JACKSON, Miss. — The Mississippi Department of Corrections says it will use $715,000 in federal grant money to offer a re-entry and treatment program in six northern Mississippi counties.
The program is aimed at helping people who have substance abuse and mental illness to re-enter society.
The grant will fund the program for three years in Panola, Lafayette, Marshall, Tate, Calhoun and Yalobusha counties.
The agency says the U.S. Justice Department gave the grant in part because of a successful re-entry program that began in Hinds County in 2016.
The new grant aims to demonstrate what can be accomplished in more rural areas, where there may be fewer services.
Any medium- or high-risk prisoner leaving a state prison or regional jail and ordered into at least one year of post-release supervision is targeted.