SAN FRANCISCO -- San Francisco Supervisors returned to work on Tuesday following a summer break and promptly established a special council to assist inmates re-entering society.

District Attorney Kamala Harris endorsed the council, saying 70 percent of the 120,000 prisoners released in California each year commit new offenses within three years.

"By any measure, this is a failure of a system," said Harris. "And in order to improve those numbers and improve public safety, we have to be dedicated to re-entering former offenders into the community in a way that we ensure that they do not re-offend."

The panel will advise and help coordinate community-based programs that try to steer former prisoners toward jobs, housing and education. The council will include law enforcement and social services representatives as well as former inmates.