HI HCR200

Requests the Reentry Commission to study the feasibility of establishing the Reentry Academy For Training and Entrepreneurial Resources (RAFTER) program to provide inmates with training and mentoring in business development, restaurant and hospitality skills, vocational trades, and life skills.

Addresses Hawaii's prison overcrowding and high recidivism rate, noting that 49.6 percent of convicted felons return to prison within one year of release.

Directs the Reentry Commission to submit a report of findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2017.

Builds on Act 24, Special Session Laws of Hawaii 2009, which established the Reentry Commission to monitor and review the Department of Public Safety's comprehensive offender reentry program.