Accompanying to better rebuild

Through social (re)integration, APCARS offers destitute persons the chance to progressively regain their place in society and ward off recidivism.

APCARS today undertakes missions of social reintegration and/or professional insertion through two dimensions

  • Accompanying and supporting incarcerated offenders and/or those recently released from prison in order to decrease the risk of recidivism: Housing and Social Reintegration Centers (Verlan and Safran); Employment Service (Marseille); Legal Rights Information Office (Bouches du Rhone – in detention centers); CIFA (Ile-de-France)
  • Accompanying social welfare recipients: RSA service (Marseille); CIFA (Ile-de-France)

Housing and Social Reintegration Centers (CHRS)

Our association handles 161 housing spots (in hotel rooms and in studios) to receive and socially accompany the most destitute individuals, having, received a penal sentence in the recent past. This thorough assistance ans support is managed by three departments within APCARS, the Safran (Paris), the Verlan (Paris) and Athènes (Marseille).

We provide a social care that is:

  • global, individualized and empowering
  • more efficient than a brutal exit from incarceration, especially in terms of recidivism prevention
  • coordinated with the penitentiary administration services
  • less expensive that a prison cell

« What can be done to best prevent recidivism? Improve the analysis and evaluation of individual situations and identify the potential for detainees to reintegrate themselves. Facilitate integration into society, especially through access to housing and employment. » (Ministry of Justice, consensus conference  2013)

The global care that we provide covers all of the challenges encountered by this type of public: legal rights, health, training/employment, housing but also those linked to social and family isolation after a long period of living rough or imprisonment.

« The absence of resources attributed to the social reintegration of delinquents engenders a high rate of recidivism. » (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Report – Vienna 2008)

Few associations, such as ours, are specialized in accompanying specifically a public under the justice system. The needs are however considerable as 80% of prison releases happen without any particular preparation and without a worked out integration project.

« The study indicates how, in this area, the partnership between the judicial institution in charge of ensuring the execution of the sentence pronounced by a judge, the territorial collectivities, and the associations that lead projects to accompany the individuals is essential. The tighter and more dynamic this partnership becomes, the more it can ensure the indispensible ‘sequencing’ of interventions, both within and outside the network, local actors in integration. » (ACSE – Annual investigation on the evaluation of the recidivism prevention programme -2011)

The success of an integration project depends on the solid relationship between the penitentiary administration and our association, in order to lead an individualized reintegration journey for the person.

« Social reintegration can be a profitable investment when we calculate the social costs attributed to recidivism. These costs vary between those related to victimization and those associated to the justice system. Investing today in the social reintegration of offenders should allow the obtention of short term results but also long term ones for the following generations » (Québec Government – Governmental global security action plan 2010/2013).

In France, the costs of social reintegration for a person sentenced to open and secure custody are 40 to 50% inferior to those caused by incarceration, a significant piece of information especially during an economic crisis.

Mr. G, housed et socially accompanied at the Safran

« I was released from prison and was quickly provided with support. It was the first time that I ever sought help from an association.  I have meetings every wednesday at the Safran. I have a heart condition and need treatment. The main issue is that I can not work. My social worker at the Safran helps me enormously with the administrative procedures and accompanies me so that my health problems get tended to as best as they can. I trust her, she explains to me what I need to know and she supports me in all these procedures. »

Mr. B, housed and socially accompanied at the Verlan

« I have one meeting per week. It is not a problem or a hassle for me to go, we worked out a way to see each other outside of my work hours with my social worker. I am a truck driver.

My social work has guided me in my job search and explained to me how to act in a job interview. If I am working today, it is thanks to them.

Even for housing, when I left prison I had nothing. I had no job, no money, no housing. They set me up in a hotel, accompanied me in all the procedures to find a real apartment. They helped me obtain the RSA, gave me  food stamps to buy food…

Today, I have my apartment, my job, I am doing well and it is thanks to them. Without them, I would not have made it. »

Employment Service (Professional integration – Marseille)

The employment service is available to individuals that are no longer on a professional journey and are accompanied by the Athènes CHRS. This service offers an individualized and realistic support system that engages these persons in an approach that favors access to sustainable employment .

The two aspects of this service are:

  • Individual coaching to prepare a return to employment
  • Assistance to businesses and a partnership with structures to facilitate and guaranty the smooth transition to a job, internship or training program

Targeted public: adults holding qualifications or having acquired accessible and transferable skills, and that are currently socially accompanies by the Housing and Social Reintegration Center at APCARS (Athènes).

Contact: Marie Hélène PONCET: serviceemploimarseile@apcars.org; 07 71 43 91 69

To find out more (in French)

CIFA (professional integration – Ile de France)

Situated in Paris, the CIFA (Communication, Integration, Training and Learning), an APCARS establishment since 2015, has over 20 years of experience in professional integration. They promote the use of internships within companies for people with difficulties integrating the job market.

These integration difficulties experienced by the people cared for at the CIFA may have been caused by a low education level, the absence of a diploma and/or the absence of experience, particularly caused by periods of incarceration or unemployment.

The CIFA has developed a long-lasting partnership with the:

  • Interregional Direction of Penitentiary Services in Paris: professional integrations for individuals given adjusted penalties
  • General Council of Seine-Saint-Denis: provides employment opportunities for RSA (government welfare) beneficiaries

30% of the company internships provided, led to an employment opportunity for our public, in 2015

Contact: Muriel GRICHOIS: cifa@apcars.org; 01 42 41 48 50

To find out more (in French)

Legal Rights Information Office (Bouches du Rhone)

The Legal Rights Information Office ensures the access to legal information and orientation for incarcerated individuals on a permanent basis. To do so, our legal experts conduct individual and entirely confidential meetings with the inmates to provide a quick and legally informed response to their queries (employment law, housing law, tax law, immigration law…)

They are committed to:

  • welcoming and helping inmates in their administrative procedures
  • guiding them when a specific type of care is required
  • composing the requests for judicial aid

We are currently present at the following detention centers:

  • Maison d’arrêt des Baumettes
  • Centre pénitentiaire de Luynes
  • Centre de détention de Salon de Provence
  • Centre de détention de Tarascon
  • Maison centrale d’Arles

RSA Center

Our global mission is to accompany individuals in the composition of their social integration contract. This care allows the beneficiaries to engage themselves in serval actions such as healthcare, housing, employment, training and the creation of a business.

We accompany RSA beneficiaries residing in the 4th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th districts of Marseille.

5 rue d’Arcole 13006

rsa@apcars.org; 04 86 68 40 37