Portland, Ore. May 24, 2008 State Rep. Chip Shields (D-N/NE Portland, District 43) will co-chair a joint meeting of several legislative committees this Thursday focused on reducing recidivism rates for people coming out of prison. The hearing will be held on May 29 in Hearing Room D at the State Capitol in Salem beginning at 8 a.m.

Experts and leaders in the field will offer information and testimony on the importance of re-entry programs, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, employment, transition services and what Oregon is doing to reduce recidivism.

Tesitmony will be provided by national experts Richard Stroker of the Center for Effective Public Policy, Ken Robinson of Correctional Counseling Inc., Clariner Boston of Better People and Peter Sprengelmeyer of the Oregon Social Learning Center and many others.

In the 2007 session, Shields passed legislation creating the Public Safety Strategies Task Force. The group is designed to take a complete look at Oregon's corrections and crime prevention systems and how the state can do a better job of reducing future crime. Shields was elected by task force members to chair the committee.

"Key to our ability to reduce crime is our ability to stop recidivism," said Rep Shields. "Until we are focused on solving the very critical issues of housing, jobs and on-going drug treatment for people as they come out of prison, we are going to continue to see higher than necessary rates of recidivism. This hearing will focus us on the problems people face coming out of prison and what are our best strategies for preventing them from returning to criminal activity."