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Re-entry is Public Safety

By Gwendolyn C. Chunn
President of the American Correctional Association

This year, as in other recent years, America's prisons will release more than 600,000 inmates back into the communities from which they came. These men and women are not being released early; they have served their time and paid their debt to society. Now they will rejoin the nation's communities. Society must act to put the services in place that will allow these people to successfully rejoin their communities, while ensuring that those communities remain safe.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, two out of three released inmates will be rearrested for new offenses within three years. Society as a whole must act to reduce this unacceptably high recidivism rate. Those released from the nation's prison systems often lack access to programs that provide assistance locating employment, and help finding a place to live, a relationship with a law-abiding mentor, and mental health and substance abuse treatment. By ensuring access to these types of programs, crime can be reduced and communities will be made safer.

In addition to reducing crime, even modest reductions in recidivism provide significant savings to taxpayers. Nationally, the cost of keeping people in state prisons (a number that continues to grow, in part because of such high recidivism) is more than $30 billion a year. Local government, community groups and churches have vital roles to play in creating networks to help offenders leaving prison meet their varying needs during the critical transition period. With proper preparations and continuity of care, society can strengthen public safety and reduce the burden on taxpayers.

President Bush recognized the importance of improving services to those leaving the nation's correctional facilities. During this year's State of the Union address, he called for action "to expand job training and placement services, to provide transitional housing and to help newly released prisoners get mentoring, including from faith-based groups." The president concluded his appeal for action by saying, "America is the land of second chance, and when the gates of prison open, the path ahead should lead to a better life."

In mid-September, the Department of Justice convened the nation's first national conference on offender re-entry. Entitled "Coming Together, Strengthening Partnerships and Planning for the Future," the conference featured discussions among public and private organizations, community groups and others who work with newly released adult and juvenile offenders on issues impacting re-entry, including employment services, housing, education, substance abuse and health care. Attorney General John Ashcroft delivered the keynote address at the conference. This leadership from the president and the attorney general demonstrates a much needed commitment to confront the challenge of reducing recidivism.

Congress also has a critical role to play on this issue. Earlier this year, a bipartisan group of members of Congress introduced The Second Chance Act (H.R. 4676) to provide grants to states and local governments for transitional services for reintegration into the community and for support to community-based organizations for mentoring programs and other transitional services. The legislation will also ask both federal and state governments to study barriers to offender re-entry and report the findings back to Congress so further steps can be taken to remove undue restrictions on those released from U.S. correctional facilities.

The Second Chance Act (see next page for more information) is a good beginning toward improving public safety by better addressing the re-entry of so many people back into society. It will save local, state and federal governments needed money, and it will help hundreds of thousands of inmates and their families rebuild their lives as they re-enter society. Advocates for the legislation, including ACA, hope to see this measure enacted this year.

In the meantime, consider the following question: In this time of public safety crises and budget shortfalls, can the nation afford to continue to ignore a simple and cost-effective solution to the nation's crime problem? I do not think so.

H.R. 4676 — The Second Chance Act of 2004

The Second Chance Act is a bipartisan bill designed to combat recidivism by improving the coordination among federal and state agencies regarding offender re-entry. The bill increases the support to states and community organizations to address the growing population of ex-offenders returning to communities. The main areas of focus within the bill are jobs, housing, substance abuse/mental heath treatment and strengthening families.

The bill was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on June 23, 2004 , by Reps. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Danny Davis (D-Ill.), Mark Souder (R-Ind.) and Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-Ohio). The legislation has been introduced in both chambers of Congress. The House Judiciary Committee, and Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security held a hearing on the issue of federal inmate re-entry on Oct. 6, 2004 .

What is the total cost of the bill? The total authorized amount of the programs created is $112 million over a two-year period. The breakdown is as follows:

• $40 million per year for the Reauthorized Reentry Demonstration Program;

• $15 million per year for community-based mentoring; and

• $1 million per year for state grants for research.

How do these grants work — Do states apply? To what agency? There are two grant programs in this bill. First, the bill reauthorizes and expands the existing Reentry Demonstration Program. States and local governments can apply for funds through the Department of Justice. The authorized funding level for the demonstration program is $40 million per year.

Second, the bill provides a small grant program titled Mentoring Adult Prisoners to be administered by the Department of Labor. The authorized funding level for the mentoring program is $15 million per year.

Are faith-based groups eligible for funding? Only states and local governments are eligible for funding under the demonstration program. Community-based organizations or nonprofit organizations can apply for mentoring funds through the Department of Labor. In addition, faith-based, nonprofit organizations, such as Catholic Charities, have been providing re-entry and mentoring services for years and have had significant successes.

What is the actual number of inmates released from prisons? In 2002, there were 632,183 inmates released from state and federal prisons.

Why is substance abuse treatment an important concern in dealing with re-entry ? A remarkably high portion of the state prison population — a little more than 80 percent — report a history of drug and/or alcohol use (this is also true of 70 percent of federal inmates). This same population, 70 percent to 85 percent of state inmates, reports that they need treatment.

Is there any connection between recidivism and substance abuse? According to the DOJ, 52 percent of state inmates and 34 percent of federal inmates reported being under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol when they committed the offense that led to their arrest and incarceration. About 80 percent of inmates have a problem with illegal drug or alcohol abuse.

How will this re-entry initiative save taxpayer dollars? State prison operating expenditures totaled $28.4 billion in fiscal year 2001, or a nationwide average annual operating cost of $22,650 per inmate. And there is tremendous variation among the states. Some states spend on average as much as $44,379 (Maine) per inmate annually. The bottom line is that by reducing recidivism among this population, communities will be kept safer and state and federal costs for arrest, prosecution and incarceration will be reduced.

How does the bill provide jobs? It authorizes the Department of Labor to educate employers about existing programs for former inmates such as the work opportunity tax incentive. The bill also provides grants to states and local units of government that may be used to facilitate collaboration among corrections and community corrections, technical schools, community colleges, and the work force development employment services.

What does this bill do regarding housing? The bill provides grants to states and local units of government that may be used to provide post-release housing and transitional housing, including group homes for recovering substance abusers.

What does this bill do regarding substance abuse treatment? The Second Chance bill provide grants to states and local units of government that may be used to provide mental health services, substance abuse treatment and aftercare, and treatment for contagious diseases to offenders in custody and after re-entry into the community.