diff --git "a/data/CHRG-109/CHRG-109hhrg20377.txt" "b/data/CHRG-109/CHRG-109hhrg20377.txt"
new file mode 100644--- /dev/null
+++ "b/data/CHRG-109/CHRG-109hhrg20377.txt"
@@ -0,0 +1,3972 @@
+
+ - CONFRONTING RECIDIVISM: PRISONER RE-ENTRY PROGRAMS AND A JUST FUTURE FOR ALL AMERICANS
+
+[House Hearing, 109 Congress]
+[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
+
+
+
+
+
+ CONFRONTING RECIDIVISM: PRISONER RE-ENTRY PROGRAMS AND A JUST FUTURE
+ FOR ALL AMERICANS
+
+=======================================================================
+
+ HEARING
+
+ before the
+
+ COMMITTEE ON
+ GOVERNMENT REFORM
+
+ HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
+
+ ONE HUNDRED NINTH CONGRESS
+
+ FIRST SESSION
+
+ __________
+
+ FEBRUARY 2, 2005
+
+ __________
+
+ Serial No. 109-10
+
+ __________
+
+ Printed for the use of the Committee on Government Reform
+
+
+ Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.gpo.gov/congress/house
+ http://www.house.gov/reform
+
+
+ ______
+
+ U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
+20-377 WASHINGTON : 2005
+_____________________________________________________________________________
+For Sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office
+Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512-1800; (202) 512�091800
+Fax: (202) 512�092250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402�090001
+
+ COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM
+
+ TOM DAVIS, Virginia, Chairman
+CHRISTOPHER SHAYS, Connecticut HENRY A. WAXMAN, California
+DAN BURTON, Indiana TOM LANTOS, California
+ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida MAJOR R. OWENS, New York
+JOHN M. McHUGH, New York EDOLPHUS TOWNS, New York
+JOHN L. MICA, Florida PAUL E. KANJORSKI, Pennsylvania
+GIL GUTKNECHT, Minnesota CAROLYN B. MALONEY, New York
+MARK E. SOUDER, Indiana ELIJAH E. CUMMINGS, Maryland
+STEVEN C. LaTOURETTE, Ohio DENNIS J. KUCINICH, Ohio
+TODD RUSSELL PLATTS, Pennsylvania DANNY K. DAVIS, Illinois
+CHRIS CANNON, Utah WM. LACY CLAY, Missouri
+JOHN J. DUNCAN, Jr., Tennessee DIANE E. WATSON, California
+CANDICE S. MILLER, Michigan STEPHEN F. LYNCH, Massachusetts
+MICHAEL R. TURNER, Ohio CHRIS VAN HOLLEN, Maryland
+KATHERINE HARRIS, Florida LINDA T. SANCHEZ, California
+DARRELL E. ISSA, California C.A. DUTCH RUPPERSBERGER, Maryland
+GINNY BROWN-WAITE, Florida BRIAN HIGGINS, New York
+JON C. PORTER, Nevada ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON, District of
+KENNY MARCHANT, Texas Columbia
+LYNN A. WESTMORELAND, Georgia ------
+PATRICK T. McHENRY, North Carolina BERNARD SANDERS, Vermont
+CHARLES W. DENT, Pennsylvania (Independent)
+VIRGINIA FOXX, North Carolina
+
+ Melissa Wojciak, Staff Director
+ David Marin, Deputy Staff Director/Communications Director
+ Rob Borden, Parliamentarian
+ Teresa Austin, Chief Clerk
+ Phil Barnett, Minority Chief of Staff/Chief Counsel
+
+
+ C O N T E N T S
+
+ ----------
+ Page
+Hearing held on February 2, 2005................................. 1
+Statement of:
+ Davis, Hon. Danny, a Representative in Congress from the
+ State of Illinois.......................................... 32
+ Nolan, Pat, Prison Fellowship; Joseph Williams, Transition of
+ Prisoners; Chaplain Robert Toney, Angola Prison, Louisiana;
+ Frederick A. Davie, senior vice president of public policy,
+ Public/Private Ventures; and George A.H. Williams,
+ Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities................ 88
+ Davie, Frederick A....................................... 112
+ Nolan, Pat............................................... 88
+ Williams, George A.H..................................... 117
+ Williams, Joseph......................................... 100
+ Portman, Hon. Rob, a Representative in Congress from the
+ State of Ohio.............................................. 20
+ Wilkinson, Reginald A., Ed.D., Ohio Rehabilitation and
+ Corrections Agency; Lorna Hogan, mother advocate, the
+ Rebecca Project for Human Rights, Washington, DC; Felix
+ Mata, Baltimore City's Ex-Offender Initiative, Mayor's
+ Office of Employment Development; Paul A. Quander, District
+ of Columbia Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency;
+ and Jim McNeil and David Russell, mentor and protege in the
+ Innerchange Freedom Initiate............................... 37
+ Hogan, Lorna............................................. 53
+ McNeil, Jim.............................................. 72
+ Mata, Felix.............................................. 58
+ Quander, Paul A., Jr..................................... 63
+ Russell, David........................................... 75
+ Wilkinson, Reginald A.................................... 37
+Letters, statements, etc., submitted for the record by:
+ Cummings, Hon. Elijah E., a Representative in Congress from
+ the State of Maryland, prepared statement of............... 8
+ Davie, Frederick A., senior vice president of public policy,
+ Public/Private Ventures, prepared statement of............. 114
+ Hogan, Lorna, mother advocate, the Rebecca Project for Human
+ Rights, Washington, DC, prepared statement of.............. 55
+ Mata, Felix, Baltimore City's Ex-Offender Initiative, Mayor's
+ Office of Employment Development, prepared statement of.... 60
+ McNeil, Jim, mentor and protege in the Innerchange Freedom
+ Initiate, prepared statement of............................ 73
+ Nolan, Pat, Prison Fellowship, prepared statement of......... 93
+ Portman, Hon. Rob, a Representative in Congress from the
+ State of Ohio, prepared statement of....................... 26
+ Quander, Paul A., District of Columbia Court Services and
+ Offender Supervision Agency, prepared statement of......... 66
+ Russell, David, mentor and protege in the Innerchange Freedom
+ Initiate, prepared statement of............................ 77
+ Souder, Hon. Mark E., a Representative in Congress from the
+ State of Indiana, prepared statement of.................... 4
+ Toney, Chaplain Robert, Angola Prison, Louisiana, information
+ concerning Louisiana State Penitentiary.................... 111
+ Wilkinson, Reginald A., Ed.D., Ohio Rehabilitation and
+ Corrections Agency, prepared statement of.................. 41
+ Williams, George A.H., Treatment Alternatives for Safe
+ Communities, prepared statement of......................... 119
+ Williams, Joseph, Transition of Prisoners, prepared statement
+ of......................................................... 103
+
+
+ CONFRONTING RECIDIVISM: PRISONER RE-ENTRY PROGRAMS AND A JUST FUTURE
+ FOR ALL AMERICANS
+
+ ----------
+
+
+ WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2005
+
+ House of Representatives,
+ Committee on Government Reform,
+ Washington, DC.
+ The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 1:07 p.m., in
+room 2247, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Mark E. Souder
+presiding.
+ Present: Representatives Souder, Shays, Harris, Porter,
+Westmoreland, McHenry, Dent, Cummings, Davis of Illinois, Clay,
+Watson, Ruppersberger and Norton.
+ Staff present: Marc Wheat, staff director and counsel;
+Brandon Lerch, professional staff member; Nick Coleman,
+professional staff member and counsel; Pat DeQuattro and Dave
+Thomasson, congressional fellows; Malia Holst, clerk; Earley
+Green, minority chief clerk; Jean Gosa, minority assistant
+clerk; and Tony Haywood, minority counsel.
+ Mr. Souder. The Subcommittee on Criminal Justice will now
+come to order. Actually, this is a full committee hearing.
+Although this topic has been set up under the Subcommittee on
+Criminal Justice, it is a full committee hearing; and I
+appreciate Chairman Davis as well as Ranking Member Henry
+Waxman allowing us to move ahead, even though our committee
+hasn't been fully organized yet this year. So while I presume I
+will continue to be chairman of this subcommittee, it is not
+yet official.
+ So good afternoon. I thank all of you for being here.
+Particular thanks to the many witnesses who have traveled great
+distances to be here.
+ The impetus for this hearing is owed to the gentleman from
+Ohio, Mr. Rob Portman, and the gentleman from Illinois, a long-
+time member of this subcommittee, an active member, Danny
+Davis. Their leadership has brought the issue of prisoner
+reentry to the fore of domestic policy.
+ Many thanks as well to the gentleman from Maryland, Elijah
+Cummings. With so much activity swirling around us at the
+beginning of the 109th Congress, many schedules are quite full.
+But Mr. Cummings' commitment to this issue has helped to bring
+us together today, and for that I am grateful.
+ Crime statistics have been debated for decades, but not
+until recently have these debates included the crisis of
+recidivism. Thanks certainly is owed to the two Members of
+Congress testifying today for raising the profile of this
+issue, but much of the credit is owed to those who have been in
+the recidivism trenches for years.
+ After more than a decade of tough crime policies, according
+to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, over 2 million Americans
+are held in Federal, State or county jails. Over 4 million
+Americans are on parole or probation.
+ It should be surprising to no one that well over half a
+million inmates are being released every year. Logical
+questions arise: Where do these people go? What job skills do
+they have? Who hires them? Are they rehabilitated? The answers
+to these questions are not very encouraging.
+ Many of those paroled and released inmates will return to
+prison within 3 years. According to the Government
+Accountability Office, in 1998, the percentage of
+reincarcerations among all admissions at State and Federal
+prisons was 35 percent, up from 17 percent in 1980. Broader
+surveys show recidivism rates of nearly two-thirds of all
+inmates.
+ Representing a revolving door in the American justice
+system, this recidivism rate indicates a massive failure of the
+penal system to return law-abiding citizens to society. The
+first failure is clearly inmates themselves, many of whom enjoy
+few advantages and bear many burdens upon their release.
+ Second, however, the system also fails the American public.
+Indeed, many released inmates will commit violent crimes on
+innocent victims.
+ The government institutions and faith-based and community
+organizations addressing recidivism are addressing one
+question: How do we reform a system whose participants often
+return to the same old behavior which the system was originally
+designed to deter?
+ As more States and more community and faith-based groups
+address recidivism, the need for a national strategy becomes
+clearer. Moreover, the recent Booker Supreme Court decision on
+sentencing guidelines may result in the release of many more
+prisoners than otherwise expected.
+ The U.S. Department of Justice Young Offender Initiative,
+for instance, provides grants for State and community
+cooperation in parolee supervision and accountability. At the
+State level, Texas is considering placing its inmate release
+programs with the InnerChange Freedom Initiative, which already
+runs numerous programs in cooperation with the State.
+ The witnesses assembled today have all brought down the
+rate of recidivism by making better men and women of released
+prisoners. All of them are heroes in our eyes.
+ Today we will learn more about national strategies from two
+expert Members of Congress and a host of State, local and
+private sector leaders. We will have policymakers on the same
+panel with a current parolee and his mentor.
+ On another panel, we will have reentry program graduates
+and reentry program leaders. We will also hear from a prison
+chaplain
+who leads this vital reentry work from the moment inmates began
+their sentences.
+ Thank you again for being here today. I look forward to
+hearing more about recidivism from our experts with us today.
+ [The prepared statement of Hon. Mark E. Souder follows:]
+
+ [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.001
+
+ [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.002
+
+ Mr. Souder. Now I would like to yield to Criminal Justice
+Subcommittee Ranking Member Elijah Cummings of Maryland.
+ Mr. Cummings. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman; and I
+thank you for holding today's hearing on prisoner reentry, one
+of the most profound challenges facing America today.
+ On any given day in America, as many as 2 million men and
+women are incarcerated in Federal and State prisons and local
+jails, more than 80 percent of whom are involved in substance
+use. In 1996 alone, taxpayers spent over $30 billion to
+incarcerate these individuals, who are the parents of 2.4
+million children. A fourfold increase in incarceration rates
+over the past 25 years, largely a result of efforts to protect
+communities from drugs and violent crime, has spawned problems
+and challenges of its own.
+ Each year, 630,000 individuals leave State and Federal
+prisons and return home. All too often, they are ill-equipped
+to fully participate and constructively as members of families
+and communities to whom they return. The reentry or
+reintegration into civil society of these individuals
+represents an enormous challenge that requires the involvement
+of multiple layers and sectors of society.
+ Inmates often leave prison with little preparation for life
+on the outside or assistance in their reintegration, increasing
+the likelihood they will be returned to prison for a new crime
+or parole violation. This cycle of removal and return of large
+numbers of young adults, mostly men, is especially pronounced
+in communities that are already experiencing enormous social
+and economic disadvantages.
+ The importance of prisoner reentry as a societal concern in
+my State of Maryland cannot be overstated. In 2001, 9,448
+people were released from Maryland prisons. That is nearly
+twice the number released two decades ago. During 2001, 97
+percent of all men and women released from Maryland prisons
+returned to communities in Maryland. Of those prisoners who
+returned to Maryland, well over 59 percent returned to one
+jurisdiction in the State, Baltimore City. The flow of
+prisoners was further concentrated in a small number of
+communities within Baltimore City, many of them in my district.
+ A recent study showed that 30 percent of the 4,411 released
+prisoners who returned to Baltimore City returned to just 6 of
+55 communities. These high-concentration community areas in
+Baltimore, which already face great social and economic
+disadvantages, may experience reentry costs to a magnified
+degree. In addition, while these numbers represent individuals
+released from Maryland prisons after serving sentences of 1
+year or more, it is important to note that approximately 5,000
+additional inmates are released to Baltimore City each year
+after having served jail time, typically less than 1 year.
