The Washingtonian’s View

Community-based rehabilitation centers are the trend in the field of corrections. Many Salvation Army rehabilitation centers and Harbor Light Centers have served as designated halfway houses where former prisoners can participate in work-release programs. Those convicted of minor offenses often are given the opportunity to accept placement in community service programs at corps community centers and institutions as an alternative to incarceration, or in the last months of their sentences.

In addition, Salvation Army officers and volunteers lead worship services in jails and prisons. A national Salvation Army Correctional Services Sunday is observed. Counseling and emergency assistance also are available to crime victims.

Last year California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was interested in releasing around 22,000 state prisoners early.  The idea was to help reduce a budget deficit that was skyrocketing into the billions of dollars. The state already was scheduled to release 120,000 prisoners that year.

And in Washington, D.C., over 2,000 ex-offenders come back to the District every year.  In the new century, the Lorton Reformatory was closed down in the wake of the federal takeover of the system.  This caused many of the reformatory’s residents to return to the district from locations fairly distant from their homes. At one time the city was not sure whom or what will facilitate their reentry into society.  It’s believed that D.C.’s ex-offenders tend to have more problems than most.  Two-thirds have a history of substance abuse, and many have to deal with issues of literacy and education overall; these are two things that are highly needed in the job market.

The problem many people had with the California governor’s plan was the large number of people coming out of prison.  It would be unquestionably high.  Common stats show clearly only a few will get the much needed help after being released from prison. The same stats have shown that seven in ten [Californians] will go back within three years of their release.

Frank Stoltze, USC Institute of Justice and Journalism produced a report last year that dealt with the politics of rehabilitating prisoners.

Some people believe the people being released are not convicts, they are not parolees, but instead are members of our citizenry who are coming back to our communities.

The problem with such a thing is: two-thirds of parolees end up back in prison. Corrections officials acknowledge many counties are reluctant to host a prison, even if it focuses on reentry. In the state of California, only San Bernardino has shown any real interest. California is supposed to introduce their first reentry prison in Stockton this year.

We’re talking about ex-offender reentry into the District of Columbia, and halfway houses always seem to come up when you talk about such a reentry. But it’s my understanding that the District of Columbia lacks maybe half the beds that it needs for offenders coming back to the city.

Society believes in transitioning an offender back to a halfway house is almost an imperative. It really affords an opportunity to come into the community and stabilize oneself, finding employment, housing, and constructing a release plan that they begin to work, so that when they receive their parole papers, and then come into the formal jurisdiction of our agency, there is something going on.

Organisations like The Salvation Army, work cooperatively with prison, probation, and parole officials by playing a growing role in prison rehabilitation and crime prevention. In some jurisdictions, prisoners are paroled to the direct custody of The Salvation Army. This faith-based style of rehabilitation provides guidance to both prisoners and their families.

It’s difficult to have someone on probation/parole/supervised release that hits the street unemployed. These people unfortunately have to begin the process of assessing their needs and their risk, and constructing a release plan for themselves. These individuals are already out there subject to the temptations of the street, the risk of substance abuse, and that kind of puts us behind the eight ball.

The question many people are asking is:  does everyone necessarily need a halfway house?

One Washington, D.C. official believes the answer is no.  She believes that there is a small proportion of the population that are not high-level offenders, or what we call high-risk offenders, that could easily be released directly to the community to their field offices and do wonderfully. She said, “This saves the city resources and gives that bed to someone who is criminally more deserving of that bed.

Every year, even in good budget years, rehabilitation gets short shrift. In the state of California, Sacramento Bee columnist Dan Walters says it’s seen as soft on criminals in a capitol where the prison guards’ union, law enforcement lobbyists, and victims’ rights groups wield great influence.  The mantra in Sacramento is presently the idea that you do not go wrong voting for a tougher crime bill.

Families of inmates constantly are lobbying legislators to do more for their loved ones behind bars.  Groups like Doris Alleyne’s Save Our Son, a Los Angeles organisation looking to change the way things are organised.  Ms. Alleyne has a son who is doing time.

There has been a lot of talk about fatherlessness and about men being disengaged from their families.  So much so that many people believe the system is really destroying and doing a disservice to the African American community.  In a state like California, blacks comprise 6% of its whole population and 30% of prison inmates.

John Jay College President Jeremy Travis says, “Latinos are disproportionately imprisoned too.”

Reentry is not just dealing with the prisoners.  It also deals with those who are in jail and at correctional treatment facilities.  Most people wonder if the Department of Corrections is making a serious attempt at focusing on all areas.  DC government is working with the Department of Corrections to begin a bridging program inside of the jail.

The bridging program is looking to bridging the gap of the relationship between the residents themselves and the community.

One of the supporters of changing things believe in a very fundamental sense, we can promote the cause of racial justice by ensuring that we don’t continue to demonize those who are sent off to prison, most of whom come from communities of color, by marginalizing them after they come out of prison.

U.S. President George W. Bush remarked early this year “…some 600,000 inmates will be released from prison back into society. We know from long experience that if they can’t find work, or a home, or help, they are much more likely to commit crime and return to prison.”

Keep in mind, four years ago, President Bush announced a $300 million reentry initiative. Congress just passed the Second Chance Act. It provides more money for prisoner rehabilitation. L.A. has a pilot reentry court that diverts women from prison. Jeremy Travis says these are significant steps. But the man known as the father of prisoner reentry says only a fraction of the people returning home from prison receive significant help ending their lives of crime and successfully reintegrating into society.