The Madison County Jail Task Force Report released this past June identified a number of concerns regarding overcrowding and prisoner recidivism that are certainly not unique to Madison County. They are issues being faced by many communities across the country and the cause of much debate within the penal system.
To put this in perspective let’s first consider the magnitude of the problem. By all accounts, the United States is considered the world’s leader in prisoner incarceration with some 2.2 million people currently in our nation’s prisons and jails. This according to a 2015 Trends in U.S. Corrections report represents a 500 percent increase over the last forty years.
While crime rates in general continue to fluctuate, most of this increase has been attributed to changes in sentencing laws and incarceration policies. These trends have resulted in the type of prison overcrowding like the Madison County jail is experiencing (320 incarcerated inmates in a 170 bed facility) at a time when like so many others, our county and our state, are ill prepared to pay for it.
Incarceration however, is just a part of the issue. Compounding the problem is the increasing likelihood of prisoner recidivism among the over 5 million additional people currently on probation or parole. Evidence cited in a 2014 National Institute of Justice report bears this out. Within three years of release about two-thirds (67.8 percent) of those freed were rearrested. Within five years that figure jumped to three-quarters (76.6 percent). Of those ultimately rearrested more than half (56.7 percent) were arrested by the end of the first year.
Despite the high rate of recidivism, most penal experts’ agree that large-scale incarceration is not an effective means of achieving public safety. The real challenge, they say, in keeping communities safe is in their ability to do a better job of managing the offenders already on probation and parole. Yet despite evidence to the contrary almost nine out of 10 corrections dollars continue to be spent on prisons.
In 2011, after years of increasing prisoner incarceration, Kentucky gained national attention when it passed legislation to undertake the first major reform of criminal justice policy in over 30 years. Provisions were made to address overcrowding by reducing the number of repeat offenders, controlling corrections costs, and reinvesting the savings in treatment programs education, and supervision practices to better prepare prisoners for release and the likelihood of employment.
Since many county detention centers housed state prisoners this legislation applied to them as well.
In Madison County, the incarceration rate for drug related offenses is approximately 85 percent. The recidivism rate is a staggering 72.27 percent compared to 42 percent on average for other counties across the state. In light of these and other realities, the Madison County Jail Task Force concluded that new construction would be necessary to meet both current and future growth of the inmate population.
It further concluded that the Detention Center introduce additional inmate substance abuse, living skills, therapeutic, and professional development programs to lesson recidivism and better prepare prisoners for employment and successful transition. However, that conclusion may be more difficult to implement since county jails were primarily intended to provide for short, pre-trial stays and deemed less equipped than prisons to provide the drug treatment, mental health care and other services intended to address recidivism.
Citing a lack of space for such programs, an unwillingness to revisit home incarceration or to consider offsite training may also make this particular task force option untenable.
A 2013 Kentucky Center for Economic Policy brief on Improving Reentry through Education and Supports for Inmates and Ex-Offenders reinforced the difficulties even further. It cites the lack of an adequate level of investment to make any serious progress in helping people find adequate employment or reducing the state’s prison population. It does however, given the significant number of ex-offenders in our state, reinforce the importance of expanding educational opportunities and other supports both within state prisons and the community.
Some states have already moved in that direction, implemented promising Life skills programs intended to promote self employment and improve self esteem. One such program endorsed by the John Jay college Prison Reentry Institute (PRI) is the Prison Entrepreneurship Program (PEP) currently being offered in Texas.
Established in 2004, as an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, PEP partners with universities, churches, and business leaders both in Texas and nationally to provide innovative and pioneering programs that connect national executives, entrepreneurs, and MBA students with convicted felons. Their goal is to provide solutions for preventing recidivism, maximizing self-sufficiency and transforming broken lives.
While self-employment may not be a viable option for many individuals leaving prison, their training teaches inmates problem-solving, critical thinking and teamwork skills necessary for finding suitable employment and transitioning back into their community. That starts with the basics and includes life skills/financial literacy; idea generation, business concepts; accounting, bookkeeping and financials; an introduction to business operations; legal and people resources; and business plan development and orientation.
Training is provided while individuals are in prison and continues with on-going support after their release. The results have been extraordinary. Nearly 100 percent of all graduates found suitable employment within 90 days or went on to start their own businesses; recidivism for graduates is less than 10 percent.
Nationally, in the short run, it is expected that roughly seven out of every ten offenders will continue to serve all or part of their sentences in the community. All the more reason for our leaders to reassess what’s possible; consider all of the resources that are available, and take the type action now that can alter both our individual and collective futures.
Jeff Rubin is an advocate and adviser on community and aging issues, having spent over 20 years as a director and facilitator of community service programs at the local, state and national levels. An advocate for “Age-friendly” and “Livable” communities, Mr. Rubin is currently working to advance these initiatives statewide in Kentucky and invites your comments, involvement, and support. He can be reached at Jeffrubin@windstream.net.
