By Nicole Maharaj
July 12, 2004

The Mayors Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives held a discussion on "Faith-Based Approaches to Prisoner Reentry" during the Annual Meeting plenary session June 25. Philadelphia Mayor John F. Street, who chairs the Center, Jeremy Travis, Senor Fellow at the Urban Institute, a well renowned expert in the reentry area as well as former Philadelphia Mayor now Reverend W. Wilson Goode served as panelists for the session.

One product outcome from an earlier forum hosted in Philadelphia on April 28, included an official policy recommendation on reentry supporting the creation of sustained reentry programs in cities using both community and faith institutions as human service providers. The resolution sponsors included Philadelphia Mayor John F. Street, Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley and Miami Mayor Manuel A. Diaz. Street asked the Conference to consider and adopt the policy resolution. The resolution was considered by the Criminal and Justice Standing Committee on Saturday, June 26 and adopted by the full body on Monday, June 28.

This is a huge issue facing our nation today. According to the Department of Justice, more than 10 million persons will be release from city and county jails this year. In addition, more than 600,000 adults will be released from state and federal prisons to return to our communities. The social costs of reentry have profound collateral consequences, including public health risks, homelessness, unemployment and public safety concerns. Close to 27 percent of prisoners expect to go to homeless shelters upon release from prison. Recent data proves two thirds of all prisoners released return to the nation's core cities and counties. As a result, cities and counties are absorbing the economic cost of reentry. Without adequate support mechanisms, formerly incarcerated individuals are highly likely to reoffend, and the high recidivism rates have direct economic consequences. Local governments contributed the most to criminal justice — almost $75 billion in 1999, cites the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

"If we could reduce our recidivism rates in this country — in our cities — by finding ways to help our ex-offenders successfully reintegrate back into society, think of the funds we could save. Costs associated with keeping people incarcerated in this country in 1999 alone neared $146 billion. Think of the resources that would become available for education, recreation, housing and medical assistance. Beyond that, if we could finds ways to help people who come out of prison stay out of prison, think of the impact that would have on others — particularly their children. We already know children of prisoners have a 70 percent greater chance of following their parents into prison. How do we break this cycle? We have spent too much time getting people into prisons; now we have to expend some energy and time trying to figure how to keep folks out of prisons," said Street.

Former Philadelphia Mayor W. Wilson Goode, who serves as Director for the "Amachi" program in Philadelphia spoke to the mayors about the program and encouraged them to explore implementing the model in their cities. Amachi is a partnership of secular and faith-based institutions through which volunteers are recruited from congregations mentor children of prisoners. One if the program's greatest strengths is the high level of accountability that is built into the model, particularly the regular communication among all involved, as well as careful information analysis and follow-up. "When trust develops over time between a young person and an adult, lives do change for the better," said Goode.

Studies prove incarceration has a high impact on the family. Children of prisoners have a 70 percent greater chance of following their parents into prison. 1.5 million children in the U.S. has had a parent in a state or federal prison in 1999 — an increase of 500,000 since 1991, and over 7 million children have a parent under some form of correctional supervision. Long term generational effects of a social structure in which imprisonment is the norm have significant outcomes on families. Programs like Amachi and others which foster family reunification are also notable to successful reentry efforts.

Persons leaving jail or prison often lack not only the most basic needs of food, shelter and clothes, but job skills, training and placement as well as transitional housing and support services (such as substance abuse and mental health treatment). Further, many former detainees or prisoners are denied employment, educational assistance, TANF benefits, subsidized housing, parental rights, medical assistance and health care, various types of professional licenses, driver's licenses, and in many states they are denied the right to vote.

High recidivism rates translate into thousands of new crimes each year, and data proves at least half of these crimes could be averted through improved reentry efforts. Several cities across the nation are in the process of creating or seeking viable program models to deal with the reentry issue including Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Memphis, to name a few.