JF on Twitter
Issues in Criminal Justice (JF)
|
|
California Program Helps Ex-offenders Make Successful Return Home |
Prison officials attempt to reduce the state’s 70 percent recidivism rate through education and services.
An article in the Orange County Register examines how the "tough-on-crime" approach over the past 20 years has overburdened prisons and taxpayers alike.
Pat Nolan, vice president of Prison Fellowship and a former inmate, is featured, and he explains that California is almost the only state that hasn't taken steps to reduce its prison population in the wake of the financial meltdown. Even Texas, reputed and perhaps notorious as the toughest-on-crime state in the union, decided to cancel building three new prisons and put some of the money into drug rehabilitation.
Although California lawmakers have been extremely reluctant to work on prison reforms that would reduce prison overcrowding and violence and save taxpayers millions of dollars, the three-year-old Parole and Community Team (PACT) program is at least an attempt by the corrections system to slow down the number of inmates who return to prison as a result of parole violations or being caught committing new crimes.
Prior to release, every inmate is required to attend PACT meetings in order to learn about programs available to help them make the difficult transition from prison to community. The meetings are led by straight-talking corrections officials who understand all too well that many in the audience will fail shortly after release.
“The odds are against them. Many never had decent parenting or anything resembling a good education. Many are insecure and compensate by being tough. All too many will fall back into their anti-social and self-destructive ways. In some ways the system—though it now offers PACT services and parole officers may have different attitudes than a decade ago—sets them up to fail.”
For more information about faith-based and community initiatives, visit here. To read more about how prisoner reentry can be conducted safely and successfully, visit here. |
|