+ Release presents offenders with a difficult transition from
+the structured environment of the prison or jail. Many
+prisoners after release have no place to live, no job, family
+or social support. They often lack the knowledge and skills to
+access available resources for adjustment to life on the
+outside, all factors that significantly increase the risk of
+relapse and recidivism. In addition, legal measures designed to
+create disincentives for drug abuse and crime can complicate
+efforts to reestablish a foothold in society.
+ In recent years, the high rate of recidivism has generated
+broad-based interest in finding effective ways to address
+prisoner reentry issues across many sectors of society. For its
+part, Congress has authorized nearly $100 million for reentry
+initiatives involving various agencies.
+ Our first two witnesses today are colleagues who have
+worked on a bipartisan basis to produce legislation that will
+renew and improve Federal reentry programs. I would like to
+commend both Representative Rob Portman and Representative
+Danny Davis for their attention and commitment to this very
+serious issue of reentry and for your work on your legislation
+that has garnered support from many quarters. It is encouraging
+to see this problem, which affects my district so severely,
+being recognized so broadly and addressed on a bipartisan
+basis.
+ I supported H.R. 4676 as a cosponsor in the last Congress,
+and I intend to do the same when it is reintroduced in this
+Congress. I would be remiss not to say, however, that there are
+serious impediments to successful reentry that are not
+addressed in this bill. Some of them are of Congress' own
+creation. The Federal student aid ban, which denies education
+aid to applicants who have been convicted of a drug crime, is
+but one of these. We have discussed it at length in this
+committee. I hope that, as this bill moves forward, we can work
+together to make it as comprehensive as we can. A comprehensive
+approach to reentry will provide ex-offenders their best chance
+to become full and constructive participants in our society,
+while making our communities safer.
+ To help us understand the challenges of reentry and the
+strategies that are being employed to address them, we have a
+diverse panel of witnesses who include representatives of
+government agencies, service providers, ex-offenders, mentors
+and advocates. I would like to thank all of our witnesses for
+their participation in today's hearing and extend a particular
+welcome to Mr. Felix Mata, who manages Baltimore City's Ex-
+Offender Task Force on behalf of our mayor, Mayor O'Malley.
+ I look forward to the testimony of all of our witnesses,
+Mr. Chairman, and, with that, I yield back.
+ [The prepared statement of Hon. Elijah E. Cummings
+follows:]
+
+[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.003
+
+[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.004
+
+[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.005
+
+[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.006
+
+[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.007
+
+[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.008
+
+[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.009
+
+ Mr. Souder. Let me first, before I see if further Members
+have opening statements, since it is our first hearing of the
+year and we have, as I mentioned earlier, not organized and
+won't be until next week officially, introduce a number of our
+Republican Members, three of whom are new to Congress.
+ Congresswoman Harris has been a member of this committee
+for some time. Welcome. Congressman McHenry from North
+Carolina. Congressman Westmoreland from Georgia. Congressman
+Porter, who has been a member of the committee before, from
+Nevada. Congressman Dent from Pennsylvania. Welcome to our
+committee.
+ On the Democratic side, these are our stalwarts on the
+Subcommittee on Criminal Justice. In addition to Ranking Member
+Mr. Cummings, Mr. Ruppersberger of Maryland, our delegate and
+honorable representative from the District of Columbia, Eleanor
+Holmes Norton, who has been very active in this committee, and
+Mr. Clay from Missouri. We thank you all for your leadership.
+ Congresswoman Harris, do you have any opening comments?
+ Ms. Harris. Yes, I do, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, and thank
+you for scheduling this hearing on such an important issue.
+ Before I begin, I want to commend you, Mr. Chairman, and
+the members of the committee on your vision and aggressiveness
+concerning this issue, and I also want to applaud Congressman
+Rob Portman for his outstanding leadership as well. Together,
+we will produce safer communities and neighborhoods for our
+families.
+ I had the opportunity to testify before Judiciary as a
+witness with Congressman Portman in the last congressional
+session, because criminals who have used society's second
+chances to commit further crimes have an undeniable effect on
+our communities, and tragically their actions often affect our
+most vulnerable citizens, our children.
+ According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, of the more
+than 272,000 persons released from prisons in 15 States in
+1994, an estimated 67.5 percent were rearrested for felonies or
+serious misdemeanors 3 years later. Almost one-half were
+reconvicted. These numbers point to a deeply troubling trend in
+our criminal justice system; and, more disturbing, a Department
+of Justice study indicates that sex offenders are four times
+more likely to be rearrested for sex crimes than non-sex
+offenders.
+ Last year, in my congressional district, we experienced an
+unspeakable tragedy that was allegedly caused by a repeat
+offender. A young girl, an 11-year-old, Carlie Brucia, was
+kidnapped, brutally raped and murdered. Following the arrest of
+Carlie's accused murder, we learned that this man should have
+been behind bars when the crime took place. He possessed a long
+history of criminal activity, including conviction for
+aggravated battery. He had been arrested 13 times and placed on
+probation three times since 1993. In fact, he was in police
+custody on an unrelated cause when he was linked to this crime.
+ In response to this tragedy, I introduced legislation
+entitled Carlie's Law during the 108th Congress. This bill
+would have expanded the grounds for mandatory revocation of
+probation and supervised release, encompass violent felony
+crimes or an offense intended to facilitate unlawful sexual
+contact with a minor.
+ While we must ensure that dangerous criminals remain where
+they belong, in prison, I also strongly believe we must offer
+more opportunities for rehabilitation. Prisoners must have the
+opportunity to do more than sit idly. That is why I support
+giving prisoners the opportunity to learn a skill and achieve
+their GED.
+ The bill that Congressman Portman introduced in the 108th
+Congress proposed a comprehensive grant program consisting of
+educational, vocational and rehabilitation opportunities for
+individuals that are reentering society. This legislation
+continues to create a meaningful effort to reduce criminal
+recidivism.
+ We might also attack this crisis by learning from
+outstanding successes in State and local programs. Sheriff
+Charlie Wells in Manatee County, FL, has operated a successful
+boot camp for juvenile repeat offenders since 1993. This
+program includes a tough physical and academic regime that
+focuses on rehabilitation, not abuse, and for over 10 years the
+Camp has reformed 55 percent of its repeat juvenile offenders.
+ So as we focus on examples like this and programs across
+the Nation, I think we can make tremendous progress in battling
+criminal recidivism and focusing heavily on these issues
+relating to security in the 109th Congress.
+ Let us remember that nothing is more fundamental to this
+Nation than the ability of our children to walk and run and
+play in our communities without fear. For this reason, I look
+forward to this committee on the issue of criminal recidivism
+and prisoner reentry programs to reduce the likelihood that
+convicted offenders become repeat offenders.
+ Thank you.
+ Mr. Souder. Mr. Ruppersberger.
+ Mr. Ruppersberger. Mr. Chairman, thank you for having this
+hearing on a very important issue. Congressman Cummings, thank
+you for your dedication.
+ I also want to acknowledge Congressmen Portman and Davis.
+It is great to see a Republican and Democrat sitting together
+at the table, working together to help resolve this issue.
+ Obviously we need to do something, because the current
+system that we have right now just is not working. I was a
+former prosecutor, and I understand the burden that recidivism
+creates on local law enforcement and on all of our local
+governments. In fact, all levels of government must increase
+the priority of combating recidivism and create new and
+innovative ways to help prisoners or people who have been
+arrested before if we are to be successful.
+ As Baltimore County executive in the State of Maryland, I
+would say, when I had that position, Elijah Cummings was one of
+my Congressmen. We developed two programs that I would like to
+just briefly talk about, because I think it is so important
+when we have a hearing we talk about solutions, and I think
+that is what you are here today to talk about.
+ The first program was the Police Athletic League. We made a
+policy decision to put a Police Athletic League in every
+precinct in our county. Our county has less than 800,000
+people. As a result of having the police and our recreation and
+parks working together in a non-combative way with police
+officers, we were able, after the program got started, to get
+5,000 juveniles off the street.
+ In order to be able to get the kids or children that we
+really needed to get off the street, we developed a program
+with karate, because then the tough guys would want to come and
+learn karate. Once you get them in that program, you hook them,
+you develop leadership skills, you work with them on all sorts
+of problems that we needed to deal with.
+ It is important that we deal with an issue before it gets
+to the point where someone is going to commit a murder, armed
+robbery or whatever.
+ There was another program that was extremely successful
+called the Juvenile Offenders in Need of Supervision. What we
+found is there is such a burden on all of the people involved
+in the criminal justice system, parole officers who might have
+500 clients and all they can do is just check in, have them
+check in and say what are you doing, there is no
+rehabilitation, helping to get jobs, dealing with issues
+involving drugs.
+ This Offenders in Need of Supervision Program was a program
+where the police officers, as soon as an arrest would be made,
+would jump on the case, would bring a teen in, if that
+individual happened to be in school or work or whatever, bring
+them in, bring the parents in, and work with them so that they
+could get to them before they would get to the next level. That
+program was extremely successful. Monitoring that program, that
+made a tremendous difference in the rate of recidivism.
+ I bring up two programs like that, because whatever we need
+to do, we have to have the right program, we need to hold the
+people in the program accountable for the funding, and then we
+need to move forward.
+ The other issue, if we are going to deal with the issue of
+priorities, we have to fund priorities, and we cannot discount
+the fact that drugs is an important issue. I think the
+statistics say now between 75 and 80 percent of all violent
+crime is drug-related. If we don't deal with the issue of drugs
+and rehabilitation, we are going to continue to have this
+problem.
+ Unfortunately, I have another hearing I have to go to, so I
+look forward to hearing about this hearing. I really think this
+is very important, and I again appreciate Congressmen Portman
+and Davis being here, and I look forward to your involvement in
+this issue. Thank you.
+ Mr. Souder. I was afraid your phone call was from the
+Intelligence Committee, but they would probably use a laser to
+zap you.
+ Delegate Norton.
+ Ms. Norton. I want to thank you, Chairman Souder, because
+you have begun this session with an issue of prime importance
+to our country, a rising issue in the Congress, an issue that
+has arisen and thundered into the States who have primary
+jurisdiction over criminal matters.
+ I want to thank Mr. Cummings for his leadership. It has
+been constant on these issues, because he lives so closely with
+these issues and has thought innovatively about them.
+ The partnership between Mr. Portman and Mr. Davis is going
+to be important for anything we are able to do on this issue in
+the Congress, so I appreciate that, by working together, you
+have started us in just the right way.
+ Mr. Chairman, this is the other side of the law and order
+equation. As you know from elementary algebra, both sides of
+the equation have to be in equipoise, and you keep working on
+it until you get it right from the time you are in the 6th
+grade. Well, we forgot about this side altogether. What this
+side is about is that these men and women are going to come
+here and live right alongside you and me in the communities
+that have seen them incarcerated.
+ Everyone understands why the emphasis on law and order had
+to take place and has to continue to take place, particularly
+as this phase began in the early 1990's with a huge outbreak in
+crime. Everybody, particularly those who live in the inner
+city, were afraid of it. The first thing you do is try to get
+those who are responsible for that. That will always be the
+case.
+ In many ways, there was a pronounced overreaction,
+especially in the Congress. The first results were irrational
+mandatory minimums, sentencing guidelines that are so extreme
+that the Supreme Court of the United States has now thrown them
+out. That happened after some of the most conservative justices
+on the court began to speak openly about how the criminal
+justice system was producing rank injustice, and here they were
+talking about mandatory minimums in the Federal system.
+ Mr. Chairman, a felony conviction, deserved or not--and I
+am the first to concede that most of these convictions are
+deserved. It is too bad we haven't learned how to work as we
+must before people get such convictions. But a felony
+conviction is close to a death sentence in the job market, and
+everything else falls in the wake of the member of the family
+or the community that has that death sentence, those who would
+be dependent upon him and, ultimately, the community in which
+he lives.
+ I say ``he,'' because while there is a growing number of
+women incarcerated, something about the socialization of women
+makes women less inclined to be in prison. So the rates have
+grown largely with respect to men. And if I may just put on the
+record who those men are, almost half of the men in prison are
+African American men. The effects of their incarceration and
+over-incarceration has been absolutely devastating to the
+African American family.
+ Minimally, society that imposes employment death sentences
+on people has an obligation, if they don't care about the men
+and the women, to protect the rest of us. Even as you protected
+us by putting them behind jail, for goodness sake, protect us
+when they get out of jail. Because if indeed you get out of
+jail with nothing and nobody to help you, the last thing you
+knew how to do was the occupation that got you back in jail,
+and I can assure you that men who don't have any other way to
+live will find their way to that occupation if society does
+what we do.
+ This is what we do. We say, you have a drug conviction and
+you are a kid and you got it when you were 17 years old? No
+Pell grants. Sorry. We know you were young. We know things may
+be better. A life sentence on getting you even to a community
+college with a Pell Grant. Out of jail, done your time. You
+say, for goodness' sake, I never want to see the inside of that
+again.
+ And if you have been in Federal prison, you may have even
+learned a vocation. And what do you find? A whole set of
+occupations from which you are barred. Some of those
+occupations you trained for in prison.
+ You want to be a barber? Many States say, not here.
+ I am not sure what that has to do with most convictions.
+Got out and said, I got to find some way to improve my
+citizenship, and the first thing you find is you are a felon
+and in one-third of the States of the United States we are
+going to say to you, you will not be able to vote now, not in 5
+years, not forever. And you wonder why there is great
+bitterness and anger with people who served their time and just
+want some way out of all of this and find society offering them
+other kinds of sentences.
