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Prisoner Success Stories, From Colorado to Newark, NJ

I frequently write about the need to be smarter, rather than just tough on crime. That means funding prison programs that rehabilitate prisoners and reduce the chance of recidivism.

Here's a success story. On May 26, among those wearing a cap and gown to receive degrees at the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs will be Alex Matheson.

Matheson, a twice-convicted felon, has earned degrees in English and Philosophy. Now 26, Matheson's first crime stint landed him in Colorado's youth correctional facility. He escaped, and ended up at the Crowley Correctional Facility.

More...

He began studying at Crowley and continued once released into Community Corrections. In 2005, he became a full time student. Three years later, he's graduating, sober, drug-free and with two degrees and a new lease on life.

Matheson also works full-time as a tile installer. He's almost finished with his parole, and recently married, will be moving to Washington state where his wife is. His plans?

Matheson hopes to earn a master's degree in sociology from the University of Washington. He'd like to help prisoners re-integrate into society, because how it works now is "a joke." Whatever happens, he said, "the future is looking good to me."

The New York Times today examines ex-offender employment programs in Newark, N.J.

Even the most focused and well-financed efforts run uphill. Parolees with drug convictions do not qualify for federal tuition grants and outstanding traffic fines prevent many from obtaining the driver’s licenses that would give them access to jobs beyond the city’s public transportation system. And because child support payments and court fees accrue while they are behind bars, the paychecks of newly employed offenders are sometimes heavily garnisheed.

Newark’s Nicholson Foundation, which has allocated $9 million for employment training and mentoring programs, runs a program called Opportunity Reconnect, in which parolees can apply for food stamps, housing assistance and mental health counseling in a student union-like setting at Essex Community College. “The last thing a returning ex-offender needs is to have to chase down a dozen different services to remedy their problems,” said Stefan Pryor, Newark’s deputy mayor for economic development. “If we can produce a light at the end of the tunnel, more individuals will successfully navigate that tunnel.”

Rehabilitation works. When it does, the entire community, not just the offender, benefits.

[to be cross-posted at 5280.com]

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  • Display: Sort:
    I have never understood why (5.00 / 1) (#2)
    by leis on Sun Apr 27, 2008 at 12:58:14 PM EST
    we continue to punish people by making it impossible for them to become productive citizens after they have served their terms.  The sentence doesn't end with getting released from prison, it's just a new sentence that is imposed.  

    We should be doing all in our power to help these people get an education, counseling services and substance abuse programs.  Is it any wonder that recidivism rates are so high?  We really are a punitive society and it is shameful.  

    You're absolutely right when you say (5.00 / 2) (#5)
    by scribe on Sun Apr 27, 2008 at 01:48:54 PM EST
    Rehabilitation works. When it does, the entire community, not just the offender, benefits.

    The point is, and perhaps we've been slow to recognize it, that "benefitting society" or "benefitting the community" is not the point of the policies which the Rethuglicans have imposed for the last generation-plus.  Indeed, it is contrary to the point of their policies.

    Lining the pockets of themselves and their friends, and continuing themselves in power (so they can keep lining their pockets) are the two key points behind every Rethuglican policy.

    In reality, the way criminal justice and incarceration are dealt with under the Rethugs, is no different in nature than the way they dealt with, say, Katrina.  It's disaster capitalism, only in slow motion.

    They have a War on Drugs (a Nixon invention) so they can have a War, and thus can abridge and abrogate the rights of the People, all while lining their own pockets.  They have a War on Terror so they can have a War, and thus can abridge and abrogate the rights of the People, all while lining their own pockets.  

    They screw up the response to Katrina (and other disasters) so they can divorce the People from the idea that their government (for which they pay, handsomely) will give them anything, then hire their friends to ... line their pockets.  They screw up their War on Drugs, by implementing policies which perpetuate incarceration and degradation, and create new generations of offenders, and thus can continue to pitch the same failures and to abridge and abrogate the rights of the People, all while lining their own pockets.  They screw up their War on Terror (not that a war on an emotional state could be anything shorter than eternal, but last I checked, Osama's still running around...), and thus can continue to pitch the same failures and to abridge and abrogate the rights of the People, all while lining their own pockets.

