Question

What types of programs do released prisoners need in order to be successful?

Answer 1

• For some prisoners, especially those that have spent years or decades of their lives locked up, getting out comes with a mixture of overwhelming joy and anxiety.They often want to start over, but don’t know how to achieve that. They need somewhere to live, to work. They need counseling, but have limited resources.
• Life on the outside can be a huge challenge ,so hard that many prisoners fail at it and end up back behind bars before long.
• That’s why programs that help inmates re-enter society are critical. From state to state, re-entry programs vary.But programs like these are trying to make a difference, starting from when an inmate is first incarcerated and following through to those initial hours when an ex-inmate is released and to the months that follow as they work to get their lives back on track.
• Some programs that have been initiated are as follows;
• The Prison Entrepreneurship Program is a nonprofit organization that connects released felons with executives and entrepreneurs. This re-entry program focuses on teaching leadership and innovation skills.
• The Delancey Street Foundation is a residential self-help program dedicated to assisting drug addicts, ex-convicts, ex-gang members, and homeless individuals.
• Delancey Street provides residents with skills that can be used in a job market and education that makes employment possible. Since its founding 40 years ago, over 10,000 men and women have graduated into society as taxpaying citizens leading successful lives. Along with recidivism, other risk factors have been substantially reduced for participants, including drug use and overall well-being.
• n Louisiana, the state’s Re-Entry Court program allows the state’s younger inmates who qualify to learn a trade -- from plumbing to welding to culinary arts. It also provides them with hours of classes on anger management and communication. The state has also launched regional re-entry programs offering similar services to inmates in local prisons.
• Former inmates in Washington state have found that support at Pioneer Human Services, which provides a full suite of programs to thousands of ex-offenders annually. This includes treatment for substance use disorders, housing, job training, job interview training, apprenticeships, employment and, where appropriate, help getting their driver’s licenses and voting rights back.
• Good re-entry programs will deliver new ways of thinking for the former inmate, and frequently, simple, commonsense programs with a human touch make all the difference.
• All the programs should be focused on making them not just a better citizen but also a good human being with long term effects,realising the importance of learning new skills and education and using it to build a life for oneself and even their families to whom they owe this responsibility.
• It should focus not just on developing skills and providing job opportunities but also overall human development which being their focus back to leading a good happy and crime free life.An ex criminal would only then be a successful person in life by becoming a new and improved version overall.