+ Mr. Souder. Mr. Norton, if you can kind of----
+ Ms. Norton. I feel this very deeply. You called a hearing.
+I will go more rapidly.
+ Because the greatest impact and the reason I feel so
+passionately, Mr. Chairman, is because of an issue I think we
+share with you and with others across the aisle, and that is
+the impact on the African American family.
+ I live in the communities Mr. Cummings does, where 70
+percent of the children are being raised by African American
+women alone, and these children go into the streets, no jobs,
+only drugs and crime available as opportunities for employment,
+and they go the way of their fathers. The over-incarceration of
+a whole generation of black men has condemned millions of
+American children, especially children of color, to poverty.
+ The States, Mr. Chairman, are rebelling, largely because
+they are the ones that had to house most of these inmates, and
+the high costs were such that they began to look for other ways
+out. They have given us leadership on special diversion for
+first-time drug offenders with drug courts, and we need to
+follow suit for what the States are doing in this regard.
+ You have Mr. Paul Quander here from the Court Services and
+Offender Supervision Agency, which has jurisdiction in the
+District of Columbia, because our inmates, our felon inmates,
+are in Federal prisons, in the Federal prison system, and what
+it does for inmates afterwards is the best in the United
+States. I am very pleased you invited him here.
+ Mr. Chairman, I hope you have started something by the way
+you have started off the 109th Congress. Thank you for your
+indulgence.
+ Mr. Souder. Thank you.
+ We are joined by Congressman Shays, the vice chairman of
+the full committee, a subcommittee chair here. Thank you for
+coming.
+ Mr. Shays. Thank you. I know we need to get started. I want
+to thank you, Mr. Chairman, and Mr. Cummings for having this
+hearing.
+ It would be nice to deal with what is really a scandalous
+issue on a bipartisan basis, and I feel the passion that Ms.
+Norton feels and I understand it, and it is deserved.
+ I just want to thank Danny Davis and Rob Portman for also
+acting on a very bipartisan basis for something that truly is
+scandalous. It is a solvable problem, and it is something we
+should be able to do with a lot of heart, emotion and common
+sense.
+ Mr. Souder. Mr. Clay.
+ Mr. Clay. Thank you. I have a brief statement.
+ I would like to thank you and Ranking Member Cummings for
+holding this hearing on an issue of critical importance, and
+that is reducing the recidivism rate. I am hopeful that our
+distinguished panelists will offer constructive and thoughtful
+proposals on how the Federal Government can be an effective
+partner in helping ex-offenders successfully reintegrate into
+communities.
+ According to recent reports, over 630,000 people will
+complete their sentences and be released into society this
+year. It has been estimated that approximately two out of every
+three people released from prison in the United States are
+rearrested within 3 years of their release.
+ Given the record number of ex-inmates leaving prisons and
+returning to communities, it is imperative that Congress focus
+on ways to reintegrate ex-offenders and close the revolving
+door of the American prison system. The billions spent on
+corrections expenditures and the costs imposed on society make
+it blatantly clear that successful reentry would ensure both
+safer communities and a more efficient use of tax dollars.
+ I am hopeful that this hearing will provide Congress an
+opportunity to reshape our policies and address issues such as
+the lifetime ban from receiving welfare, food stamps, college
+tuition assistance and public housing assistance. These
+policies make it very difficult for prisoners to reintegrate
+into society and make it more likely that they will return to a
+life of crime.
+ We can genuinely give prisoners a second chance at
+successful reintegration into society by rescinding
+counterproductive laws. It is my hope that we can broaden the
+discussion and address proposals that will lead to a more
+effective system.
+ I thank you, Mr. Chairman, and yield back.
+ Mr. Souder. Thank you very much.
+ Before proceeding, I would like to take care of a couple of
+procedural matters. I would ask unanimous consent that all
+Members have 5 legislative days to submit written statements
+and questions for the hearing record, that any answers to
+written questions provided by the witnesses also be included in
+the record.
+ Without objection, it is so ordered.
+ I also ask unanimous consent that all exhibits, documents
+and others materials referred to by the Members and the
+witnesses may be included in the hearing record and that all
+Members be permitted to revise and extend their remarks.
+ Without objection, it is so ordered.
+ Our first panel is composed of our colleagues,
+Representative Rob Portman and Representative Danny Davis. By
+tradition, we do not administer an oath to Members of Congress,
+because we just took one a month ago. As an oversight
+committee, we generally swear in all of our witnesses. We are
+exempt. We presume your other oath binds you here.
+ Mr. Portman, thank you for your long-time leadership on
+this issue. Thank you for being patient this afternoon.
+
+ STATEMENT OF HON. ROB PORTMAN, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS
+ FROM THE STATE OF OHIO
+
+ Mr. Portman. Thank you, Chairman Souder.
+ We are honored to be here to testify before you today on
+prisoner reentry and also reducing recidivism, and we commend
+you for raising the profile of this issue, for providing a
+forum to discuss this issue.
+ I also have to comment that we also appreciate the
+expertise of your subcommittee and full committee. Just looking
+around the room, we have worked closely with Ranking Member
+Cummings over the years on drug prevention, community
+coalitions, some of the issues related, as Mr. Ruppersberger
+pointed out, to this issue; and I appreciated hearing from him
+again this afternoon, as well as other members of your
+committee.
+ I will say, the legislation we are about to discuss does
+not have the answers to all of our problems. It does not
+include every provision that everyone on this panel or
+certainly in this room would want, and you will hear probably
+about that during the testimony from the experts who follow us.
+But it is an important step in the right direction.
+ With the specific reference, Mr. Cummings, to the student
+aid ban, I think you will be pleased with the way we address
+it. We want to work with you on that. We plan on reintroducing
+the bill, as you know, next week. We worked closely with you
+and Mr. Souder last year on that, and I think we can address at
+least most of your concern with regard to how the student aid
+ban would operate, that the infraction would occur not prior to
+but during the time Federal aid was being provided. So we can
+talk about that. But I think, although this bill will not
+address every concern raised today, that one I hope you will
+find it to be satisfactory.
+ We appreciated working with Mrs. Harris last year on
+Carlie's Law. We included some of those provisions. We are
+working with her again this year.
+ Ms. Norton raised some great points that I think you will
+find we address in this legislation with regard to recidivism
+and families, and that is an important part of this
+legislation.
+ Mr. Shays has been an expert on these issues and a leader,
+and we appreciate the fact the vice chair of the full committee
+is here, because that will help your committee deal with these
+issues.
+ Mr. Clay talked about the partnership. That is really what
+this bill is about, the Federal Government being a better
+partner. It is not the Federal Government stepping in to our
+local communities and solving our problems, but it is providing
+that leverage, we hope, at the State and local level and with
+community organizations, even faith-based groups, to be able to
+better handle this problem.
+ Prisoner reentry is about reducing and preventing crime,
+but it is also, as Ms. Norton said, about restoring lives. Our
+view is we need to be both tough on crime but also smart on
+crime. We think this legislation has that balance. We need to
+be tough in keeping dangerous felons from returning and
+committing new crimes, but we also need to be smart in making
+sure that those who are coming home are given the most basic
+chance to start a new life and turn away from crime.
+ You all talked about the numbers here this afternoon, and I
+won't get into great detail on that, but just now over 2
+million people being incarcerated, 97 percent of those people
+are going to get out of prison, and that is whether or not the
+Supreme Court changes what the sentencing guidelines are or
+not. People are going to get out of prison.
+ As we talked about today, about 650,000 are being released
+from incarceration into our communities every year. Think about
+that, 650,000 people coming into our communities. So these
+reentry into community--these reentry numbers mean that we are
+all affected by it.
+ Its success or failure has incredible implications for
+public safety, for the welfare of children, for family
+reunification, for our growing fiscal issues, and for community
+health. By doing a better job on offender reentry, we can
+prevent crimes, we can help strengthen our communities, and we
+can save taxpayer money.
+ Unfortunately, according to recent data from the Department
+of Justice, as you have heard today, about two-thirds of those
+released from prison will be rearrested within 3 years. First
+and foremost, this offender reentry, then, is about preventing
+crime and keeping our communities safe, to try to reduce the
+high rates of recidivism. That will translate into, of course,
+thousands of new victims each year if we don't do something
+about it.
+ The social and economic costs of a 67 percent recidivism
+rate is astounding. As Mr. Shays said, it is a crisis. It is
+one we need to get our hands around.
+ Last session, we worked closely with colleagues on this
+subcommittee to help our States and communities better address
+the problem through this Second Chance Act. It is a bipartisan
+approach. It helps to better coordinate at the Federal level
+our Federal agencies and policies on prisoner reentry. It also
+increases the support to States and to community organizations
+to address this growing population of ex-offenders who are
+returning to our communities.
+ The main focuses in the bill are four-fold: One, jobs; two,
+housing; three, substance abuse and mental health treatment;
+and, four, support for families.
+ I want to express my sincere thanks to you, Mr. Chairman,
+for working with us closely last year and putting together some
+good legislation and being an original cosponsor.
+ I also want to thank Representative Danny Davis, my partner
+in this, who did a terrific job in helping to put together a
+good, sensible, balanced bill, and also helped us to be able to
+be sure that this bill had balance in terms of its bipartisan
+cosponsorship.
+ Elijah Cummings was one of our cosponsors last year, which
+was really critical in his role in our caucus and in the Black
+Caucus to move this forward. I want to thank him again on this
+subcommittee for his work.
+ Also, Representative Platts on this subcommittee,
+Representative Cannon, Representative Owens and others who
+cosponsored the Second Chance Act last year.
+ We plan to reintroduce the bill next week, and Danny Davis
+may talk a little more about that. But we hope we can again
+have a strong cosponsorship from this subcommittee and
+committee working toward getting this marked up this year and
+getting it to the President's desk for signature.
+ The primary goal, as I said, is public safety in this bill.
+It makes funds available to conduct studies to determine who is
+returning to jail or prison, why they are returning, which
+present the greatest risk to community safety. This is data we
+don't have, and we need it.
+ The bill also helps in development of procedures to assist
+relevant authorities in determining when release is
+appropriate, when it is not appropriate, and the use of data to
+inform this released decision.
+ Again, that data is not there now. This would include the
+use of proven assessment tools to assess the risk factors for
+returning inmates and the use of technology to advance post-
+release supervision.
+ The reason I first got involved in this, as Mr. Cummings
+knows, is my involvement with treatment and prevention on
+substance abuse. The more I learned about this issue, as
+Representative Ruppersberger talked about, the more I saw this
+direct connection between substance abuse and recidivism.
+ The numbers are just absolutely staggering. Fifty-seven
+percent of Federal, 70 percent of State inmates use drugs
+regularly before prison. The Bureau of Justice Statistics now
+tells us that they estimate the involvement with drugs or
+alcohol around the time of the offense is as high as 84
+percent. We are just not going to get at this issue, as was
+talked about earlier, without getting at this issue of
+substance abuse. The continuum of care that links former
+prisoners who receive treatment in prison to support in the
+community, without that continuum of care, recidivism is going
+to occur. We need to focus on that issue in particular. That is
+one of our four priorities in this legislation.
+ There is lots of evidence that in-prison drug treatment
+programs are effective, both pre-release and post-release. The
+key, of course, is that this in-prison treatment is far more
+effective when it is coupled with treatment in the community
+after the prisoner is released. When there is not this
+continuum of care, access to AA meetings immediately
+afterwards, Al-Anon and so on, there is a higher failure rate.
+That is why re-entry programs are so important.
+ Research shows, without post-release aftercare, results are
+almost the same as those inmates who didn't receive treatment
+in prison at all, which is interesting. So the need for post-
+release continuity applies to every domain, including drug
+treatment, employment services, mental health counseling and
+parent training. It is critical to make sure the right
+connections are made during the re-entry to the community.
+ There are several successful programs that serve many
+different populations, from adult men and women to juveniles.
+For example, NIDA, the National Institute on Drug Abuse study
+of a California Amity program, the California Amity program has
+shown a 75 percent return to custody rate after 3 years for
+offenders with no treatment. That return rate dropped to 27
+percent with in-prison treatment and aftercare.
+ Return rates to prison of those offenders receiving
+treatment in prison but not receiving aftercare or continuing
+care were similar to those offenders receiving no treatment at
+all in prison.
+ There are lots of other studies I was going to talk about.
+I am not going to mention them here. I will have them in my
+written remarks. I hope, Mr. Chairman, the subcommittee will
+have those as part of their report.
+ The bottom line is, State after State, in Delaware, 71
+percent for new arrests, down to 31 percent. In Ohio, you will
+hear from Reggie Wilkinson who is going to testify in the next
+panel, the kind of success we have had there with our Ohio
+Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections. We have some
+great stories there where, by working with the communities in
+aftercare, we have been able to see huge success in reducing
+recidivism.
+ The key element in these promising programs is this
+aftercare. Whether it be drug treatment, again, mental health,
+job training, parenting skills, a combination of these support
+services, successful completion and reduced recidivism depend
+largely on the availability of these services during the
+transition home, during the post-release period.
+ Of course, the burden on our citizens is also a major issue
+here. Taxpayers are footing the bill for all of this. The
+average cost to house a Federal inmate is over $25,000 a year,
+so there is a big issue here with regard to the taxpayer, and
+with our deficit, this is an issue that this Congress needs to
+be focused on. The average cost at the State level is a little
+less, about $21,170 annually. Of course, these don't include
+the cost of arrest and prosecution, nor do they take into
+account the cost to victims.
