Request for Presentation

"Bringing Down the Walls" ~ Re-Entry Issues Affecting Our Communities Conference ~ June 21st & 22nd, 2007

Sponsored by the: Boone County Offender Transition Network

The mission of the Boone County Offender Transition Network (BCOTN) is: To promote a healthier and safer community, by creating and maintaining an effective newtoork of services that address the needs of offenders, their families and our community.

The theme of the conference, "Bringing Down the Walls", comes from our commitment that it is no longer responsible to accept that an ex-offender has done his/her time and ignore the struggles they face upon re-entry. In order to build the capacity of our communities to understand and successfully address the re-entry issue, we are coming together to discover ways we can improve the odds for our e-offenders to become productive citizens upon their eventual return to our communities.

The Goals of this conference:

• To demistify who "The Ex-Offender" is to the community.
• Bring an enhanced awareness of the re-entry issues in Central Missouri.
• Promote enhanced understandingof existing resources addressing re-entry in Centeral Missouri and promote opportunities to cordinate efforts.
• To promote opportunities and incentives for employers to access the "Untapped Resource for Workforce Solutions".
• To detail the "Arrest to Re-Entry System" for attendees and identify where the existing gaps facing successful re-entry are in our communities.

The target audience is the broad based community, which is also inclusive of all re-entry related agencies & service providers, the faith based communities, employers and elected officials. Contributions of ex-offenders and their families to this process are welcome and encouraged!

The conference will be presented in the meeting facilities of 1500 Vandiver Drive in Columbia and the facilities of the newly opened Re-Entry Opportunity Center (April, 2007)

Registration will begin both days at 8:00a.m., with keynote speakers from 9:00a.m. to 9:50a.m.. Concurrent sessions will run from 10:00a.m. to 5:00p.m. on Thursday, June 21st & 10:00a.m. to 4:00p.m. on Friday, June 22nd.

Presenters are invited to give presentation and facilitate activites which:

1. Equip the community with the knowledge, tools and resources to address the conference goals and/or
2. Facilitate activities which bring about positive results toward the conference goals and/or
3. Provide those in attendance the opprortunity to learn from each other in an interactive & interesting manner

Please complete this "Request for Presentation" and return to the Boone County Community Partnership (BCCP) by
Tuesday, May 1st, 2007:

• By e-mail to statlow@boonecountypartnership.com
• By fax to 573.256.1893
• By mail to BCCP, 601 Business Lopp 70-W, Suite 217C, Columbia, MO 65203

For additional information, please contact the Boone County Community Partnership at 573.256.1890

Thanks for your contributions to the success of this conference!