Community Event: Assembling Reentry Kits & CORI Sealing
In an effort to integrate reentry support into our work, the Decarcerate Western Mass Bailout Project keeps a supply of reentry kits on-hand for the people we bail out of jail. These kits—which include personal hygiene products, snacks, writing materials, warming items, PPE, cash, and harm reduction supplies, and a list of local resources—meet some of the immediate needs of the people we bail out, who typically leave jail with whatever they came in with.
Having posted more than 80 bails since our first reentry kit packing event, DCWM volunteers found ourselves in need of replenishing our supply of reentry kits this spring. On April 13, 2025, we came together with more than a dozen community members to connect, assemble over 50 reentry kits, and participate in a CORI sealing know-your-rights training led by our friends at Community Legal Aid.
As a practice grounded in principles of mutual aid and harm reduction, reentry kits alleviate some of the initial challenges for folks leaving pre-trial detention—like the financial cost of meeting day-to-day needs—that exacerbate the instability enacted by the prison industrial complex and feed its predatory cycles. Our current stock of reentry kits is estimated to last DCWM at least through the end of the year as we continue to provide bail support amid upward trends in the number of people held in Hampshire and Franklin county jails.
After packing reentry kits, volunteers learned when and how Massachusetts residents can seal their criminal records during a know-your-rights session with Community Legal Aid. Discrimination against formerly incarcerated people in the labor market, by private landlords, and by public housing authorities make stable employment and housing two of the most significant challenges during reentry. These structural obstacles similarly require creative tactics of community care—one form of which is resource and knowledge pooling. CORI sealing is a process that limits the number of people who can access someone’s criminal record during a background check, including prospective employers and landlords. As part of their reentry support work, Community Legal Aid attorneys provide representation in CORI sealing and expungement cases, criminal record-related denials of subsidized and public housing, and employment denials due to a criminal record. Learn more about their work with CORI sealing (and more!) here.
Our sincerest thanks to all who contributed supplies and helped us assemble reentry kits, as well as to our friends at Community Legal Aid for providing such a comprehensive know-your-rights training about CORI sealing! We appreciate everyone who came together to help advance our collective work to fight against the injustices of the criminal legal system through organizing tangible reentry support and expanding our practical know-how about countering barriers to stable, safe, and supported reentry.
Photos by Jason Kotoch.