+ A modest expenditure to help transition offenders back into
+the community can save taxpayers thousands of dollars because
+of all these costs.
+ There is a study in Washington State, a 2001 study, showing
+the best re-entry programs can be expected to deliver 20 to 30
+percent reductions in recidivism and crime rates. If that is
+true, we will save billions of dollars, if we can just receive
+that kind of benefit from this program, a reduction of
+recidivism of 20 to 30 percent. We think we can do even better,
+but certainly we can help at the Federal level to make this
+happen.
+ Beyond these fiscal issues, one of the most significant
+costs of prisoner reentry is the impact on children, the
+weakened ties among family members talked about earlier, the
+destabilization of our communities. As you all know, the number
+of kids with a parent in a Federal or State correctional
+institute has increased over the last decade dramatically. It
+has increased 100 percent, to about 2 million kids. When
+expanded to children with parents under some form of correction
+supervision, it is closer to 10 million children now, we are
+told.
+ This is one of my biggest concerns. The children at risk
+for drug abuse and delinquency need our attention, and they are
+more at risk when they are in this situation. This bill does
+provide resources to grandparents and other kinship care and
+foster care providers who care for children during parental
+incarceration. It also provides State and local government with
+resources for family based drug treatment to treat parents and
+their children as a complete family unit.
+ Last year, Mr. Chairman, as you know, during the
+President's State of the Union address, he made a case for the
+need to address our reentering population. He put the issue in
+perspective by saying, ``America is the land of the second
+chance, and when the gates of prison open the path ahead should
+lead to a better life.'' That is why we call our bill the
+Second Chance bill.
+ During this address, he announced his reentry initiative
+with a strong focus on job training, transitional housing and
+prisoner mentoring from faith-based groups. This is an
+important aspect of our Federal response to reentry. Our bill
+would authorize a small component of this plan and complements
+the President's larger reentry initiative.
+ Together, we think this provides for a comprehensive plan
+to drastically change how we serve those men and women and how
+we keep our communities safer. By addressing the most basic
+needs of ex-offenders coming home, we can reduce the chances of
+reoffending, and we can improve their success as productive,
+contributing citizens.
+ I thank you, Mr. Chairman, for inviting us to testify
+before you today, and we look forward to trying to answer any
+questions you might have.
+ Mr. Souder. Thank you.
+ [The prepared statement of Hon. Rob Portman follows:]
+
+ [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.010
+
+ [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.011
+
+ [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.012
+
+ [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.013
+
+ [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.014
+
+ [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.015
+
+ Mr. Souder. Before going to Mr. Davis, the best estimate is
+that at 2 o'clock, in about 6 minutes, we are going to start a
+series of four votes. What we will do after Mr. Davis'
+statement is try to get the questions in so we don't have to
+hold you so we can get to the second panel. We will go a little
+bit into the first vote.
+ It is great to have on our subcommittee one of our most
+active Members and a co-leader of this effort, Congressman
+Davis. We look forward to hearing your testimony.
+
+ STATEMENT OF HON. DANNY DAVIS, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS
+ FROM THE STATE OF ILLINOIS
+
+ Mr. Davis of Illinois. Thank you very much.
+ Let me thank you, first of all, for your leadership and
+sensitivity that you have displayed not only to this issue but
+also the sensitivity in rescheduling the hearing so that those
+Democrats who would have found it difficult to be here and at
+the retreat can now do both.
+ I also want to commend the ranking member, Mr. Cummings,
+for his upstanding leadership not only on this issue but many
+others, especially those related to crime and justice in our
+country.
+ Of course, it is good to be here with Delegate Eleanor
+Holmes Norton and Representative Shays, two of the most
+outstanding Members, along with Representative Clay.
+ One of the highlights of being a Member of Congress has
+actually been working with Representative Portman on this
+legislation. I want to commend him for his outstanding
+leadership, for his sensitivity, his understanding and
+awareness of what I consider to be one of the most difficult
+challenges and problems facing urban America especially.
+ All of us are aware of the fact that rehabilitating and
+reintegrating prisoners back into society continues to loom as
+one of the great needs of our day. The high rates of
+incarceration over the last decade have made this need all the
+more urgent as large numbers of individuals with felony
+convictions are coming to the end of their sentences.
+ During his State of the Union address last year, President
+Bush said, ``600,000 inmates will be released from prison back
+into society this year, and these Americans are in need of
+help.''
+ We can expect on an annual basis that this large number of
+released inmates from prison will continue for the next 5 years
+at least and beyond.
+ Also, let us be mindful that local jails are releasing 7
+million people each year. Many of these individuals, as you
+have already heard, are never able to find a decent place to
+live, cannot access various entitlement programs such as public
+housing, financial assistance for college and, in some
+instances, food stamps and are oftentimes denied employment
+because of their past criminal convictions.
+ Statistics show that nearly 52 percent of all of these
+individuals will end up back in jail. As these men and women
+transition from incarceration to freedom, what they need most
+are comprehensive reentry solutions. With implementation of the
+Second Chance Act, Community Safety Through Recidivism
+Prevention, it calls for improving and establishing an
+effective reentry system to assess and change those barriers
+that prevent ex-offenders from making a successful transition
+from prison to normal community life.
+ The Second Chance Act contains demonstration projects that
+will focus on providing ex-offenders with education, job
+training, substance abuse and after-care treatment and assist
+ex-offenders with employment and securing housing upon release
+from prison.
+ In addition, it will create a Federal interagency task
+force to identify programs and resources on reentry and ways
+for improving and changing the barriers that prevent ex-
+offenders from living a normal, responsible and productive life
+in society.
+ Also, the Second Chance Act will establish a resource
+center for States, local governments, service providers,
+corrections and community organizations to collect and
+disseminate best practices and provide training and support
+around reentry.
+ The Second Chance Act is a good first step that will
+provide a directional approach as to what works in trying to
+increase public safety, reduce the cost of crime and lower the
+recidivism rate. Prevention, treatment and rehabilitation are
+just as important as incarceration. These men, women and
+children still have to live in our communities.
+ Increasing public safety is a primary concern of our
+communities and neighborhoods throughout the country. Although
+we know it is going to be difficult, it can be done. For
+example, in the State of Illinois last year there were 57 job
+titles that an ex-offender could not hold by statute. The
+legislature has removed 18 of those, and now there are 38
+occupational categories where you can't work without some form
+of waiver.
+ For example, ex-offenders were not allowed to be a barber,
+to cut hair, a nail technician, cosmetologist, cannot be a
+custodian in a hospital or cut the grass around a medical
+center or watch dishes at a nursing home.
+ Many of these ex-offenders were convicted of nonviolent
+offenses, mainly drug offenses, so it is extremely difficult
+for ex-offenders to find housing and get a job after they have
+paid their debt to society. We must ensure that everyone has
+the opportunity to be productive citizens in this country.
+ Everyone deserves a second chance. The bill before us now
+by my colleague Rob Portman and I will start the process when
+it becomes law to give ex-offenders hope to transition
+themselves back into community life.
+ Finally, in my district I work a great deal with people in
+the community. I have 31 task groups and work groups. And one
+of those is an ex-offenders task force which represents a broad
+group of members from national, local civil rights
+organizations, ex-offenders themselves, law enforcement
+officials, elected officials, community actions, faith-based
+organizations, block clubs, businesses.
+ The task force convened several focus meetings to explore
+the problems and make recommendations, and in every instance
+one of the basic needs that ex-offenders indicated that they
+had was the need to find a place to stay, the need to have a
+house, the need to have a place that they could go to once they
+are released from prison.
+ Therefore, as a result of that, we introduced H.R. 2166,
+the Public Safety Ex-offender Self-sufficiency Act, which is
+designed to provide structured living arrangements for ex-
+offenders by building 100,000 units of SRO-type housing
+throughout the country, using a system of tax credits we call
+an ex-offender tax credit, where States would receive credits
+on the basis of the number of ex-offenders living in the State.
+ Finally, I agree with Representative Portman. There is no
+way that you can seriously have a reentry program that works
+without substance abuse treatment. The correlation between drug
+use and crime commission is so high until, in many instances,
+they are almost one and the same. So if we are going to
+seriously rehabilitate ex-offenders and help them find their
+way back, then we must provide resources for treatment. We call
+it treatment on demand, where when a person decides that they
+are ready for drug treatment they ought to be able to receive
+it.
+ So I thank you, Mr. Chairman, for the opportunity to
+testify. We put that initiative on the ballot in Cook County in
+the last election. A group of community residents, ex-offenders
+themselves, and 1.2 million people in Cook County voted to say
+yes we want to put some more money into substance abuse
+treatment, because we know it is a good investment.
+ I thank you very much and appreciate being here.
+ Mr. Souder. Let me start with a basic question here. I know
+this was heavily debated when you drafted the bill, and a forum
+like this is both to identify the problem and say, look, we
+have a problem in this country. This hearing will hopefully
+help make us aware of it, but then also look at the particular
+legislation and say how are you addressing this. First off, we
+understand; but I am not sure everybody who may be here or
+watching--and this is an authorizing bill, not an
+appropriations bill, so the money isn't real money, it is
+guideline money.
+ Now, even with it in that context, the bill is $112
+million. We have multiple different subsections, and this leads
+to two different types of things that we are going to have to
+deal with as we look at legislation like this: Can you really
+make a difference with $112 million, and how do you see that
+leveraged. And, second, given the budget pressures that we
+have, do you think we can get $112 million through an
+authorization? It's a challenge from both ends, and I know it's
+what you have been struggling with.
+ Mr. Davis of Illinois. I don't know about giving him the
+money that I do.
+ Mr. Portman. And you say that I am responsible for getting
+the money.
+ You have put your finger on it, Mr. Chairman. We initially
+actually chose $100 million, and then we just liked that
+mentoring program so much we couldn't find a way to cut it
+back, so we are figuring $112 million this year. The reason we
+tried to keep it at that level was because of the physical
+situation we find ourselves in this country. We are cognizant
+of the fact that it is going to be tough to get an
+authorization bill done at much over 100. It has to do with how
+we work our process in Congress and the Suspension Calendar and
+so on.
+ But having said that, we also, you know, have been very
+careful to keep within that bill, within that $112 million,
+which is substantial resources, some real leverage points for
+State and local governments to be able to take what we are
+giving them and leverage it into something more.
+ The provision of the data I talked about earlier, just
+providing data so that communities know where to better target
+their resources; no one else is doing that. The Federal
+Government really needs to provide that.
+ Danny talked about some other issues that we think will
+encourage innovation at the State and local level by having a
+little Federal seed money. We will get them to do some things
+that are innovative and we will help the whole country, because
+by funding something that works, then we can spread that
+information, disseminate it, and we do, you know, we do have a
+clearing house of information to go out around the country, of
+best practices, what does work and doesn't work, you know.
+ Mr. Ruppersberger talked about a couple of programs that he
+thought worked very well in his county in Maryland. We ought to
+have a hearing about that nationally and get that information
+out. So it is not all the money that, again, some folks would
+like to hear, and maybe you will hear that in your testimony.
+ On the other hand, given the budget realities, we think
+that, you know, it's adequate to make a big difference, and we
+think it's doable in the context of our budget deficit. The
+return on investment is incredible, too, as we talked about
+earlier. If we can get this done, it will result in a
+tremendous return on the investment to the taxpayer.
+ Mr. Davis of Illinois. And I think that's really the key.
+It's a minor investment in reality because the returns are so
+great. I mean, just imagine, if you can redirect 100 ex-
+offenders, some of whom might have committed a crime that could
+have cost millions of dollars. I mean, one hit on the head,
+when a person is trying to get a $10 fix on a nickel bag, can
+put a person in the hospital that will run up a hospital bill
+for maybe a half million dollars that would have been saved,
+because had the individual not been in their state of need,
+then this crime perhaps never would have occurred. And so in
+addition to the return relative to the savings, also the return
+in terms of the prevention of a crime and the prevention of a
+trauma and a tragic situation that develops for someone else.
+ So I think as tough as it is, I think the American people
+would appreciate that kind of expenditure because it's a great
+investment.
+ Mr. Portman. Can I give you a back-of-the-envelope
+estimate--not to spend too much on this question--but let's
+assume that of the 650,000 State and Federal prisoners getting
+released every year, about half go back to prison within 3
+years. We have talked about two-thirds. Well let's be
+conservative. That translates into about 240,000 ex-offenders
+going in at about $25,000 a year at Federal level. Let's assume
+we can reduce recidivism by about 20 percent, being
+conservative. We believe there are incentives in here to be
+able to achieve that over time. That is $6 billion in State and
+Federal prison costs.
+ And so we think although this is a substantial amount of
+money, it is money that will be well invested and the return to
+the taxpayer will far exceed.
+ Mr. Souder. Mr. Cummings.
+ Mr. Cummings. I just have one question, since we are
+limited on time.
+ One of the things that, you know, as you all were talking,
+I was thinking--we had some witnesses come here on another
+issue, and they were talking about effective integration of
+services and not reinventing the wheel, not necessarily on this
+issue, but I was just wondering, in negotiation a lot of times
+we come in with programs, and there are already mechanisms.
+ For example, in the city of Baltimore, we have job-finding
+agencies. And sometimes folks are so busy trying to reinvent
+the wheel that they go past these various entities instead of
+trying to, you know, bring them all together.
+ I guess the thing I am concerned about is what the chairman
+was just referring to. If I could spend, you know--if I had an
+unlimited budget, I would like to have one for this because it
+is just that important. But I am just being realistic, looking
+at our fiscal restraints in this time that we are in.
