A Trend Among States: Helping Prisoners Re-enter Society

A TREND AMONG STATES: HELPING PRISONERS RE-ENTER SOCIETY

Volume 28, Issue 488 April 2, 2007

Tara Lubin

A cheap suit, $5 or $10, and maybe a bus ticket out of town. In the “old days,” that was about what an inmate could expect upon release from prison.

These days, a growing number of states are establishing prisoner re-entry programs. Proponents say the programs—which are designed to help ex-prisoners become responsible members of society, reducing recidivism rates while ensuring public safety—only make sense.

In 2000, housing a state prisoner cost on average about $58 per day, or $21,170 per year.
More than 2 million people are currently incarcerated in jails and prisons in the United States.
About 650,000 people are released from state and federal prisons each year (plus an additional seven million from local jails). About half of them return to prison for a parole violation or a new crime within three years.

Finally, due in part to “tough on crime” sentencing policies, prison populations keep growing, with a five-year projected increase of nearly 200,000—at a cost to states of more than $27 billion.

To successfully re-enter society, prisoners generally must have access to satisfactory housing; economic opportunity, which might include job training; and access to health care, including mental health and substance abuse treatment if necessary. In the past, re-entry was generally thought to affect only the incarcerated individual. Now imprisonment and release is known to impinge on the financial and emotional wellbeing of family members, as well as the wellbeing of entire communities.

The revolving door between prisons and the outside world needs to be stopped, said Virginia Delegate John Welch. “Yes, [prisoner re-entry programs] cost us money, yes, this is taxpayer money, but if you don’t get [offenders] more productive through the prisoner re-entry program, the turning door just keeps turning,” he said. “In the long run, it’s better for everyone in society [and] it’s going to be cheaper.”

State laws addressing this issue run a wide gamut—some look at the big picture by creating a task force to study the issue or allowing a locality to establish a re-entry program for prisoners, while others zero in on one facet, such as reinstatement of Medicaid or ensuring that an exiting inmate has an medical record or appropriate identification. A 2004 report from the Legal Action Center shows that barriers exist in many states that inhibit successful re-entry to society: many states ban convicted felons from public housing, allow employers to disregard anyone with a criminal record, and deny those convicted of drug felonies eligibility for federal public assistance and food stamps.

State Actions

Virginia is one of the states that have passed a number of laws aimed at easing the transition for prisoners. Passing in 2005, SB 843 requires the state Board of Juvenile Justice to work with other state agencies to help juvenile offenders who are released from state custody. Before a juvenile is released, the Board is to ensure that a team comprising providers, family members and state officials establish a plan to give juveniles access to mental health and substance abuse services.

“[Prisoner re-entry programs] are very important because most prisoners are going to get out of prison and are going to come back to our communities,” said Senator Toddy Puller. What these would be able to do, we hope, is to prevent recidivism and save money in the long run.”

Since 2003, Indiana and eight other jurisdictions have participated in the Road to Re-entry initiative, developed by the National Institute of Corrections. The initiative calls on states to restructure re-entry processes by, among other things, reinstating Medicaid benefits for ex-prisoners who meet income and other guidelines. Medicaid coverage can not only help prisoners remain healthy enough to work but also reduce the spread of communicable diseases.

Up for consideration in Indiana is HB 1338. Sponsored by Representative Charlie Brown, the bill would facilitate the transfer of a criminal offender’s physical and mental health records when that offender arrives at prison, transfers to new facilities or is released.

“[Support for the bill] has been overwhelming,” said Representative Brown. “[I]t doesn’t make sense to have a provider on the outside start all over again when trying to piece together the health and mental health records of a former inmate when those records could and should follow that person as they re-enter society.”

Community Health Workers

One resource states might want to tap for help with prisoner re-entry is community health workers. These outreach workers, known by different titles and practicing in diverse ways, have the potential to address various challenges of re-entry, by offering guidance and support, linking former prisoners to health and social services, and helping ex-inmates and their families deal with stigma and discrimination.

“Community health workers could be assigned to each person who is exiting a facility to make certain that they get to their health-care appointments and receive the care needed, that their housing is adequate and that they have some sort of income,” said Henri Treadwell, director of Community Voices and associate director of health policy at the National Center for Primary Care, Morehouse School of Medicine. “A community health worker can provide not just facilitation to health services, but can make sure that all those other…‘social determinants of health’ are also being addressed…someone who really takes the entire portfolio of a person’s being and gets them connected again.”

Although the number of programs using community health workers has greatly increased in the last decade, they are still largely unrecognized and underused for facilitating re-entry from jails and prisons.