Ready for Release?

Paul is being released from prison today, and I’m concerned that he will find himself poorly prepared to overcome the challenges he is about to encounter. An examination of Paul’s prison file would suggest quite the opposite.

To prison administrators, Paul has built the record of a model inmate. That means he has complied with all rules, he participated in available programs, and he did not burden staff members with requests that deviated from the norm. The irony was that in adjusting to live as a model inmate, Paul conditioned himself for institutional living. The flip side of such an adjustment meant that now, as Paul was ready to walk out of prison, he lacked the resources necessary for a viable chance at success in society.

Paul was incarcerated in 1992, when he was 35-years-old. He had quit school when he was 15 to work, but he never found more than a series of dead-end jobs. Paul told me that he had held jobs as a dishwasher, a laborer, and a gas station attendant.

While in his late 20s, Paul developed skills changing tires, but even that semi-skilled labor did not pay him sufficiently to provide for his family. When an acquaintance tempted Paul with an opportunity to earn several thousand dollars transporting drugs across state lines, Paul took it. That decision brought him 17 years in federal prison.

Early during his term, Paul completed his GED, though he did not push to educate himself further. He simply waited for the weeks to turn into months and the months to turn into years. The prolonged incarceration resulted in Paul’s losing contact with his family and others in society. After his first five years, Paul said that his only personal relationships were with other prisoners.

The jobs Paul accepted in prison did not invest him with much in the way of marketable skills. He mowed lawns, he raked rocks, he gathered leaves. Administrators were pleased with Paul because he earned certificates for completing programs sponsored by the prison in knitting, basket weaving, and beginning guitar. I question the value such certificates will have in helping Paul overcome the challenges he will begin to encounter in only a few hours.

At 52, Paul is returning to society without contacts or a work history. He has $70 to his name. He will complete his term by serving five months in a halfway house. While in that community-based center, Paul will have an opportunity to find employment. If he succeeds, the halfway house rules will permit him to work on condition that Paul forfeits 25 percent of his gross earnings to pay for his stay. After five months, Paul will begin living on his own.

I don’t know how Paul is going to make it. With his limited résumé, his substandard education, and his prison record, I doubt that Paul will find employment that pays more than $10 per hour. In this economy, that may be a stretch. If he does find such a job, he will forfeit $100 each week from a $400 paycheck. After taxes Paul may only have $250 per week in income. From such earnings, he must not only support himself, but also prepare for his transition. Considering that Paul will need a place to live, transportation, clothing, and whatever else is necessary after 17 years of imprisonment, I expect that he will struggle.

Government statistics show that more than 700,000 people return to American communities from places of confinement each year. Those like Paul, long-term prisoners who leave without skills or resources, face real challenges. High recidivism rates ought to convince taxpayers, legislators, and prison administrators that investment in prisoner reentry programs makes much better sense than warehousing nonviolent offenders for decades at a time.