+ I was just wondering whether you all had--is the program
+aimed also at pulling in agencies, State and Federal, even
+private, that might already have these things that are
+important, and them being a part of the process, as opposed to
+trying to reinvent the wheel, you come up with a nice new
+wheel, but the effectiveness, because you have to spread the
+money so far, is not as great as it could be when those pieces
+are already out there.
+ Mr. Davis of Illinois. Well, I think it speaks to the issue
+of coordination, and I would agree with you that there are many
+disparate programs that exist. But I think this helps to bring
+those programs and centralize them so that everybody, and if
+not everybody, many people now know what is, in fact,
+available.
+ But I think the other thing that it does, as we continue
+the discussion, the big problem is you can have a program to
+find jobs, but if companies won't hire anybody, you just got a
+program.
+ And my point is that it helps raise the level of awareness
+to the extent that potential employers begin to understand that
+it is also in their best interest to find ways to help put some
+of these individuals to work.
+ Mr. Cummings. One of the things I had established long
+before I came to Congress, a volunteer program to help inmates
+coming out of our boot camp. We found that they were very--the
+boot camp seemed to be very effective. But once they got out of
+the boot camp, they went back, as I think Congresswoman Norton
+was saying, to the same neighborhood, hanging with the same
+people, doing the same thing. So they went back.
+ One of the things that we discovered, though, was that if
+we could redirect, you know, the people that they hung with and
+the things that they did, and could find them jobs--and we also
+had some volunteers that come in and do counseling, basically
+the kinds of things you are talking about--it could be very
+effective. But it was very effective. I was so glad to hear you
+talk about jobs, both of you, because without a job you go
+right back to the same old things.
+ On that note, Congressman Davis, one of the things that
+happened is that as people began--companies began to hire
+people from our little program, they did--the guys went out and
+ladies went out there and did just such a great job, they
+started asking us for the folks that were in the program,
+because, you know--so one thing led to another. So there is a
+rainbow out here, we just have to make sure we can reach it.
+ Mr. Davis of Illinois. Especially if we train them well.
+ Mr. Cummings. Right.
+ Mr. Davis of Illinois. Work ethic. All of the things that
+go with it. It is kind of a two-way street. You have to meet
+the individual halfway if the individual is ready to do that.
+That's what we have to attempt to do.
+ Mr. Souder. We only have 5 minutes left in the vote. I am
+going to dismiss the first panel.
+ On the second panel, will anybody who is back start with
+the questioning. Thank you very much for your participation.
+ This committee stands in recess.
+ [Recess.]
+ Mr. Souder. The committee will come back to order.
+ As you heard me refer to in the first panel, as an
+oversight committee it's our standard practice to ask all of
+our witnesses to testify under oath. So will you each stand,
+raise your right hands.
+ [Witnesses sworn.]
+ Mr. Souder. Let the record show that all the witnesses have
+answered in the affirmative. My understanding is that Dr.
+Wilkinson, Reginald Wilkinson of Ohio has a 3:30 flight. And so
+are you still going to try to make that? But we are going to
+put you--we are going to put you----
+ Mr. Wilkinson. I would still rather go first.
+ Mr. Souder. If you need to go first I understand that. This
+vote, four votes, took a long time.
+ Thank you very much. Dr. Wilkinson.
+
+STATEMENTS OF REGINALD A. WILKINSON, Ed.D., OHIO REHABILITATION
+ AND CORRECTIONS AGENCY; LORNA HOGAN, MOTHER ADVOCATE, THE
+ REBECCA PROJECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS, WASHINGTON, DC; FELIX MATA,
+ BALTIMORE CITY'S EX-OFFENDER INITIATIVE, MAYOR'S OFFICE OF
+ EMPLOYMENT DEVELOPMENT; PAUL A. QUANDER, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
+COURT SERVICES AND OFFENDER SUPERVISION AGENCY; AND JIM McNEIL
+ AND DAVID RUSSELL, MENTOR AND PROTEGE IN THE INNERCHANGE
+ FREEDOM INITIATE
+
+ STATEMENT OF REGINALD A. WILKINSON
+
+ Mr. Wilkinson. Thank you.
+ Chairman Souder, members of the subcommittee, I appreciate
+the opportunity to provide testimony at this oversight hearing.
+I am now in my 32nd year as a correctional administrator and my
+14th as director. A more detailed account of my experience is
+included in my written testimony for your review.
+ I would like to provide the committee with a general
+overview of the importance of prisoner reentry to the field of
+corrections. The field of corrections has embarked upon a major
+reexamination of offender reentry. In a short span of time, an
+impressive array of efforts has been launched at all levels of
+government to build more effective and innovative responses to
+the notion of offender reentry.
+ For instance, the Urban Institute has hosted a series of
+reentry round tables to assess the state of knowledge and to
+publish specialized reports on this topic.
+ The National Institute of Corrections in 2000 hosted two
+national public hearings on a variety of correctional topics.
+One such topic was offender reentry. As a result, the
+Transitions from Prison to Community Project was launched.
+ The U.S. Department of Justice and other Federal agencies
+forged a unique partnership by providing a total $100 million
+in grant funding to all 50 States to address reentry for
+violent offenders. This project is known as the Serious and
+Violent Reentry Offender Initiative.
+ As this committee is well aware, and as you have heard from
+the previous witnesses, President George W. Bush in his 2004
+State of the Union address urged Congress to support the
+reentry transition of offenders.
+ The President's statement that America is the land of
+second chances will resonate with corrections professionals for
+many years to come. We are pleased that Cleveland, OH hosted
+the first Annual National Conference on Offender Reentry,
+sponsored by the U.S. Department of Justice. The Council of
+State Governments Reentry Policy Council has recently released
+a landmark report that offers a comprehensive set of bipartisan
+consensus-based recommendations for policymakers and
+practitioners interested in improving the likelihood that
+adults released from prison or jail will avoid crime and become
+productive and healthy members of families in our communities.
+ The report of the reentry Policy Council reflects a broad
+consensus achieved among diverse experts in these areas. The
+Second Chance Act is consistent with those recommendations
+enunciated in the council report, in that it recognizes the
+many complex issues affecting individuals released from prison
+or jail which must be addressed to reduce recidivism.
+ I have wrestled with the issue of reentry for much of my
+professional life, and I have seen how our approach to reentry
+can and should be reinvented to improve the safety and
+stability of America's families and communities.
+ I would like to recognize the unprecedented leadership of
+Ohio Congressman Rob Portman and Congressman Danny Davis and
+other cosponsors of this vital legislation. This bill, when
+adopted, will exert a substantial impact on reducing offender
+recidivism, save precious taxpayer dollars, and provide tools
+to address the myriad substance abuse, mental health, and other
+problems. It will further strengthen families in communities
+across the country. It is a bill that speaks to sound public
+policy and effective correctional practice.
+ It is notable that approximately 650,000 persons, as you
+heard earlier today, will be released annually from State and
+Federal prisons to communities across this Nation.
+ Criminologist Dr. Joan Petersilia explained that the
+problem of offender reentry remains quite serious. Her dismal
+conclusion is that from available evidence, persons being
+released from prison today are doing less well than their
+counterparts released a decade ago. The cost of criminal
+behavior, recidivism, are enormous. A total of $60 billion was
+spent on corrections alone in 2002.
+ In many States, innovative reentry initiatives are under
+way. A key is that these strategies and initiatives must be
+developed in collaboration with community groups, service
+providers, citizens, victims, as well as formerly incarcerated
+persons.
+ In July 2002 the Department of Corrections in Ohio
+published a comprehensive report entitled ``The Ohio Plan for
+Productive Offender reentry and Recidivism Reduction.'' The
+Ohio plan views reentry as a philosophy, not as a program. The
+plan calls for broad systems approach to managing offenders
+returning to the community.
+ Under the Ohio plan, the process of planning for reentry
+begins immediately upon incarceration, not a few weeks, not a
+few months before release from imprisonment. This effort
+represents a holistic and seamless approach to transition from
+the prison community. Ensuring that offenders receive
+appropriate programming during confinement and while they are
+under supervision in the community is an important component of
+the reentry transition.
+ During the last decade, the total numbers of parents in
+prison has increased sharply, from an estimated 452,000 in 1991
+to 721,000 in 1997, an increase of 60 percent. These prisoners
+are parents to millions of children, again as you heard earlier
+today.
+ Policymakers need to pay more attention to how the
+experience of incarceration and reentry affect families and
+children.
+ The Second Chance Act recognizes the importance of family
+involvement and reentry. The Ohio Department of Corrections has
+taken steps to engage offenders and family in reentry. In March
+2004 the Department hosted a conference focusing on prisoners
+as parents and the changes associated with reentry.
+ Following the conference, I formed the Family Council,
+composed of appropriate stakeholders. The Second Chance Act
+recognizes the vital role that community-based organization and
+local community members should play in returning offenders home
+crime-free and drug-free. Communities and local citizens bring
+expertise, knowledge of resources, and often a willingness to
+assist offenders in making a successful transition back home.
+ Three Ohio cities have recently been involved in a program
+called REIL, Reentry of Individuals and Enriching Lives. These
+events have all been well received. Mayor Jane Campbell in
+Cleveland probably has the most aggressive local government
+reentry initiative in our State.
+ Finally, under the Ohio plan we have taken steps to engage
+the faith community through the formation of a faith-based
+council. Offenders released from prison experience a range of
+barriers affecting their prospects for a successful return
+home. Numerous laws have been passed restricting the kinds of
+jobs for which prisoners can be hired. Again, you have heard
+some testimony about this earlier.
+ Jeremy Travis, president of the John Jay College of
+Criminal Justice in New York, called these ``invisible
+punishments'' by which he means the extension of formal
+criminal sanctions through the diminution of rights and
+responsibilities of citizenship. They may carry serious,
+adverse, and even unfair consequences for the individuals
+affected.
+ Some offenders have the opportunity to live for a short
+time in a halfway house or similar transitional housing. The
+problem for many leaving prison or temporary housing continues
+because there are collateral sanctions that prevent access to
+public housing in many jurisdictions. Access to permanent and
+affordable housing for the released offender needs to be
+addressed.
+ I am optimistic about the future of reentry. The commitment
+in the field of corrections remains strong and is growing.
+Several States, including Ohio, Michigan, and others have
+formed the equivalent of an interagency reentry steering
+committee to guide their work. In my State, I chair the newly
+formed State Agency Offender Reentry Agency Coalition.
+ I also want to acknowledge the formation of the
+International Association of Reentry. Its mission is to foster
+victim and community safety through correctional reform and
+prison population management, cost containment, professional
+development, and the successful reintegration of offenders. The
+association is hosting its Inaugural Summit in Columbus, OH in
+March 2005.
+ There is a pressing need for information to be shared and
+disseminated regarding where reentry best practices may be
+found. I strongly support the Second Chance Act's provision
+calling for a national offender reentry resource center. The
+Second Chance Act provides a sensible balance that recognizes
+reentry is about public safety. At the same time, it is about
+returning offenders home as taxpaying and productive citizens.
+I appreciate the opportunity to provide this testimony.
+ Mr. Souder. Thank you.
+ [The prepared statement of Mr. Wilkinson follows:]
+
+ [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.016
+
+ [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.017
+
+ [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.018
+
+ [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.019
+
+ [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.020
+
+ [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.021
+
+ [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.022
+
+ [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.023
+
+ [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.024
+
+ [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.025
+
+ [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.026
+
+ Mr. Souder. We have been joined by our colleague from
+California, Congressman Diane Watson, and she has a statement
+she would like to make.
+ Ms. Watson. Thank you so very much.
+ Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding this hearing
+addressing issues that are very tragic not only to our Nation
+as a whole, but specifically disastrous and devastating to the
+African American community. At issue is the dubious trend
+amongst African American males in the United States, criminal
+justice system, to enter this system and be released with
+nowhere to turn for support.
+ The tragic state of African American males and minority
+males in general is, in fact, perpetuated by a lack of funding
+and attention to our educational system and post-release
+programs for those that have been incarcerated. The goal is not
+to coddle criminals but to foster productive contributions to
+society.
+ Our schools and our students are at war with themselves,
+while our communities constantly get the negative ripple effect
+of more people being in jail than in college. Researchers
+constantly wonder why violence in American society has reached
+pandemic levels. The answer is simple. We have forgotten about
+those who will 1 day be released from prison and will be in the
+same society we function in every day.
+ Our most urgent need is a national resolve to confront and
+deal with the problems leading to violence before, during, and
+after incarceration. The key to preventing our stemming
+recidivism is to understand where and when it occurs, what
+causes it, and which strategies for prevention and intervention
+are most effective.
+ All too often we fail to effectively listen to those people
+who are directly impacted by the justice system.
+ Mr. Chairman, I can speak firsthand on the plague of crime
+caused in my congressional district and throughout the Nation.
+Support, legislatively and financially, should be given to
+pilot efforts that will help increase education and decrease
+recidivism.
+ A man or woman when released from prison must have
+direction and opportunity because they will be part of the
+communities where most of us live. We must put greater focus on
+this issue and remember that we must leave no one behind or our
+Nation will fall.
+ And I just want to add this piece. We have been doing a
+series of youth violence hearings in my district, because the
+last police officer in Los Angeles who was killed was killed by
+a young man coming out of prison and in a domestic violence
+situation. And the whole community turned out mourning for the
+death of this officer. So it comes home to all of us and
+certainly to those who represent the inner cities.
+ And we must support the mission in our prisons for
+rehabilitation. And as they leave these incarceration
+provisions--or incarcerationsites, they must then have
+provisions that will help them get back in society in a more
+productive way.
