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Ex-Prisoners in the Community Pose Knotty Problem for Local Policymakers

Without Jobs, Chances Are Ex-Offenders Will Gravitate Again Toward Crime

November 15, 2009       1 Comments
By: Dave Rogers

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"The Michigan Prisoner ReEntry Initiative is based on the indisputable premise that Michigan must do better to reduce crime. The early signs are promising, as more former prisoners are succeeding on parole and fewer are returning to prison."

Local officials are looking for a few companies willing to take a chance and hire an ex-offender.

Latest estimates are that it costs society about $40,000 a year to keep a prisoner behind bars.

So, the budget-strapped State of Michigan has been trying to release as many "non-violent" prisoners as it can back into the community.

Estimates are that about 500 inmates a year will be released into the Tri-County area of Bay, Midland and Saginaw. About 400 are expected to come from Saginaw, about 70 from Bay and 30 from Midland.

These release numbers are expected to continue into the foreseeable future, according to informed observers.

The release program was started in 2004 as an initiative of Gov. Jennifer Granholm and the Michigan Department of Corrections.

Charged with implementing the program in this area are the co-chairs, Sandy Lindsey, CEO of Saginaw County Community Mental Health; Bill Pigot, Saginaw County Parole Supervisor; Tracy Raquepaw, Saginaw Correctional MPRI Facility Coordinator; and Tom Adams, Midland County Community Corrections Coordinator.

Others are Renee Boykin, Bay County Community Resource Specialist, and Larry Payne, MPRI Community Coordinator for the three counties.

The Michigan Prisoner ReEntry Initiative (MPRI) has produced literature explaining its program: "More than 90 percent of prisoners eventually return home. Before the MPRI was implemented, far too many prisoners had little to support their transition home, and almost half of them returned to prison within two years. This revolving door resulted in more victims and added costs to a prison system that diverts precious resources from other priorities like higher education, public schools and health care."

In its first two years, beginning in 2004, MPRI was successful. "Nearly 500 fewer people returned to prison than would have been expected without the initiative. While these early results indicate that MPRI is on the right track, a comprehensive evaluation is being launched to examine a full range of key success indicators, including arrests and convictions of former prisoners."

But the knotty problem policy-makers have been facing is: how do we get them jobs?

Only a handful of employers are willing to take a chance on ex-offenders, especially when there are thousands of unemployed with no record seeking work.

Adding to the dilemma is the fact that an unemployed ex-offender, no doubt in a marginal financial situation at best and homeless at worst, is more likely to re-offend.

If and when the ex-offender is arrested again, the cycle starts anew, with the cost of incarceration, parole or probation supervision, etc., etc.

MPRI is a brave attempt to overcome this cycle. But substantial community support is needed, especially from the employer sector.

According to MPRI reports, in Bay County there are numerous services and agencies working on the problem:

  • Job Development Services are provided by the MPRI Community Resource Specialist and local job service providers such as Michigan Works!;

  • Substance Abuse Treatment Services are available through Saginaw Psychological and List Psychological;

  • Mentoring Services are coordinated through Operation Transformation;

  • Health and Dental Services are coordinated through Bayside Health Clinic and are also referred to the Helen M. Nickless Clinic in Hampton Township;

  • ID Assistance Services are coordinated with Do-All, Inc.;

  • GED (high school equivalency certificate) assistance programs are coordinated through the Bay-Arenac Intermediate School District;

  • Clothing and general assistance is generously provided by the Salvation Army, Do-All and St. Vincent De Paul;

  • Transitional housing is provided at the Budget Inn Motel on Washington Avenue and the Good Samaritan Rescue Mission and private individuals.

    MPRI officials stress: "Please keep in mind that these services are in collaboration with community partners. While MPRI is responsible for some costs, these community providers work with us to serve the most people with the fewest dollars. We are tax-payers, too, and in these trying economic times we take great care to spend these funds as judiciously as possible."

    MPRI is actively seeking "anyone who is willing to give an ex-offender a chance at a job. There are a number of ways we can partner with these folks (such as tax break info or purchasing clothing on a limited basis) to help secure employment for the ex-offender."

    A Bay County contractor is providing transitional housing and jobs for those who qualify, the MPRI report says, but more job sources are sought.

    Local MPRI officials also are seeking persons from the community willing to serve on a steering team and a community advisory council, as well as a law enforcement representative from Bay County.

    Some local observers have urged officials to consider a CCC type program in which work teams are formed, with a supervisor, to complete needed public service projects. Another option is entrepreneurship, an avenue that was tried on a limited basis in Saginaw County last year by funding an individual who cooked and sold ribs at local farm markets. But so far there are no coordinated programs along those lines.

    We think it's time American ingenuity and entrepreneurship are put in play to address this community problem that is not going away anytime soon.

    For more information: www.michpri.com. ###

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    leeshamea Says:       On November 18, 2009 at 02:12 AM
    It's hard enough for a 4yr college student to find a job in this state let alone a convicted felon. What will they do when they can't find a job, go back to do what they know, drugs or crime. Watch over your children, nieces or nephews or whoever, because it is a scary world. My father recently passed away and he told me that he was checking out at the right time, because this was one heck of a world to be living in with all of the crime and violence that is going on today. SAD very SAD but TRUE
    Agree? or Disagree?


    Dave Rogers

    Dave Rogers is a former editorial writer for the Bay City Times and a widely read,
    respected journalist/writer in and around Bay City.
    (Contact Dave Via Email at carraroe@aol.com)

    More from Dave Rogers

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