    Enough of this crap already.

    oops. This sentence should not read (5.00 / 1) (#6)
    by scribe on Sun Apr 27, 2008 at 01:51:46 PM EST
    "They screw up the response to Katrina (and other disasters) so they can divorce the People from the idea that their government (for which they pay, handsomely) will give them anything, then hire their friends to ... line their pockets."

    but should read
    They screw up the response to Katrina (and other disasters) so they can divorce the People from the idea that their government (for which they pay, handsomely) will give them anything in return for their taxes, then hire their friends to ... line their pockets.

    Heaven forfend that anyone below the status of Bush Ranger should get from the government something of value, gratuituously.

    Parent

    Prison and Crime (none / 0) (#1)
    by AnninCA on Sun Apr 27, 2008 at 12:41:57 PM EST
    issues are, interestingly enough, my second obsession.

    Currently, AA is struggling and Al-Anon is definitely struggling to get into many prisons.

    Meanwhile, the majority of inmates are incarcerated due to addiction problems.

    The swing to the right on prison issues is simply not working.  CA, where I live, cannot house enough fast enough.  We're under the gun.  We shipping prisoners to private facilities, which are deplorable, as well as to other states, which are quickly also becoming maxed out.

    Meanwhile, AA is being cut off facility-by-facility.

    Recently, in my area, a former prisoner threw a Barbeque for his arresting officer.  Why?

    Because he's been 10 years sober now due to getting help inside.

    He's a well-respected member of his community.

    The barbeque party was a huge success, btw.  

    He thanked his arresting officer.  And everyone cheered.

    That is solutions-oriented crime deterrance.

    The key?

    AA inside the prisons.

    I'm concerned with the costs (none / 0) (#3)
    by thereyougo on Sun Apr 27, 2008 at 01:14:51 PM EST
    and like prevailing opinions here, we don't get much bang for our buck and as a taxpayer I can't say enough how it distresses me. Yet, worse crimes go under investigated, ie: polygamist compounds, identity fraud.

    I would like to see early intervention programs, that means in schools early on to get these kids off the mindset of being in trouble.

    Rehabilitation (none / 0) (#4)
    by MichaelGale on Sun Apr 27, 2008 at 01:15:30 PM EST
    is possible.

    there has been success with Drug Courts in Broward County Fl and, for those that can afford it, to rehab rather than jail.

    My personal experience is that rehabilitation is possible and profitable in the long run. I have witnessed many.

    Another subject I believe not given enough consideration, is women in prison. I am not sure, but it seems they have few voices to represent them.

    Thanks for addressing this.

    hear, hear! thanks for posting this, (none / 0) (#8)
    by kangeroo on Sun Apr 27, 2008 at 03:45:49 PM EST
    jeralyn.  rehabilitation certainly does work; i can attest to it personally, having once been a juvenile delinquent myself.  there's nothing that could've turned my life around so completely like the promise of a real second chance (and a judge that cared what happened to me).

    illiteracy has to be addressed (none / 0) (#9)
    by LCaution on Sun Apr 27, 2008 at 04:50:02 PM EST
    I remember a Nightline series that Koppel did on men in prison many years ago.  It turns out, if my memory is accurate, that over half of the male inmates in this country are functionally illiterate. While that doesn't mean all illiterate people are or become criminals, it sure does limit one's opportunities.

    Unfortunately, I think we spend more money on prisons and the whole law enforcement system than we do on public education, and liberals have let Conservatives sell everybody on the idea that the problem with public schools is that they are public. They oppose higher taxes to pay teachers more and make sure that all public schools are at least clean and safe because they are philosophically opposed to anything "public".  

    And, then, of course there is the whole problem of local control and local funding through property taxes which not only means that the rich get good schools and the poor get bad schools but has been largely responsible for creating physical enclaves of people based on income.

    English and philosophy majors. (none / 0) (#10)
    by oculus on Mon Apr 28, 2008 at 03:30:54 AM EST
    Who was this fellow's academic counsellor?

    Rehabilitation is almost never due to the syatem (none / 0) (#11)
    by ytterby on Mon Apr 28, 2008 at 07:17:48 AM EST
    but rather to the individual. You get out, you get a job and you don't do the same stupid things that got you into trouble in the first place. The system COULD help, but the current system provides nothing.

    By the way, I speak from experience.

    The naked truth. (none / 0) (#12)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Mon Apr 28, 2008 at 12:08:08 PM EST
    Well said.

    Parent