+ So in closing, the National Foundation for Women's
+Legislative Policy on Crime, Justice, Terrorism and Substance
+Abuse has also been looking at the issue for several years now,
+and I have a very important report issued through the NFWL last
+year that shows that unresolved drug addiction is a $95 billion
+a year problem. And NFWL also produced a second report
+analyzing one safe and cost-effective option for addressing the
+issue.
+ I would like these reports entered into the hearing record,
+Mr. Chairman, and request that we conduct a future hearing
+looking at this issue again.
+ And so I will submit them, without objection, to you.
+ Mr. Souder. Thank you. At the very beginning of the
+hearing, I got unanimous consent that any Member who asked for
+inserts--so we will make sure that we put those documents into
+the record.
+ If I can again make clear to each of the witnesses--which I
+should have said a little bit ago--you will see the lights in
+front of you. You basically have 5 minutes. When the yellow
+comes on there is 1 to go. Your full statement will be in the
+record. If there are additional materials you want to put in
+after you hear the discussion today, we would be happy to do
+that as well. We appreciate your patience.
+ We have another panel after this one as well. But I very
+much appreciate also, I know Dr. Wilkinson, for example, moved
+his schedule around to accommodate today as opposed to
+tomorrow, and I am sure many others did as well.
+ At this point we are now going to go to Lorna Hogan,
+Washington, DC.
+
+ STATEMENT OF LORNA HOGAN
+
+ Ms. Hogan. Good afternoon, members of the community. It is
+my privilege to be here today.
+ My name is Lorna Hogan. I am the mother of four children
+and at the age of 14, I began abusing marijuana and alcohol as
+a way of coping with being physically, mentally, and verbally
+abused.
+ I was afraid to tell anyone what was going on and self-
+medicating was the only way that I knew that could ease the
+pain. But after a while this combination was not working. I
+needed something stronger to help me cope with the abuse. I
+began using crack cocaine. This drug will take me to horrible
+places I would never imagine I would even go. The once clean
+police record I once had became stained with drug-related
+crimes I committed in order to support my habit.
+ My children were definitely affected by my drug use. I
+wasn't a mother to them. My grandmother was raising them, and
+when she became ill, I began leaving them with other people. I
+just couldn't stop using. I tried 28-day treatment programs,
+but I was just detoxing. I was not getting help for the
+emotional pain I kept suppressed by using drugs.
+ There were no services provided for me as a mother. There
+were no services for my children. There were no opportunities
+to heal as a family.
+ In December 2000 I was arrested on a drug-related charge,
+and my children were placed with Child Protective Services. And
+when I went before the judge in criminal court for sentencing,
+I begged him for treatment. The judge refused my request. I
+felt hopeless. I not only lost my children, I lost myself. I
+didn't know where my children were or what was happening to
+them. I felt I would never see them again.
+ In jail I received no treatment. I was surrounded by women
+like myself. We were all mothers who were all there in jail
+suffering from untreated addiction. But there were no treatment
+services in jail for us. When I was released, there were no
+referrals to after-care treatment programs. Instead, I was
+released to the street at 10 p.m., with $4 in my pocket. I
+still didn't know where my children were. I went back to doing
+the only thing I knew how to do, use drugs. I felt myself
+sinking back into a life of self-degradation.
+ Months later, by the grace of God, I finally found someone
+to listen to me, a child welfare worker who was assigned to my
+case. I disclosed to her that I had been using drugs for 26
+years. I was referred to an 18-month family treatment program.
+ The family treatment groups helped me to heal from domestic
+violence, helped me to understand that I was self-medicating to
+the problem instead of getting help for it. I had a therapist
+to help me address my childhood issues and my separation from
+my children. I had a primary counselor I could talk to at any
+time, and I still do. I also have parenting classes that gave
+me insight on being a mother.
+ Today I am a graduate of the family treatment program. I
+have 4 years' clean time from drugs and alcohol. My case with
+Child Protective Services is closed. My children and I have
+been unified for 3 years. We live in our own home in Montgomery
+County. My children are succeeding academically in school, and
+I recently watched with pride and joy as my children performed
+in a concert at school where they all sang in English,
+Japanese, and French. We are a whole and strong and loving
+family today.
+ I would like to conclude my story by sharing with you how
+critical it is for women to receive treatment while they are
+incarcerated. Most incarcerated mothers are nonviolent drug
+felons, and they are untreated drug addicts. Mothers behind
+bars receive little or no opportunity to heal from the disease
+of addiction. This lack of treatment and support services for
+mothers is apparent in every point of their involvement with
+the criminal justice system.
+ Pretrial diversion, release services, court-sentence
+alternatives, and reentry programs for women offenders are
+restricted in number, size, and effectiveness. Mothers behind
+bars and mothers reentering the community need treatment.
+Mothers need comprehensive family treatment so that they may
+heal and break the cycle of addiction and the revolving door of
+the criminal justice system. If treatment is made available to
+mothers behind bars, to mothers returning to the community, so
+many families will have a real chance to heal from the disease
+of addiction. And, like my family, they will have a chance to
+heal and not be lost to the criminal justice system.
+ Thank you.
+ Mr. Souder. Thank you very much.
+ [The prepared statement of Ms. Hogan follows:]
+
+ [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.027
+
+ [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.028
+
+ [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.029
+
+ Mr. Souder. Our next witness was already kind of somewhat
+introduced by a colleague from Maryland. Mr. Felix Mata,
+Baltimore City's Ex-Offender Mayor's Initiative Office of
+Employment Development. Thank you for your patience today.
+
+ STATEMENT OF FELIX MATA
+
+ Mr. Mata. Thank you.
+ Good afternoon, Chairman Souder, Ranking Member Cummings,
+and all the other honorable members of the subcommittee. My
+name is Felix Mata and I manage Baltimore's Citywide Ex-
+offender Initiative within Mayor Martin O'Malley's Office of
+Employment Development. I would like to thank you for the
+invitation to testify before you.
+ As you may know, over the last 5 years, we have witnessed a
+surge in the public's interest to create new reentry
+initiatives in the United States. Already along the East Coast,
+there are several ex-offender initiatives occurring. Besides
+the city of Baltimore, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, DC,
+and Chicago are a few areas where task forces aimed at
+addressing this issue have started. However, the problem is not
+only an urban problem.
+ In the Washington, DC, corridor, Prince George's County,
+Montgomery County, and Fairfax County have all started a
+reentry and/or gang task force to look at the problems of
+reentry or to prevent youth from entering the prison system.
+ On the Federal level, a reentry Policy Council, a
+collaboration of the U.S. Department of Justice and Labor and
+Health and Human Services was created to further look at ways
+that addressed the issue of reintegration.
+ With regards to the city of Baltimore, each year over 9,000
+individuals returned to the city from Maryland prison
+facilities, with over 1,000 returning from the Federal prison
+facilities. Close to 20,000 individuals are under mandatory
+supervision through the Division of Parole and Probation, and
+over 60,000 individuals filtered through the local detention
+center in Baltimore City. Our mayor, Martin O'Malley, and the
+Mayor's Office of Employment Development, facilitated the
+creation of the Baltimore City-wide Ex-offender Task Force in
+October 2002.
+ With members representing more than 100 government
+agencies, nonprofit and community-based service providers, the
+task force worked in committees, including those addressing the
+needs and engagement of employers; a survey of existing
+services to support the needs of the population; the
+development of a model program to assist ex-offenders re-enter
+society; a review of relevant legislation; a focus on the
+involvement of the faith community in reentry; and, last,
+examination of transitional housing needs for ex-offenders.
+ Based on the work of the committee, the task force found
+that the average ex-offender returning to Baltimore City is:
+one, African American; two, male, ages between 20 to 40, with
+an average age to 33; and has little more than a sixth grade
+education.
+ A typical ex-inmate returning to the city of Baltimore
+receives no more than $40 upon release. With very little
+education and/or training, owes $8,000 in child support, has no
+transportation, no medication, has no place to stay and cannot
+find legitimate employment, but wants to turn his life around.
+ A myriad of services must be made available for this
+population: housing assistance; physical and mental health aid;
+substance abuse treatment; child support modification support;
+access to identification; education and training; and
+employment opportunities.
+ In March 2004, the mayor appointed the Baltimore Citywide
+Reentry and Reintegration Steering Committee to carry out
+selected recommendations of the task force. In the last 2
+years, we have seen some significant progress in reintegrating
+ex-offenders into Baltimore. One example is a collaborative
+project between the Mayor's Office of Employment Development
+and the Division of Parole and Probation, by placing one staff
+member to handle P&P's clientele have made a big difference.
+The result of this collaboration has linked over 1,200 ex-
+offenders to services in the past year.
+ Through the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, funding
+has been brought in to create another position in the east side
+of Baltimore.
+ Last, encouraging more employers to hire ex-offenders has
+been the aim of the three employer appreciation breakfasts
+sponsored by the steering committees. These breakfasts allow
+businesses in the community to recognize businesses that hire
+ex-offenders. Due to the tremendous success of this event, at
+our last breakfast on December 14, 2004, we had over 300 people
+in attendance, over 100 business representatives from over 36
+businesses. The event has even received sponsorship now, the
+Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation.
+ Even though the city of Baltimore has done a tremendous
+amount of work, we have a long way to go. The city is currently
+looking at a new and bolder approach of reentry by setting up a
+one-stop reentry center in northwest Baltimore. With the help
+of both State and Federal Government, Baltimore will be able to
+better assist the returning population.
+ Once again, I want to thank you for this opportunity to
+testify, and I am happy to answer any questions that you may
+have.
+ Thank you.
+ Mr. Souder. Thank you very much for your testimony.
+ [The prepared statement of Mr. Mata follows:]
+
+ [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.030
+
+ [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.031
+
+ [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.032
+
+ Mr. Souder. Our next witness was also introduced earlier by
+Delegate Norton.
+ Mr. Paul Quander is with the District of Columbia's Court
+Services and Offender Supervision Agency. He represents that
+agency.
+ Thank you for coming today.
+
+ STATEMENT OF PAUL A. QUANDER, JR.
+
+ Mr. Quander. Thank you. Mr. Chairman and members of the
+committee, good afternoon. I appreciate the opportunity to
+appear before you today. I also want to thank the committee for
+scheduling this reentry hearing during Reentry Week here in the
+District of Columbia. 2005 marks the 4th consecutive year that
+the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency [CSOSA] has
+collaborated with local faith institutions and the District of
+Columbia Government to present a full week of events
+highlighting the needs of returning offenders.
+ Tomorrow night our third annual Citywide Reentry Assembly
+will be held at St. Luke's Center on East Capitol Street. We
+will gather to thank our volunteers and to hear directly from
+offenders who are receiving faith-based support. I invite all
+of you to join us for an informative and inspirational evening.
+ I would also like to submit for the record a copy of the
+comprehensive reentry strategy for adults in the District of
+Columbia that was prepared in conjunction with the District of
+Columbia government and faith institutions and members of the
+community who are previously incarcerated individuals.
+ I would like to share with the committee a few of the
+reentry strategies that we have in place. In 2001 we reached
+out to the city's clergy and began our Faith/Community
+Partnership. Our goal has been to connect returning offenders
+with institutions and individuals who can support them both
+during and after their term of supervision. Within our Faith/
+Community Partnership, three lead institutions identify and
+broker mentoring and other services for returning offenders and
+their families. We currently have a network of 46 participating
+faith institutions, as well as approximately 200 volunteer
+mentors.
+ While faith-based support does not replace CSOSA's
+treatment and education program, it supplements and augments
+our supervision community officers, commonly referred to as
+probation and parole officers, their capacity to provide after-
+care and one-on-one interaction.
+ In 2003 we recognized the need to link returning offenders
+with services well before they actually are released to the
+community. Using teleconferencing and video technology, we took
+the Faith/Community Partnership into Rivers Correctional
+Institution, a Bureau of Prisons contract facility that houses
+over 1,000 D.C. code offenders.
+ Here in the District of Columbia we are unique in that
+every offender who is convicted of a crime in the District is
+sentenced to a Bureau of Prisons facility. And the Bureau tries
+to place these offenders within 500 miles, but oftentimes
+offenders are all apart in different facilities throughout the
+country. There are 1,000 individuals in Rivers, which is
+located in North Carolina.
+ That outreach has developed into regular community
+resource-based video conferences at which representatives from
+the Faith/Community Partnership and a variety of District
+social service agencies provide information to men nearing
+release. Partnership with CSOSA has encouraged our lead faith
+institutions to expand the range of services they provide.
+ For example, in response to the critical need for
+transitional housing, East of the River Clergy-Police-Community
+Partnership is converting a 14-unit apartment building into
+transitional housing for returning offenders. We cannot over-
+estimate the importance of stable housing to successful
+reentry. About 25 percent of the release plans we investigate
+prior to an individual being released do not contain a stable
+housing placement.
+ While we can often arrange for a short-term placement such
+as a public law placement in a halfway house, permanent
+solutions are much more difficult to achieve.
+ According to the District of Columbia's Department of
+Public Housing and Community Development, a household income of
+$40,000 per year, or roughly $20 an hour, is necessary to rent
+a two-bedroom apartment at market rate in this community.
+Almost half of the District households report income below that
+threshold. These are the households most likely to be impacted
+by reentry, and the returning offenders compete directly with
+other workers in these households for a limited supply of
+viable jobs.
+ Approximately half the offenders under supervision are
+unemployed at any given time. Unstable housing and precarious
+employment undermine the individuals' chances for success. To
+put it in the words of one of the offenders, ``To get a job you
+need an address, but to get an address you need a job.''
+ We are working with District non-profits to identify
+additional housing resources. We are also addressing the public
+safety concerns that are integral to any discussion of offender
+housing.
