system of program delivery.
The goal of the symposium is to present research and best-practices around re-entry, in a dynamic, multi-modal format to policy leaders, practitioners, researchers, consumers and advocates.
The symposium begins with a meet and greet and refreshments at 11:00 a.m. A panel discussion begins at noon followed by question-and-answer session at 1:00 p.m. Panelists include Ricky Young, founder and CEO of Mantua Community Improvement Committee ) and founder of Youth Development Academy; Malik Aziz, chairman of the National Exhoodus Council; Tara J. Timberman, reentry support, project founder and coordinator at Fox Rothschild Center for Law & Society, Community College of Philadelphia; and William Hart, executive director of the Mayor’s Office of Reintegration Services, City of Philadelphia. The panel will be moderated by Charles A. Williams III, Ph.D., director of graduate studies at Lincoln University.
The event is free and open to the public; registration is required. For more information email Williams at cwilliams2@lincoln.edu or call 215-590-8233 or 267-918-4454.