Just the Facts, For you Skeptics Out There…

I received a lot of supportive emails from people that viewed yesterday’s article, and I appreciate them all.  I also got one email from one of my conservative friends that echoes the words spoken by our conservative leaders.  Here it is:

Free Health Care for inmates will reduce costs in the long run?  Hmmmmm,  Sound sorta like the Welfare  plan that was sold to us back in the day.  If We give Free Food, shelter and cable tv to people that don’t really feel like working it will reduce crime!  That was the battle cry… and look how it has snowballed.

His opinion was very close to that of a local police officer I met last week downtown in Hemming Plaza.  I was meeting with a colleague to discuss the idea of turning one of his properties into a reentry center to provide housing, counseling, and medical care to non-violent offenders that are getting out of the local jail.  The officer stopped by to say hello to my friend, and engaged in our conversation.

After we explained our proposal to him, his first reaction was to ask “So what are you going to do with the guys that just want to keep doing drugs, and keep doing crimes?  Why would you give them a shelter in which to operate out of?”  “A lot of these people don’t have any desire to get a job, and giving them housing and health care encourages them to abuse the sytem.”

To which I explained that the program isn’t designed to solve 100 percent of the problems.  We have no delusions about what our success rate will be.  There will of course be people that refuse to be helped.  The program is made to help those that want help.  Plain and simple.  By not offering any programs, no-one gets help.  If no-one gets help, nothing improves.  Whether or not a person uses the tools provided to them to improve themselves is entirely a personal choice.  But they need to have the opportunity to make the right choice.

So, to these skeptics, and those like them, I have compiled some statistics for your consideration.  Whether you use the tools I provide for your benefit, is a choice. 

You’re never too old to learn, so don’t think you know everything without studying the facts.

Rising Rates of Incarceration

• The total population of U.S. federal and state prisons and local jails in 2000 exceeded 2,000,000 people. When the 4.5 million people on parole and probation are included, the total is 6.5 million representing a 240% increase since 1980.
• The United States has the highest rate of incarceration in the world at 699 inmates per 100,000 population. This surpasses Russia’s rate of 644 and South Africa’s of 400 and compares unfavorably to the United Kingdom at 125, Canada at 110 and Japan at 40.
• These increase are primarily due to mandatory sentencing policies such as mandatory minimums, three-strikes and truth in sentencing, rather than increasing crime rates.
• 52% of U.S. prison inmates are housed for non-violent offenses related to drugs, property or public disorder/other.

Profile of Inmates

• Whites represent 69% of the general population, 35% of the adult prison population and a white male has a 4.4% chance of going to prison in his lifetime.
• Hispanics represent 12.5% of the population, 16% of the adult prison population and Hispanic males have a 16% chance of going to prison.
• Blacks represent 12.3% of the general population, 46% of federal and state adult prison inmates and a black male has a 28% chance of going to prison in his lifetime.
• Among people on probation, 64% are white, 34% are black and 21% are Hispanic.
• 93% of prison inmates are male and 7% are female.
• Between 1986 and 1991 the number of black women incarcerated on drug offenses increased 828%.

Generational Impacts of Incarceration

• In 1999 721,500 prisoners were parents to 1.5 million children under the age of 18. 22% of these children were under 5 years of age.
• Prior to incarceration, 44% of the fathers lived with their children and 64% of the mothers.
• These children are at substantially higher risk for future involvement with drug use and the criminal justice system.
• In 1997, the juvenile offenders in residential placement were 40% black, 37% white and 18% Hispanic.
• Black juveniles accounted for the majority of placements for drug trafficking and drug offenses. White juveniles accounted for the majority of placements for sexual assault, arson and status offenses.

Difficulties of Successful Reentry 

• 97% of incarcerated inmates return to the community.
• Since 1998 about 600,000 people per year are released from U.S. prisons. In 1980, 170,000 people were released.
• In 1998, 88% of those returning were men and 12% were women.
• Current adult re-arrest rates are approximately 66% with nearly 50% returning to prison within three years.
• Lack of successful reintegration impacts society in three ways: increased threats to public safety, increased taxpayer expenditures for prison construction and increased social costs, such as homelessness, public health risks, and lost connections to family and community. (J. Travis, The Urban Institute, Justice Policy Center)

Emphasis on Punishment Not Rehabilitation

• “Prisons and other fear-based punitive programs are ‘criminogenic’-meaning they increase the behavior they are meant to treat.” (RAND) This results in increased barriers to employment, broken connections to family and recidivism.
• In 1996, 6% of prison budgets were spent on rehabilitative programs and 94% went for building, staffing and maintaining prisoners.
• Among state prison inmates in 1997:
  

  ­ -10% in drug treatment programs-down from 25% in 1991

  - 9% are in full time job training or education programs

  - 24% are completely idle

  “Because states sharply curtailed education, job training and other rehabilitation programs inside prisons, the newly released inmates are far less likely than their counterparts two decades ago to find jobs, maintain stable family lives or stay out of the kind of trouble that leads to more prison.” (F. Butterfield, New York Times, 11/29/00)

• Minimal resources are allocated for post-release supervision and community-based reentry programs with a focus on treatment interventions.

Treatment Programs are Effective

• For every grade level advance in education, the inmate’s probability of re-offending drops by 2.9% (Source: Florida DOC, May 2001 Recidivism Report)
• According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons there is an inverse relationship between recidivism rates and education. The more education received, the less likely an individual is to be rearrested or re-imprisoned. (The Soros Foundation, Research Brief, Education as Crime Prevention, 1997)
• Research by RAND indicates that an additional $1 million spent on treatment for individuals with a drug offense would reduce serious crime 15 times more than expanding the use of mandatory prison terms.
• If quality drug treatment were made available to all who needed it, recidivism could be reduced by 36-60%. (Source: Dr. R. Casper, CURE-NY)
• A study of inmates in San Diego who completed drug treatment in prison and then participated in a community-based after-care program had a recidivism rate of 27% compared to a control group who did neither and had a recidivism rate of 75%. (F. Butterfield, New York Times, 11/29/00)
• The Oregon Department of Corrections conducted research on what community-based strategies work to reduce recidivism. Among their findings are:
  

  - A balance of community supervision, sanctions and treatment

  - Community alcohol and drug treatment

  - Parole transition services

  - Cognitive skills development

  - Targeting high and moderate risk individuals

Sources: The Safer Foundation, The Sentencing Project, Bureau of Justice Statistics, US Census Bureau, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency, and the New York Times.