+ In 2004 we executed a memorandum of understanding with the
+District of Columbia Housing Authority to share information
+about offenders who are living in public housing similar to our
+successful partnership with the Metropolitan Police Department.
+ For men and women with severe long-term substance abuse
+problems, intensive intervention has to begin at the moment of
+release. These offenders cannot negotiate reentry without
+intensive support.
+ We have developed and implemented a program at our
+Assessment and Orientation Center that takes offenders directly
+upon release and puts them through 30 days of assessment,
+counseling, and treatment to prepare them for reentry. And for
+most, that means continued drug treatment as well.
+ This program has had a positive effect on recidivism. For
+one cohort of the participants, arrest rates dropped 75
+percent. Based upon the Assessment and Orientation Center's
+proven success, we are expanding it into a Reentry and
+Expansion Center that will serve approximately 1,200 high-risk
+offenders and defendants each year. Our first two units are
+scheduled to open in November 2005.
+ No matter how aggressively we supervise offenders in the
+community, we cannot guarantee their success. Too many
+variables influence reentry for the outcomes to rest solely on
+enforcement. According to the Urban Institute, family support,
+substance abuse treatment, and employment assistance are what
+returning offenders need the most. These essentials can only be
+provided through concerted, sustained collaborations in which
+all partners contribute to the true goal of reentry
+initiatives: the restoration of individuals, families, and our
+communities.
+ I thank you again for the opportunity to participate in
+this hearing, and I will respond to questions at the
+appropriate time.
+ Thank you.
+ Mr. Souder. Thank you for your testimony.
+ [The prepared statement of Mr. Quander follows:]
+
+ [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.033
+
+ [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.034
+
+ [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.035
+
+ [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.036
+
+ [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.037
+
+ [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.038
+
+ Mr. Souder. Our next witnesses, Jim McNeil and David
+Russell, mentor and protege of the InnerChange Freedom
+Initiative.
+ It is good to see you again. I heard you at the breakfast
+last fall with a lot of Senators and House Members. Thank you
+for coming for an official government hearing here to give your
+testimony today.
+ Mr. McNeil.
+
+ STATEMENT OF JIM McNEIL
+
+ Mr. McNeil. Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, my name
+is Jim McNeil, and I am from Richmond, a suburb of Houston, TX.
+I am retired and a volunteer worker in InnerChange Freedom
+Initiative Ministry, a branch of Prison Fellowship. I, along
+with my wife, moved from west Texas to the Houston area 5 years
+ago to be near our 5 children and watch our 11 grandchildren
+grow up.
+ Shortly after moving, I was invited to a Church Missions
+Meeting and was introduced to the InnerChange Ministry. After a
+visit there, I signed on as a volunteer worker, counseling and
+setting up the substance abuse curriculum.
+ For years I have been concerned about the prison population
+explosion and offenders going to prison at an early age and
+continuing to return. When they have reached their 40's, they
+see a life slipping by, and by this time don't know how to
+function in society.
+ There are many good prison ministries. But I saw the
+InnerChange Ministry as one that worked with the offenders
+after release. During this timeframe, my wife and I started
+mentoring offenders who were enrolled in the ministry.
+ To date, we have mentored 12 fellows; 2 have returned to
+prison, much to our disappointment, and 8 are out and doing
+well, and 2 have yet to be released. All of these fellows and
+their families are our extended families. They call us
+regularly, visit with us at our home, take care of us, consult
+us on living problems and family problems, and even help with
+chores at our home.
+ Our home is their home, and our door is open to all of
+them. They continue to bless my wife and me and give us a lot
+of pleasure.
+ Let me close in commending you on your task in prison
+reform. It must be addressed and dealt with. Rehabilitation has
+to be brought off the back burner. These people must be
+prepared to take their responsible places in our society and be
+productive citizens and positive family members.
+ As a closing thought for you, more tax moneys are being
+spent in our State on prisons than on public education.
+ Thank you.
+ Mr. Souder. Thank you.
+ [The prepared statement of Mr. McNeil follows:]
+
+ [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.039
+
+ [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.040
+
+ Mr. Souder. Mr. Russell.
+
+ STATEMENT OF DAVID RUSSELL
+
+ Mr. Russell. Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, my
+name is David Russell. I was born in Abilene, TX. I am a
+graduate of the InnerChange Freedom Initiative Ministry, and
+now a volunteer of IFI.
+ I made a decision to transfer a few years after my second
+incarceration from west Texas to the Houston area, believing
+and trusting in God to provide a way for my transition into a
+new surrounding.
+ Years into my second incarceration, I knew there had to be
+a better way of life. I just didn't know where to begin, to
+start it or even begin. But years had passed by. Things started
+becoming clearer to me that the only way was to let God's will
+for my life start to prevail.
+ Not knowing much as to what was in store for me and this
+new way of life, of living, I started to see things a lot more
+clearly than before, but still not sure where God was taking
+me. I just started to trust and believe in God's word.
+ Then it happened. A program was being put into effect in
+the Texas Department of Criminal Justice system called the
+InnerChange Freedom Initiative Program. It originated in the
+Houston area, but there were still many hurdles I had to
+overcome. It seemed as though I would never get there.
+ Another year passed by since I heard of the program, and it
+happened. I was being transferred to another unit in the TDCJ
+system. Not knowing which unit I would be transferred to, I
+started wondering would I ever be able to get away from my
+past.
+ A couple of days later I went for classification. I was
+told my next unit to where I would be assigned would be the
+Jester 2 Unit. The Jester 2 Unit, now the Carol S. Vance Unit,
+was where the InnerChange Freedom Initiative Program was now in
+process. I had gotten past another obstacle in my life, on my
+way to a new life.
+ A year had gone by since transfer to the Jester 2 Unit. I
+was still not in the program as of yet. But then it happened. A
+couple of IFI members that I have been working with, and also
+built a friendship with, asked me if I wanted to become a
+member of the IFI program, and I said yes without any
+hesitation. So they took me to see the program director, the
+program manager, and I gave them my information.
+ Weeks later I was accepted into the program, and God
+continued to move in my life. Doors began to open. My new way
+of life began to flourish. There I met my mentor, Jim McNeil.
+This was just one of many relationships that were built within
+the IFI program. Other relationships would also form that were
+still just as strong as my relationship with my mentor. Jim and
+Joyce are my extended family, and I love them dearly. I am
+blessed to have many Christian people in my life that will
+guide me and encourage me as I continue my growth with Christ
+Jesus.
+ Let me close my saying that other offenders will benefit
+from the Prison Reform Act. The current rehabilitation process
+must be addressed and dealt with. Not rehabilitation but
+transformation. It has to be brought into the foreground of
+offenders' incarceration. Offenders must be prepared to take
+their responsible places in our society and be productive
+citizens and provide for a family member; not to be the problem
+of a society, but to be a part of the solution of the society.
+ Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
+ [The prepared statement of Mr. Russell follows:]
+
+ [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.041
+
+ [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.042
+
+ Mr. Souder. I thank you all for your testimony.
+ Let me start first by thanking each of you for your work.
+And this is an incredibly difficult area, and I think for those
+in Congress and those listening to the testimony that it is
+very easy to raise false expectations about what we can do.
+ Even Mr. McNeil, in intensive personal mentoring, has said
+that several people have gone back into prison; that I know
+many taxpayers look at these types of programs and say you are
+spending all of this money on it and yet the recidivism rate
+went up.
+ But this is not easy. Partly we come, and hear people come,
+and they tell us their great results, and sometimes they are
+short term, and we don't necessarily have longitudinal studies
+because we look at the numbers and see it go up.
+ But some people go back in within months. Some people go
+back 5 years later. And we have to develop a standard of
+measurement that's realistic here. We are not going to get 100
+percent by putting all of this money in. We are not going to
+get that kind of rate of return; and then second, even if
+somebody goes back in or they go in for a lower level of crime
+than they went in the first time.
+ In other words, are we making some level of improvement? Is
+it going to be easier to do the rehabilitation? Is there some
+hope down the way here? Because if we hold up false hopes in
+front of Congress and say throw $112 million at this and
+recidivism goes up, we are going to have a huge problem.
+ A second part of this as we look at this legislation is the
+numbers you are looking at far overwhelm anything the Federal
+Government is going to be able to do. I mean, you are talking
+thousands in each city, whereas this Federal initiative will
+only touch thousands nationwide. Yet hopefully we will be able
+to do that.
+ So let me start with this question. Understanding that all
+the parts are important--housing, jobs, drug treatment, all
+these different parts--and understanding that in D.C. alone you
+have 2,000--we heard 9,000 in Los Angeles, the number has to be
+even higher--how would you best target these dollars, and how
+do you figure out who should be eligible for the limited funds
+you have? Should it be those who show the best opportunity to
+rehabilitate; those who are the hardest cases; those who are
+first in line? How are you going to allocate these funds and
+how would we best target what we are doing? If you would like
+to take that.
+ Mr. Quander. I will start.
+ As the director of CSOSA here in the District, we are also
+faced with limited options, resources. And so what we have
+decided to do, we have to tailor our approach and focus our
+resources where the greatest impact is going to be, and that's
+public safety and violent crime.
+ We have to target individuals who have the greatest
+indicator that if you don't receive the treatment, they are
+going out and they are going to create havoc in our
+communities. And so that's why we have built this Reentry and
+Sanction Center so that we target the greatest group.
+ Thirty percent of returning offenders who we have targeted
+we believe will cause the greatest amount of harm in our city.
+Now, if we can get those resources and if we can provide them
+with the services that they need, we think we will have the
+biggest impact on reducing crime and helping the city become
+safer.
+ At the same time, we are reaching out to groups, churches
+in particular, because a lot of the churches in our community
+have faith-based organizations, have prison ministries, have
+clothing ministries, have housing ministries, and they need
+some assistance to help us do the work that we have.
+ When we hook up with existing church programs, we already
+have a viable vehicle that is already out there, that has
+substance in the community, and so we try to match that, the
+community part of it and the government part, and it can work.
+ We realize that the resources are limited. But if they are
+targeted in that way, we think that we will have the best
+chance for having the greatest impact on the citizens of the
+District of Columbia.
+ Mr. Souder. I want to ask Mr. Mata a question with a
+followup to that. But, for example, InnerChange Ministries,
+it's self-selected. In other words, you have to choose to go
+into that section of the prison, because it's a faith-based
+ministry?
+ Mr. Russell. Yes, you have to volunteer.
+ Mr. Souder. And so that would be one way if it's a faith-
+based question.
+ We heard from Ms. Hogan about the mothers with children.
+Would that be another subtarget group because of the impact
+potentially on the children in the family, and how do you
+handle that, for example, in Baltimore?
+ Mr. Mata. The city of Baltimore actually looks at what
+everyone is doing. One of the great things we do is see what
+the city of Chicago is doing. The Shay Foundation actually
+builds a triangle and says the top level group of ex-offenders
+returning into the community, they don't really need our help.
+They can come back. We have the bottom level of that triangle,
+our ex-offenders, who no matter how much you can try to help
+them, you can spend money and time on them. They are not going
+to want to change their lives around. But you have that middle
+tier who just need an extra push. They need to be put into a
+training program, they need to get transitional housing. Those
+are the groups that you can help.
+ You can't expect an ex-offender who is coming out of prison
+to go through an 8 to 10-week training program to change their
+life around. It's going to take a number of kinds of different
+programs.
+ I look at the Baltimore Reentry Partnership Program. It's
+an actual 2-year program with a 70 percent success rate, but
+they also provide transitional housing. The case manager meets
+the person at the prison door when they are released and says,
+all right, let's go get you signed up. We are going to get you
+your identification, get you food stamps, get you all these
+other services that you need right now.
+ That's the type of dedication that it takes to get ex-
+offenders involved and to help turn them around.
+ Mr. Souder. Thank you.
+ Mr. McNeil. Mr. Chairman, there are two things I would like
+to elaborate on.
+ One is the mentoring program. David's and my relationship
+started 2 years before he got out of the penitentiary, and I
+think that is very important. Some people are mistaken that
+mentoring is picking up the guy when he gets out. If you don't
+know him when he gets out, he by nature is very suspicious of
+you.
+ The second is, Congressman Davis, I want to echo what you
+were talking about in substance abuse. I am a recovering
+alcoholic, so maybe I am a little bit more sensitive to that.
+But the numbers run side by side.
+ In the State of Texas because of budget restraints and the
+population explosion, TDCJ has cut back on their substance
+abuse programs within the penitentiary. That's a mistake.
+ And so I am not versed on where your money should go, but
+these are just two of the issues that I think are very
+important. Thank you.
+ Mr. Souder. Mr. Davis, if it's OK I will go to Ms. Norton
+next, because she didn't get questioning on the first panel.
+ Mr. Davis of Illinois. OK.
+ Ms. Norton. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
+ I'm sorry I didn't get to hear everyone's testimony. I just
+want to congratulate those of you who have been involved in
+delivering these services and those of you who have had the
+benefit of them. Because to have the benefit of them is not
+enough; you have to have a great deal of personal inner
+strength to take advantage of those services.
+ There's been a lot of emphasis, I think correctly, on
+services that join the community, such as mentoring services.
+The bill, Mr. Portman's, Mr. Davis' bill, shows us how at the
+beginning of this we all--when you talk about data collection
+is necessary, and how much of faith-based programs.
+ I would like to hear more from Mr. Quander. He is from the
+Federal system. It has a more developed system than any of the
+States. And here I have been critical of the way we go at law
+enforcement in the Federal system. At the same time, I want to
+say that the Federal prison system and its after-services are
+the best in the United States.
