Did you know that 650,000 ex-offenders are released from prison every year? Approximately two-thirds will potentially be arrested again within three years of their release. The recidivism rate continues to grow, and prisons are overcrowded. The result is communities suffer. Why? The communities where most prisoners return are already poverty-stricken and disenfranchised, with little or no support to help with reintegration. The question is not how can we stop it but how can we create the right programs to help people like everyone else have a second chance? If there is to be a realistic decrease in recidivism, then there must be Second Chance Programs that help Ex-Offenders become Gainfully Employed, Support Groups for Personal Growth, and Community Effort Programs for housing.
Step 1: Second Chance Programs for Employment
While incarcerated in many locations, there are great educational programs. Evidence has shown that recidivism can be reduced when education programs are offered in prison. However, what happens to the ex-offender when he is released? The truth is, you can go to prison as an uneducated inmate and work hard to rehabilitate, educate and become a better citizen. Yet there are still barriers as you are released as an educated ex-offender. We must continue to build alliances with Corporate America to establish Second Chance Programs for Employment, such as the Texas Offenders Reentry Initiative.
Step 2: Support Groups for Personal Growth
In his book The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth, John Maxwell shares in the first law, The Law of Intentionality, that “Growth Doesn’t Just Happen.” We can’t expect that ex-offenders are anyone else will automatically grow personally. Babies need to be nurtured and fed, plants need water and plant food, and animals must be nursed and fed to grow. Growth must be intentional! This starts with Support Groups that will place ex-offenders in a Growth Environment where they can “Stop waiting for the man or women they want to become and start being the man or women they want to be.” When there are positive, nonjudgmental support groups, men and women can decide to grow, and it will impact their lives more than ever before.
Step 3: Community Housing Programs for Housing
Being a Senior Pastor of a local church in Dallas, TX, I’m amazed at how many ex-offender housing programs are in high-risk areas. Ex-offenders are challenged with reintegrating into communities that are drug infested, have high crime rates, have no employment opportunities, and have gang-related crime. They are placed in communities where they will most assuredly fail unless there is an intervention. Partnerships must be formed with state and local governments to properly devise plans to offer housing for ex-offenders based on their crime. If this can be done, you will see the impact on the recidivism rate reduced.
As we look at these solutions, we must understand that we all can play a part. “Each one can reach one,” so we must start somewhere. If you are an ex-offender or know someone who is, please don’t give up! You or they deserve a second chance. Please reach out to Words For Living Inc. for help in personal growth through our Life Coaching, Discover Your Why, and Anger Management classes and resources.
