H.R. 7309 — Reentry Resource Guide Act of 2026

This section directs the Attorney General to establish, not later than one year after enactment, a pilot program to make grants to eligible applicants for developing, expanding, and maintaining digital statewide community resource guides to support reentry of individuals after incarceration. The guides must provide comprehensive, regionally sortable lists—with names and contact information—of relevant resources available for download, with special consideration for services including employment, housing, crisis lines, food assistance, health care, addiction treatment, legal aid, veteran services, and others pertinent to reentry.

This section establishes the application process for states seeking grants under this section, requiring submission of (1) a strategy for identifying community resources, (2) identification of relevant statewide resources, their physical locations, and contact information, (3) identification of the entity or personnel responsible for creating and managing the guide, (4) identification of where the guide will be accessible, and (5) a plan for promoting awareness of the resource guides within the prison and returning populations. The section sets the grant term at three years.

This section specifies allowable uses for grants provided under the Act as (1) project planning and community engagement; (2) project implementation; (3) operational costs including startup or expansion of the existing system, outreach, and language translation; (4) employee salaries associated with the guide's expansion, creation, and maintenance; and (5) maintenance of the digital site where the guide is listed.

This section requires each grantee to submit an annual report to the Attorney General detailing the specific uses of grant funds and program outcomes. It also directs the Attorney General, after the pilot program's termination, to submit to Congress a report evaluating the program's implementation, outcomes, and impact on recidivism reduction and successful reentry.