Imagine waking up one day with nothing except a change of clothes, and no money in your pocket. You go to apply for a job, but can’t because you don’t have a driver’s license, photo ID, or even a Social Security card. You head to the Registry of Motor Vehicles to get an ID, but can’t because you don’t have the money to pay for it and you don’t have a fixed address. You’ve struggled with a substance abuse problem for years, and have no idea where to turn for help.
Less than one day into your new life and it seems that every door is closed to you. You’re lost.
The vast majority of people in the Commonwealth’s county jails and state prisons will someday be released home, and as it stands today, too many of them end up in shelters or on the streets. About 1,500 men and women return to Essex County communities from the County House of Correction each year. Another 3,000 men and women return from state prison to communities across the state.
As the Essex County Sheriff’s Department knows well, community-based reentry services providing building blocks for a new life outside prison walls are the best deterrent to reoffending. The Department’s new Reentry Services Division was created with this concept in mind and its mission strongly embraces community-based reentry services. However, statewide the Commonwealth has neglected these programs and reduced their funding. We need to change that.
In the last 18 months, four programs that provided community-based reentry services have closed due to loss of funding.
- Span Inc. closed in August 2017 after over 40 years of providing community case management and substance abuse services to citizens returning from incarceration.
- Overcoming the Odds, a city, state, and community partnership, ended in 2016 after 3 years of providing housing and case management to high-risk individuals returning to the Boston area.
- Worcester Initiative for Supportive Reentry ended services when its grant funds ran out.
- McGrath House, the only residential reentry program specifically for women in Boston, is closing.
Reentry services provided inside prison walls are a great start, but they simply aren’t enough. Support, guidance, and accountability when someone is in the community, facing the stresses of starting a new life, is where the rubber meets the road. Without these reentry resources being made available to individuals as they are released from custody, the chances of successful reintegration back into society are greatly diminished. That affects public safety. That’s where our emphasis needs to be.
Community-based residential reentry services provide safe housing, workforce development, and case management that build connections and stability for those returning to our communities from prison and jail. Post-release supervision in a halfway house utilizing evidence-based programming reduces recidivism by up to 25 percent for high-risk individuals.
While the effectiveness of community based reentry services are widely recognized, Massachusetts has not invested in them. In fact, the Commonwealth’s $40 billion state budget includes just $90,000 for community-based residential reentry. That’s the roughly the same amount it costs to incarcerate two people in state prison for a year.
For our criminal justice reform efforts to be successful, we must invest in community-based reentry services. A coalition of advocates is urging the Legislature to dedicate $5 million for community-based residential re-entry. This will provide funding for approximately 450 individuals to begin their reintegration back to the community with a fair shot: a bed to sleep in, help getting a job, health care, counseling, permanent housing and an ID. By providing connections to housing and employment for people who often have difficulty accessing them, we can strengthen our communities and make them safer for all of us.
Massachusetts is on the cusp of enacting long overdue criminal justice reform legislation, but if we’re serious in Massachusetts about criminal justice reform, we need to make sure more men and women who’ve served their time in prison get the support they need to never go back. Please join us in supporting a real investment in community-based residential reentry.
Kevin F. Coppinger is the Essex County sheriff and John J. Larivee is president and CEO of Community Resources for Justice.