Arizona is letting inmates out of prison to fight fires, and now it wants to help them turn that experience into a career.
After successfully using work-release inmates to fight fires, Arizona will now spend $1.5 million to create a professional ex-con fire crew, Gov. Doug Ducey (R-Ariz.) has announced. “I want it to be easier for individuals released from prison to stand up and protect their communities.”
A new Bureau of Justice Statistics report offers another grim view of mental health problems in America’s prisons and jails. Indicators of Mental Health Problems Reported by Prisoners and Jail Inmates 2011-12 is the first government update on the mental health of incarcerated populations since 2006. BJS has made some changes to its data collection, making comparisons to earlier reports difficult, but the takeaway is the same, ten years later: U.S. prisons and jails are filled with people who have a current or past mental health problem, and facilities are still not meeting the demand for treatment.
One in every 14 children in the U.S. has had a parent in prison. For poor families, it’s one in eight. They are the collateral damage of a mass incarceration movement that has made the U.S. the nation with the most prisoners in the world.
For the past nine years, it’s been the job of Aileen Keays Yeager to figure out what that means for children in Connecticut.
She is project manager for the Children with Incarcerated Parents Initiative at the Institute for Municipal and Regional Policy at Central Connecticut State University. Since its inception in 2008, she had administered funding for non-profits that serve these children, then studied to see what works.
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Article from Wall Street Journal, April 27, 2017, Page A3
State lawmakers across the U.S. are facing resistance as they move to curtail the use of solitary confinement in prisons, showing how hard it is to legislate changes in the nation’s chronically understaffed prison system.
Director of the Nevada DOC, James Dzurenda has pushed for more humane, sensible approaches. He said, “Those offenders are going back into our societies with our kids and our families. We can’t just sit back and watch these offenders get worse.”
Jim has had various positions in the CT DOC, eventually becoming the Director. He left in 2014 to become Director of NYC’s Jails System (over $1.2 B budget). He left that position for his current post, Director of the Nevada DOC, April 2016.
Article from CT Post, April 21, 2017
BRIDGEPORT — National statistics have shown that 93 percent of federal prisoners who found jobs during their supervised release period didn’t return to prison, while half of those who couldn’t find jobs did.
“If people understand the problem, we think they’ll come forward and hire ex-offenders,” Nicholas Yanicelli, president of the Malta Justice Initiative, told members and guests at the Southwest Connecticut Manufacturing Consortium’s monthly meeting.
Radio Interview from Dialogue*, April 19th
Steve Kotchko, radio show host of Dialogue sat down to talk with Ed Quinlan from the Malta Justice Initiative (MJI). In the show, Quinlan discusses a survey of Connecticut employers on the topic of hiring ex-offenders. He also talks about the performance record of ex-offenders who do get jobs, and the cost to society if ex-offenders can’t find work.
“Dialogue”* is a public affairs program produced and owned by the Connecticut Radio Network to inform our listeners about important issues facing the state. This podcast edition is designed for informational purposes only. Any other use of this material without the express written permission of the Connecticut Radio Network and its parent company, CRN International, is strictly prohibited.
Business owners overwhelmingly favor the concept of hiring ex-cons, but few have experience with giving second chances to the formerly incarcerated, a new survey shows.
“When individuals coming out of prison get and keep jobs, our whole community benefits,” said John Santa.
Malta Justice Initiative (MJI) recently hosted a successful legislative breakfast to impress legislators and state officials about the value of hiring the formerly incarcerated. On March 28th at 9 a.m., legislators, sentencing commission members, and other interested citizens attending the event at the State Capitol heard from MJI Chairman John Santa who introduced three speakers: Peter Gioia, Vice President and Economist for the CT Business and Industry Association, State Representative Robyn Porter, and Daryl McGraw, the Director of the Office of Recovery Community Affairs at Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.
The speakers discussed the importance of re-entry hiring. A 2016 survey by MJI highlighted that employers are very willing to give the formerly incarcerated a “second chance.” The purpose of the breakfast was to introduce the Malta Connecticut Employer Survey and its implications for policy and legislative actions. Watch the speakers in the links below:
Representative Robyn Porter Speaks
Director of the Office of Recovery Community Affairs at Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services
State Representative Robyn Porter
Peter Gioia, Vice President and Economist for the CT Business and Industry Association
John Santa (Chairman, MJI) with Scott Wilderman (President, Career Resources)
Kathy Taylor (Board Member, MJI) with Cheryl Cepelak (Deputy Commissioner, DOC)
Photo credit: Mike Groll, AP
Ninety-seven percent of more than 300 Connecticut employers surveyed by the Malta Justice Initiative support the idea of giving formerly incarcerated individuals a second chance, the organization reports.
What’s more, of the 55 percent of employers who said they have difficulty in finding qualified candidates to fill jobs, most of those — 76 percent — said they would consider hiring a person with a criminal record if that individual was qualified for the job.