To obtain a more comprehensive understanding of the challenges of prisoner reentry and pathways to subsequent success or failure, it is paramount that the process by which an individual continues to be involved in crime or desists from crime, as well as the prisoner’s reintegration into society be examined. In 2001, the Urban Institute in Washington, DC, launched a longitudinal study to provide systematic knowledge about the process of reintegration using a large sample of prisoners across neighborhoods, communities, and States. The project is known as Returning Home: Understanding the Challenges of Prisoner Reentry. The pilot study was launched in the State of Maryland. It is designed to explore the phenomenon of prisoner reentry within five domains: the individual experience, the family experience, the peer group experience, the community experience, and the broader policy environment. This paper has three objectives: (1) describe the research procedures developed to obtain baseline data from a sample of soon-to-be-released prisoners; (2) report preliminary findings; and (3) discuss future plans for the project and make recommendations. Preliminary findings from the soon-to-be-released Maryland prisoners provides descriptive information on demographics, education, employment, criminal history, substance use, family, housing, and health, and describes and identifies correlates of prisoner attitudes and expectations relating to life after release within these areas. Implications of the preliminary findings and recommendations to researchers are discussed. References