On Your Feet! is a project created by the Minnesota Department of Corrections and the Veterans Justice Corps. The program is designed to help assist incarcerated veterans transition back into the community.
The program is modeled after a similar project in Canada, designed by the Circles of Support and Accountability (CoSA) in 1994. The Canadian model has proven highly effective and a study of its effects has shown that offenders within the program had a 57% reduction in violent crime recidivism and a 35% reduction in overall recidivism.
Recidivism is a major concern within the criminal justice community, and the Obama administration’s 2012 National Drug Control Strategy addresses the urgent need to reduce repeat offenses in the United States.
The On Your Feet! program is staffed by volunteers and run in small groups of 407. Meetings are held 1-2 times weekly for one year, on average.
According toMN criminal defense attorney Avery Appelman, “Programs such as this which help smooth the transition from prison into the community are an integral part of the effort to reduce recidivism. On Your Feet! is tailored to address the special needs of veterans going through this process, but there are many other programs available which are designed to help a number of other demographics through the re-entry process.”
