prisoner reentry
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Shipping Prisoners Out of Sight
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Sex Offenders Not Even Welcome at Church
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Green Prisons, Reentry and the New Economy
The Job Search and the Stigma of a Felony
Published November 16, 2009 @ 08:17PM PT
The latest episode of a great of web radio show, Family Life Behind Bars, focuses on the job search after incarceration, and includes two guests who offer important perspectives on the topic.
David Koch -- a pilot, business owner and author -- served two years in prison before beginning his career in 1980 at the bottom rung, mowing lawns and cleaning floors at a flight school. He offers some clear and actionable advice to newly released prisoners, but he doesn't mince words -- he's such a believer in self-determination that he almost denies the challenges are there. He says that the stigma of a felony conviction exists in the felon’s mind more than it does in society. He recommends that newly released prisoners take "jobs that nobody wants" or volunteer their time to help others and get their foot in the door. I'm not sure if he's offering sound advice or living in a fantasy land.
From the other end of the spectrum, guest Aric Coleman was freed last month in Michigan after serving seven years in prison. He’s struggling to find a job, and he says he sees the stigma against hiring felons as real in society, but then agrees with Koch that it must first be conquered within oneself.
A Garden Behind Jail Walls
Published October 04, 2009 @ 06:12AM PT
For 16 years, prisoners at Chicago's Cook County Jail have taken gardening classes and maintained a thriving garden behind the facility's barbed wire. Prisoners take a course to earn a master gardener's certificate and produce tons of fruits and vegetables on a 13,000-square-foot urban farm . For now, their harvest is donated to soup kitchens, but starting next year some of it will be sold to local restaurants. The goal is for the farm to become self-sustainable in the near future.
The project is an inspiring example of the educational and social enterprise opportunities behind prison and jail walls. Prisoners learn a tangible skill and interact in a thriving enterprise, and their chances at successful reentry are improved. Recidivism rates for participants in the program are 17%, compared with national averages between 55% and 70%. The farm produces local produce that can feed the homeless or be sold to restaurants to sustain future farming operations. Every prison and jail in the United States should have a farm or garden like this. There's no reason not to.
Welcome Uncertain, Success Essential
Published September 20, 2009 @ 12:30PM PT
A great column in Friday's Washington Post by former George W. Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson makes the most compelling case I've heard in a while for post-incarceration services.
In less than 800 words, Gerson lays out a clear case for federal and state governments to act swiftly and strongly to provide services to the 600,000 people we release from prison each year, from expansion of the federal Second Chance Act to approval and support for the small state programs that make a break new lives. Coming from a conservative like Gerson, the case is particularly powerful.
Early Release Is an Easy Target
Published September 17, 2009 @ 06:38AM PT
Colorado is the newest battleground for the predictable and counterproductive early-release argument.
Gov. Bill Ritter has proposed releasing some prisoners six months before their sentences expire - and ending parole earlier than usual in some cases - to save the state nearly $20 million a year. Some of the savings would be used to improve post-release services, like housing and job assistance, and to transition the state toward lower-cost parolee monitoring using GPS. It's a balanced, reasonable and forward-looking plan. And the state attorney general hates it.
"I am concerned that the acceleration of mandatory parole for offenders who have not earned discretionary release will seriously compromise public safety,” AG John Suthers told the Denver Daily News.
The public discourse on crime and punishment has come a long way in recent years, but Suthers' knee-jerk fear of letting out the bad guys, who are apparently going to start killing immediately, shows us that we're not there yet. What Suthers surely realizes is that it's much more dangerous to keep someone locked up for six extra months and then push them out with the shirt on their back than to release them now but spend the savings on transition assistance. His comments are pure politics, and they don't help.
Of course early release programs should be focused on prisoners who have shown a willingness to succeed after prison. People convicted of minor crimes should be removed from the parole rolls so officers can focus on higher-risk parolees. I hope reform eventually goes even further than this, but we have so many people in prison who shouldn't be there, we should focus on them first.
This debate is playing out in states across the country: California, Kentucky, Washington and others are addressing the addiction to imprisonment in an effort to save cash. Time Magazine recently explored the question at the heart of the matter: does early release affect the crime rate?
Why We Need Criminal Justice 2.0
Published September 07, 2009 @ 08:57AM PT
All sorts of technologies are making life and work easier and more transparent. Criminal justice agencies and organizations have an opportunity to make broad use of interactive tools on the web to ensure public safety and educate the public about issues and programs.
Some time ago, I came across this astounding video demonstrating the Sixth Sense, an amazing new tech tool being pioneered at the MIT Media Lab. (Watch the video after the jump).
I was blown away. This video made me realize that there were people creating cutting-edge technologies that I had never even conceived possible. Since I write a blog for the Upper Manhattan Reentry Task Force, I immediately began wondering how this technology might be useful for people in the process of return from prison to community.
A Gimmick or a Good Thing? Philly DA Hopeful Dons an Ankle Bracelet
Published September 04, 2009 @ 03:05PM PT
The map above shows the exact location of Philadelphia's Republican DA candidate Michael Untermeyer when I visited his site a few hours ago. He strapped on an ankle bracelet on Wednesday and he'll wear it for 30 days in a gimmicky attempt to bring attention to an important issue: the over-incarceration of Philadelphia residents.
Untermeyer's point is that the city could take advantage of electronic monitoring in order to offer parole to thousands of non-violent offenders, relieving prison overcrowding and giving people convicted of crimes a second chance. And he's right.
The financial argument for monitoring is a strong one, as the city spends $97 a day keeping someone in prison, compared to less than eight bucks for a day of monitoring. The societal gains of expanded monitoring and decreased incarceration are far greater - people awaiting trial don't have to lose their jobs, their families don't lose support, they can continue being a parent. The list goes on.
Untermeyer's opponent, Seth Williams, called the move a gimmick. I agree, that's what it is. But good political campaigns have good gimmicks. Calling attention to over-incarceration can only be a bad thing if Untermeyer is elected and then conveniently forgets to take on this issue.
Gimmick or not, both Williams and Untermeyer are talking about alternatives to incarceration, and that's a refreshing thing in a DA race, another sign that the times are a-changin.
Sharing Reentry Resources Online
Published August 28, 2009 @ 05:54AM PT
The law is a paper-based industry. Or at least it always has been. Judges like paper. They like notarized paper even more.
This is why I was so glad to learn recently that reentry advocates in (at least) two states have gone to the effort to create wikis cataloging the resources and agencies that provide services to prisoners reentering society after time behind bars. These reentry wikis have the potential to connect parolees, their families, service providers and many others to help these systems work much more smoothly than the siloed, bureaucratic, paper-weighted backwaters they have traditionally been.
The two I've seen are in Michigan and Oregon, but there could be more.
