Help is on the way for former inmates making the transition from incarceration to the community and the workplace through a $424,852 grant to the DeKalb Sheriff’s Office.

The grant from the U.S. Department of Justice will fund the 2nd Chance Act Prisoner Re-entry Initiative that assists local and state governments with projects that help with re-integrating former inmates.

The funds will provide pre-release and case planning, mentoring, housing, education, substance abuse treatment, mental health treatment, services to enhance family reunification, job training and readiness, and post-release case management and supervision.

The Sheriff’s Office will partner with the nonprofit organizations STAND Inc. and CaringWorks Inc. to help implement the re-entry program.

Sheriff Thomas Brown said his office is one of only two in the state to qualify for the grant.

“These funds will go a long way to helping people become self-sufficient and productive citizens,” he said.

STAND is a community-based provider of substance abuse treatment, job placement assistance and other services for those that have been incarcerated.

STAND’s executive director, Charles Sperling, is pleased with the partnership.

“We are confident that this work will support the collective effort to reduce recidivism, decrease our tax burden, and increase public safety,” he said.

CaringWorks specializes in supportive housing, and its mission is to improve the quality of life for low-income individuals and families by helping to increase their ability to be personally and economically self-sufficient.

Dr. Carol Collard, president of CaringWorks, said it’s a great partnership.

“We are confident that together we can favorably impact the challenge of recidivism in our justice system,” Collard said.