A welcome sign at the Flathead Reservation in Montana. Photo by Ojibwa

The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of Montana are helping inmates reintegrate into society.

The Flathead Reservation Reentry program is the first of its kind in the state, The Helena Independent reported. It helps former inmates with employment, housing, transportation and other issues after they are released from incarceration.

“They’re reaching back home to the reservation saying ‘Help me establish myself back home,'" tribal attorney Ann Sherwood told the paper. "It’s that connection to our community that people are longing for while they're gone.”

Native Americans represent 7 percent of the population in Montana but 17 percent of the prison population, according to a Department of Corrections report. Looking at women inmates only, Native women represented a whopping 35.8 percent.

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Flathead Reservation program helps former inmates reintegrate (The Helena Independent Record 2/3)