On June 10, 2010, Daryl McGraw walked out of a Connecticut prison equipped with nothing more than his GED and six composition notebooks filled with what he called his 5-year plan to successful community reentry. He hit the ground running; in a short period of time, he received a Bachelor’s degree in Human Services and a Master’s degree in Organizational Management and Leadership from Springfield College.
Daryl has already accomplished more in his life than many have done in a lifetime. Today, Daryl is a Certified Addictions Counselor, Recovery Support Specialist, and Criminal Justice Professional. He has over 10 years of lived experience and expertise in urban trauma, addiction recovery, and community reintegration. Daryl’s personal journey through addiction and incarceration has prepared him to be a voice and advocate for those who still find themselves caught in the vicious cycles of addiction and recidivism. He is considered an expert in the field of criminal justice reform. Daryl presents at conferences nationally and internationally and provides technical assistance to universities, law enforcement agencies, legislators, and behavioral health and addiction treatment facilities. As a leadership consultant, he works in policy development, contract management, and project coordination and collaborates with grassroots peer advocacy agencies and Departments of Corrections.
In 2014, he was hired as a Program Director for the Yale University Department of Psychiatry where he was contracted to serve as Director of the Office of Recovery Community Affairs for the State of Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. In 2018, Daryl started Formerly Inc, Connecticut’s first criminal justice consultant agency, predominantly staffed by formerly incarcerated individuals. In 2019, Daryl was appointed Co-Chair of Connecticut’s Police Transparency and Accountability Taskforce. In this role, he connects communities and law enforcement and encourages hard conversations that lead to legislative change in police transparency and accountability. Daryl also works part-time for the Institute for Municipal Policy and Research at Central Connecticut State University as a Senior Reentry Consultant to better the reentry process for returning citizens in Connecticut. In 2020, he was inducted into the Connecticut Hall of Change for his tireless advocacy for criminal justice reform and his commitment to restorative justice and the welfare of formerly incarcerated people. He inspires cultural competency and challenges organizations to move away from the status quo. He also sits on several boards involving reentry and criminal justice reform in Connecticut.