BELLOWS FALLS — When a prisoner has been released from serving a prison sentence, the issues that landed them there in the first place often recur, because those issues have never actually been addressed, Windham County Sheriff Keith Clark told Bellows Falls and area residents last week.
No prison sentence will fix that constellation of issues which might doom a former inmate to offending again - recidivism - unless the issues are specifically assessed and addressed.
Clark noted that incarceration increases the likelihood of recidivism, and housing inmates out of state has removed them from the very structures for success they need from family and support networks.
Helping offenders avoid recidivism costs money, but by Clark's accounting, those costs to taxpayers could be reduced with a successful in-state program for prisoners who have just been released.
Many prisoners who failed to make it on the outside and reoffended discovered once they were out that they only knew how to make it on the inside - and thus, they found a way back inside, Clark said.
It costs Vermonters $40,000 a year to house a male inmate and $70,000 a year to house a female inmate, he said - but providing individually tailored support, services, and programming upon release will help those inmates transition back into their communities more successfully and save the public money.
Access to this support is key to making lasting change in a former inmate's life, Clark said, adding that his proposed Liberty Mill Justice Center (LMJC) can help stem that revolving door of recidivism.
“If a former inmate finds he or she is at risk of offending again, or violating the conditions of their release, the Liberty Mill Justice Center will be there to provide ongoing support,” Sheriff Clark told a standing-room-only Bellows Falls crowd last week [see story, A1].
Clark said case managers will be assigned to oversee and assess each individual's needs, whether it be housing, finding a job, or getting the requisite training, access to addiction support services, or medical care. People would be assigned individually to former inmates housed in the facility while satisfying their conditions of release to ensure their best chance at getting back to a normal life.
Those struggling with addiction issues, for instance, will receive medical treatment or be transported to the proper medical facility, whether they are awaiting a trial date or are transitioning back into their communities following incarceration. Both populations will receive the support and medical treatment they need, Clark said.
Closing the revolving door
Recidivism is an issue, newly appointed Department of Corrections (DoC) Commissioner Lisa Menard told The Commons.
She said DoC is implementing a number of programs in-state to address reoffending convicts, adding that she certainly supports any program that effectively stops the revolving door of repeat offenders.
At first glance, the Liberty Mill project seems to fill a need in the state for both transitional housing beds and providing programs for Windham County former inmates to successfully reintegrate them into their communities.
While she has not yet met with Clark, she has a meeting scheduled soon, Menard said. She reserved further comment until after she has met with Clark.
A failed system
The courts have limited options for dealing with non-violent traffic violations, property damage, theft, probation violations, and drug or public disorderly charges - which, combined, make up 75 percent of those incarcerated, according to Clark.
Many inmates have educational or mental or physical health issues that have landed them in trouble with the law, he said, telling residents that as a society, “we have failed” the people who want to change their lives but cannot, because they had disabilities that were never addressed and prevented them from being able to help themselves.
The key, Clark said, is the programs the center will offer for inmates to help them transition back to society.
Instead of being dumped back into their community with the unrealistic expectation that they will immediately fit in, pick up a job, and make their lives go right, those trying to “get their lives back on track” would receive the help necessary for success.
Support vs. recidivism
Support services for people housed at Liberty Mill would include in-house job training, social services, and support in housing, jobs, and substance-abuse counseling, medical assistance, and monitoring.
Clark said that this model assures that non-violent offenders get the help and support they need to get back to their communities and lead successful productive lives.
Training programs through Community College of Vermont as well as assessments to discern physical and learning disabilities would help stop the recidivism rate, he said.
Clark said that recently released former prison inmates can go to the Justice Center and receive the training, support, and programs they need to be successful.
The sheriff assured the residents that the facility, with the high number of drug-related offenders, would not be a methadone or Suboxone clinic.
But “If someone needs a ride to one, we will provide it,” he said.
Breaking a cycle
The training programs and the support and medical services that LMJC plans to offer will be key to reducing the revolving door, Clark said.
“We'll always have people who re-offend,” he said. But for those who want to change “the track of their lives,” providing access to these services will help break that cycle.
The facility will also provide a place for veterans' support, as well. He said too often post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is the reason veterans cannot fit back into society, because it is not addressed realistically. He noted that PTSD is different for each person suffering from it, so treatment must take the individual into account.
There will be one overnight inebriate bed, as well, he said, since one is not available in Rockingham. A mediation and arbitration center will be available to courts, Clark said.
In-house 24-hour medical services would be provided by Springfield Medical Care Systems. Classrooms would be available for transitional detainees, as well as law-enforcement training.
Reducing recidivism rates has been a goal for Governor Peter Shumlin. In 2014, Vermont was one of five states to receive $1 million to reduce recidivism rates. Curtailing the use of private prisons was another of then-DoC Commissioner Anthony Pollita's stated goals and to bring more Vermonters home to be nearer their families and support systems.
Since 2002, recidivism rates for offenders who were in jail within three years has gone down, but by only a few percentage points; while the medium term incarceration rates have doubled for non-violent offenders, and long term incarcerations quadrupled for violent offenders between 1989 and 2012.
The Dept. of Public Safety attributes the rise of non-violent offender incarcerations to the rise of drug-related arrests. Detainees more than tripled from 1988 to 2006. There was a slight increase in 2012 from 2011 figures.
Considering individual needs
“We don't currently address the individual and their needs,” Clark stated.
One example: “We had one woman who was on her fourth DUI arrest, a federal offense,” he said. “No one had asked why she was drinking so much. It turned out, when someone asked, that she had an unaddressed dental problem, and the alcohol was the only way she could deal with the pain.”
Clark said that after they assessed this root problem, they got her medical and dental care. She has been sober for over a year, having been provided with options and the support to carry those options out, he reported.
He said giving someone directions to an address is not good enough. Making sure the person gets to the destination, whether it is to a class or a medical facility, is part of the support the facility would provide.
“Let's provide the options and support we should have provided 15 years ago,” Clark said. “We are so far behind European” standards.”