Harlem reentry court: One parolee's experience

The Harlem Community Justice Center helps parolees make the transition from life in prison to responsible citizenship

By The Center for Court Innovation

A number of challenges exist for a parolee just leaving prison, and the newfound freedom of a parolee can be overwhelming. The Harlem Community Justice Center helps parolees make the transition from life in prison to responsible citizenship.

About a week before Debra left prison, she learned that she would be part of a new reentry program involving frequent court appearances and participation in a drug treatment program, among other activities. Debra had never heard of parole reentry before. "At first I was really mad," she says. "I had never done parole in my life, but I knew you weren't supposed to go to court or in front of a judge. I was really angry that I had to go every week."

Six months later, she completed the program and had an entirely new perspective: "Putting me in the parole reentry program was the best thing they ever could have done for me and my life," she says. "I think they should put more people in it. If you're coming home to do the right thing, it's the place to be."  Read more...

States Help Ex-Inmates Find Jobs

Faced with yawning budget gaps and high unemployment, California, Michigan, New York and several other states are attacking both problems with a surprising strategy: helping ex-convicts find jobs to keep them from ending up back in prison.

The approach is backed by prisoner advocates as well as liberal and conservative government officials, who say it pays off in cold, hard numbers. Michigan, for example, spends $35,000 a year to keep someone in prison — more than the cost of educating a University of Michigan student. Through vigorous job placement programs and prudent use of parole, state officials say they have cut the prison population by 7,500, or about 15 percent, over the last four years, yielding more than $200 million in annual savings. Michigan spends $56 million a year on various re-entry programs, including substance abuse treatment and job training.  Read more...

Parolees rarely kill again, study says

Until recently, Reginald Powell was free on parole, one of 936 convicted killers in New York state back on the street.

If he did kill Mamaroneck mom Jennifer Katz, as authorities suspect, he would be part of the distinct minority who went on to kill again.

Of 368 convicted murderers granted parole in New York between 1999 and 2003, six, or 1.6 percent,were returned to prisonwithin three years for a new felony conviction — none of them a violent offense, according to a study by the state Parole Board.  Read more...

State's picking ex-cons' poison, hopes new drug Suboxone will keep inmates off heroinState's picking ex-cons' poison, hopes new drug Suboxone will keep inmates off heroin

State officials plan to give some junkies an addictive drug while they're in prison and supply them with it when they're paroled, the Daily News has learned.

The experiment, designed to keep inmates off heroin when they hit the streets, is drawing fire from those who fear it will fuel a black market for the pill.

It's called Suboxone and it's the only opiate addiction treatment prescribed by doctors and available from the local pharmacy.  Read More...