Ezekiel Edwards

Give the Second Chance Act a Chance

As a result of our society's intoxication with imprisonment, there are now 650,000 people released from federal prison every year, and another 7 million from state and local jails. This is an increase of 350% over the past 20 years. Most men and women released face tremendous obstacles as they try to reenter society successfully, encountering imposing impediments to attaining gainful employment, overcoming drug addictions, gaining custody of their children, or finding affordable housing. In fact, two-thirds of those released will be arrested within three years of leaving prison.

In response to the approximately 21,000 people exiting federal, state, and local jails every day, a bi-partisan bill called the Second Chance Act was reintroduced in 2005 to the 109th Congress by Republican Rob Portman from Ohio and Democrat Danny K. Davis from Illinois, together with 33 cosponsors (it was initially introduced to the 108th Congress in 2004). The Second Chance Act aims to reduce recidivism rates among people formerly incarcerated, assist states and communities to better address the growing population of prisoners returning to communities, and increase public safety.

The Act, which allocates $110 million towards a variety of re-entry programs, includes numerous key objectives, including (1) the reauthorization of re-entry demonstration grants; (2) the creation of a National Re-Entry Resource Center; (3) funding research on offender re-entry; (4) the establishment of mentoring grants to non-profit organizations to provide counseling and transitional service to returning offenders; and (5) a federal taskforce to identify best practices and encourage interagency collaboration on re-entry strategies.

The Second Chance Act also expands the applicability, eligibility, or support for a variety of existing drug treatment, childcare, and employment programs available for ex-prisoners. Its allowable uses of funds include mentorship, housing, education and job training, engagement with community colleges, and family programming.

As Florida Representative Tom Feeney stated at oversight hearings before Congress on the Act on November 3, 2005: "The financial burdens on Government of incarceration and reincarceration of offenders are substantial, and the impact on families and communities is huge. We need to ensure that governments have in place appropriate programs to ease this transition for offenders, to bring families together once again, and to make sure that offenders get the necessary support so that they can truly have a second chance to live a law abiding life."

Assisting former inmates as they transition back into society reduces the chances that they are rearrested. This is important not only for each individual facing reentry, but for our society as a whole. The nationwide average annual cost of imprisoning one inmate was $22,650 in 2001, and State prison operating expenditures totaled $28.4 billion. In other words, the better situated an ex-inmate, the less likely he or she will commit another crime. The less crime, the safer our communities and the fewer people we incarcerate. The fewer people we incarcerate, the more money taxpayers save.

The Act is not only supported across the aisles of Congress --- its companion Senate version is sponsored by Senators Arlen Specter (R-PA), Sam Brownback (R-KS), and Joseph Biden (D-DE) --- but by a wide array of voices, from Human Rights Watch to the American Correctional Association, from the National AIDS Housing Coalition to President Bush. The White House issued a statement in 2004 supporting the Act, acknowledging that "some 600,000 inmates will be released from [federal] prison back into society. We know from experience that if they can't find work, or a home, or help, they are much more likely to commit a crime and return to prison."

For the sake of the eight million people who will be released from prison custody this year, and for the sake of our entire society, it is crucial that we are equipped to handle the difficult, often debilitating challenges they face. The Second Chance Act is an important and necessary step towards making the road to reentry less rocky and more rewarding.

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Posted at 9:00 AM, Apr 25, 2006 in Criminal Justice
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