+ And I have some before and after, because Lorton, which is
+the city prison, was closed. The Federal Government took over,
+and it was night and day. Such an improvement. So there is the
+Federal system out there can be a real example for the States.
+ Right after, Mr. Quander, right after the Federal
+Government became involved with felons from the District of
+Columbia, there was literally, almost immediately, within the
+first few months, an immediate effect on recidivism. So much so
+that I went around the District of Columbia with a chart,
+showing people, because we were trying to get halfway houses
+placed in places. I recognize that over time it may not have
+been as great as it was then, but obviously you were having an
+effect on recidivism.
+ When we had a hearing, when Mr. Davis had a hearing here,
+we tried to learn more about what was happening. What impressed
+us was not at that point the community services. The community
+was still trying to get them to understand these were their
+children, their numbers, residents of the District of Columbia.
+They hadn't been dropped in from outer space. What impressed us
+was the services that CSOSA offered. The chairman could not be
+more correct: We are going to have to target whatever we are
+talking about.
+ I notice that in the testimony here from Reginald
+Wilkinson, he says that President Bush in his 2004 State of the
+Union urged Congress to allocate $300 million over 4 years to
+support reentry transition services. He named several kinds of
+services that he indicated the President had named: job
+training, placement services, transitional housing, community
+faith-based services. Some of that is very expensive.
+ Let me ask you about the services that I think have made a
+difference in the District of Columbia, which I think could be
+less expensive, and hear your response.
+ One was anger management services. These are very angry
+people. That's how they got there in the first place in some
+sense, and when they see how society views them, including
+their own neighbors, that builds up.
+ The other was inpatient and outpatient drug treatment, so
+much so that you have some facilities here.
+ And then, as I recall, there was a step, everybody got
+tested. So that if, in fact, you get tested dirty, you are one
+step back to prison. I wish you would describe those services,
+see if they are available, and the effect they have had.
+ Because a lot of your testimony, Mr. Quander, was about
+things like community services, faith-based and the other
+services we are all for, but very frankly, I don't think that's
+what the difference is in the District of Columbia so far if we
+are talking about the difference in recidivism rates.
+ I would just like you to lay out for us what--at least
+these--I am not even into transitional housing. I mean, you may
+have to bunk up with somebody for a long time. I am into what
+it takes to get through every day without punching somebody in
+the nose, maybe even your parole officer, and going back to
+jail, because you are still on drugs, because you are not being
+tested, because there are no incentives to stay out and stay
+clean.
+ Mr. Quander. One of the first things that we were able to
+accomplish with the help of this Congress was we were able to
+reduce the caseloads of the men and women who supervise
+offenders.
+ When we first started this agency, the average caseload was
+well over 100. Today, for our general service units, it's less
+than 50 to 1. Some of our specialized units, the sex offender
+unit, the domestic violator unit, even traffic is down to 25 or
+30 to 1. So it allows our men and women who have the training
+and dedication to work with the men and women who are under
+supervision, to provide services and to keep them focused and
+accountable.
+ As far as anger management is concerned, we offer anger
+management because people need to understand how to deal with
+the day-to-day frustrations. Many of us have parents and
+guardians and coaches that helped and taught us how to work and
+to navigate and negotiate.
+ Many of the men and women that we see have never had
+anyone. And so after a period of incarceration, after going
+through the court services, people are angry, they are
+frustrated, and they are easily dissuaded. So we try to build
+in anger management and coping skills.
+ As far as substance abuse, we drug test. Everyone that
+comes into the door has to drug test, and we have graduated
+sanctions because we want to work with individuals. But our
+offenders know that if you test positive there will be
+immediate sanctions.
+ We don't have to go back to court. We don't have to go back
+to the parole authorities. We have the authority to sanction
+individuals. And those sanctions can be anywhere from going to
+AA meetings to actually being under house arrest or actually
+having a bracelet placed upon you for global positioning
+satellite monitoring so we know what you are doing 24 hours, 7
+days a week.
+ It is important that there is----
+ Ms. Norton. Now, if you continue to offend, are the next
+steps back so that people know that they could end up back in
+jail?
+ Mr. Quander. It's clear that if you continue to offend,
+that's exactly where you are going. But we want to give people
+the opportunity.
+ We have to be clear as to what the expectations are; that
+if you reoffend, that if you have these technical violations,
+you will definitely go back. Our mission is to try to get them
+to turn their lives around, know what they are facing is to
+correct that path so that we can keep them here in our
+community.
+ Ms. Norton. It is a real carrot-stick.
+ Mr. Quander. It is but a major component is the substance
+abuse treatment. If you don't give individuals time away from
+this environment, it's sort of a like a man on a diet who lives
+right above the Burger King Restaurant. He smells the hamburger
+cooking, the food day in and day out, but our community is even
+more pervasive than that.
+ The person doesn't have to smell it upstairs, the drugs are
+right in the house. Grandmother has the drugs, sister has the
+drugs. When you walk out on the street, all your partners and
+friends have the drugs. They are all enticing you. They are all
+saying come on, come back.
+ And so we need money and resources so that we can get
+people out of that environment, get them away, get them where
+people who have gone through this type of process say, hey, I
+have made it.
+ It takes time, it takes effort, it takes money. On average,
+it cost us $14,000 per individual that we put through
+treatment. Three phases--detox, inpatient, and that outpatient
+component is just so critical.
+ That's where that faith-based component also comes in,
+because you need a mentor sometimes. You need someone that has
+gone through that process to walk with you. When you are
+feeling low and when you have that temptation and your partners
+are calling you, you need someone on the pro-social side that
+you can pick up the phone and you can look at for support.
+That's where we start to make the change.
+ So my agency has been successful, but a lot of that has to
+do with the good graces that this committee and others have
+given us the resources to dig in to find out what it is that we
+actually need to do, and the men and women who work with the
+offenders day in and day out in some of that community support,
+some of which is represented here in the audience today.
+ Ms. Norton. Thank you very much.
+ I just want to say, Mr. Chairman, the notion of--I think
+the chairman has been clear, you know; no one is going to throw
+some money out of there in front of you. Frankly, I don't think
+they should.
+ I would look at CSOSA and what has worked there. It can't
+be done on the cheap. We didn't do it on the cheap when we put
+them in jail for $30,000 a year, bringing them out here in the
+same condition. And therefore we've got to decide if you have a
+limited amount of dollars, where to use them. And these record
+numbers are in prison because of drugs, then it does seem to me
+to make sense to somehow extricate that one part of the
+problem, because it is such a large part of the problem.
+ I just want to say, finally, to Ms. Hogan, I am very
+impressed to read your testimony and to hear your testimony,
+because you are the story of virtually every woman in prison.
+And here was a woman who was saying get me off these drugs and
+I will be all right. She went to prison and could not--she
+couldn't get them beforehand. And we are getting to the point
+where it is easier to get them after you come out than
+beforehand. She couldn't get any effective drug treatment
+beforehand. The last place apparently you can get it at least
+is in State prisons, and then she was on her way back out until
+she found somebody who would help her after she got out of
+prison.
+ So I just want to thank all of you for what you are doing.
+ And I do think, Mr. Quander, that you could be helpful to
+the States, because it's really a State problem. Most people
+are in State prison. If somehow what has happened here, which
+is kind of a microcosm that is normally not available to
+localities, should be shared so that they would have some sense
+where to put their own limited dollars while we are trying to
+get more dollars here, and I think that your experience is very
+useful to us all.
+ And I am very grateful for what the Federal Government, the
+Federal prison system and the Federal dollars that fund CSOSA
+have done for the returning of felons in the District of
+Columbia.
+ Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
+ Mr. Souder. Thank you.
+ Mr. Davis.
+ Mr. Davis of Illinois. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
+ Let me thank each one of the witnesses for their testimony.
+ Listening to all of the things that we continued to hear,
+my question really goes to Mr. Russell and to Ms. Hogan. Could
+you project what your life might be like if you had not come
+into contact with some help? I am saying we often look at the
+statistic that 67 percent of the individuals would probably
+reoffend within the 3-year period if they didn't find some kind
+of help.
+ So would you just project what you think your life might be
+like if you had not come in contact with some help?
+ Ms. Hogan. Yes. I could basically say that if I hadn't
+gotten the help from a social worker, that, you know, my
+children were in Child Protective Services, I can predict
+pretty much if I had kept using and going in and out of jail
+that my children would be gone. And because addiction is a
+disease, once--you know, if it's left untreated, you get fatal
+results.
+ So I don't think I would be here today if I was still using
+and going in and out of jail. And I am thankful that I had
+someone that took interest in me to help me.
+ Mr. Davis of Illinois. Thank you.
+ Mr. Russell.
+ Mr. Russell. I can honestly say that I wouldn't be sitting
+here today either if it weren't for the InnerChange Freedom
+Initiative Ministry. You have volunteers coming in and sharing
+their lives with you, and not knowing you from Adam, and giving
+you an opportunity to open yourself up to them, knowing that
+they care about you.
+ You have someone walking beside you and not looking down on
+you. You have someone giving you the tools and the instructions
+so that you could have a structured life as well.
+ Being with Jim has been a blessing to me, because if he
+wouldn't have been around, I would have gone back to the same
+old ways. I would have been back to the old same community I
+came out of. But having an opportunity to move out of that
+community into a new community, into a new environment, opened
+my eyes to where now I want to help, I want to give back.
+ So, having those volunteers there, having the mentors
+there, having the program in place has opened my eyes a lot
+more clearly than they had been before--not changed, not
+rehabilitated me, but transforming me from that old man to the
+new man.
+ Mr. Davis of Illinois. Mr. Mata, Mr. Quander, both of you
+are professionals in the field, in the business. As you do the
+work that you do on a regular basis, what do you think can
+really put the seal on and become a real breakthrough?
+ We know that there are many individual programs throughout
+the country, but they are oftentimes so meager, so minor, so
+small, and we are missing so many people who never come into
+contact with the program, who never get touched.
+ What becomes a real breakthrough for this problem across
+the Nation?
+ Mr. Quander. I will try to respond this way. I think you
+actually need a movement, you need a concerted effort whereby
+the focus of reentry and prisoners actually takes on the
+character of the movement so that everyone is aware of the
+issues and everyone is focused on what some of the solutions
+are.
+ Some of the solutions are pretty straightforward. We
+mentioned drug treatment, we have mentioned housing, we have
+mentioned employment. There are certain areas in which certain
+programs are very successful. We need to concentrate on those
+areas. I think if we concentrate on those areas, we can produce
+the results, and once we produce the results, you can't argue
+with the numbers. I think that is where we need to go and that
+is where we need to concentrate.
+ For offenders in the District of Columbia, housing is such
+a big issue. They will tell you, I can't concentrate on my
+substance abuse issues if I don't have a place to live. I want
+to get back with my family. I want to go to the PTA meetings,
+but I need to establish myself as a man and provide for my
+family, and I am going to do it either by hustling or I am
+going to do it the correct way.
+ So those are those real issues that we really need to focus
+on. Some of the faith-based partners that we have done it with,
+they have apartment buildings, and they are willing to convert
+those and are doing that right now. We need to support those
+efforts, because they have already taken the lead. We need to
+support it.
+ Mr. Davis of Illinois. Mr. Mata.
+ Mr. Mata. Mr. Davis, I agree with what Mr. Quander just
+said, but I also want to make a differentiation between the
+city and the State. I actually have two positions. I work for
+the city of Baltimore, but I also work for the State of
+Maryland as the executive director for the Governor's Advisory
+Council on Offender Employment.
+ The city and the State are two very different monsters. The
+city is sort of an urban island, and then you have the State of
+Maryland, which is western, eastern, southern Maryland that
+thinks very differently from what the city of Baltimore does.
+So it does take a movement in order to make these changes
+happen.
+ There are some great things coming out of the Federal
+Government that we could use in the State, but our State
+representatives sometimes vote against things that can help
+reentry in the State of Maryland.
+ The movement has started in Maryland. Like I said,
+Montgomery County, Prince George's County, they have both
+started reentry activities there. If you look at a county such
+as Montgomery County, which is a very wealthy county in the
+State of Maryland, they actually are having some problems with
+reentry because when they connect their inmates to employment
+after they are released, they may get a job offer from that
+business, but then all of a sudden they don't show up to the
+job anymore because after release the Division of Corrections
+no longer has ahold of them, they can no longer assist them in
+making that proper transition. So they are back out into the
+free world, but they don't have the cognitive restructuring or
+the mental capacity to deal with everyday living like you and I
+do.
+ This is something else that needs to be brought in and
+taught to these inmates and ex-offenders, and programs such as
+CSOSA, programs like the REP program in Baltimore City, these
+programs are doing great jobs in assisting these ex-offenders
+in returning into the community.
+ Mr. Davis of Illinois. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr.
+Chairman.
+ Mr. Souder. What Mr. Mata just said is not widely talked
+about, yet is a huge problem of the longer term followup if you
+haven't had a substantive change. Because often as I have dealt
+with the businessmen who are first willing to hire many of the
+people going back into the community, they are themselves the
+most outspoken leaders in the community trying to get other
+business leaders to do that. And then if it doesn't work and
+they are running a business that runs on a profit, and if the
+people don't show up, they give up and it affects the entire
+business community.
+ We have a stake in making these programs go, to make sure
+that there is some kind of followup in that employment, for
+literally it isn't that it just fails in one case, it spreads
+to the employers, to other employers, and by word of mouth just
+goes through the business community that this is too high a
+risk, because you are already taking some risk in the
+situation.
+ Before moving to the next panel, I wanted to raise one
+other question that challenged me years ago, and I know it is
+going to come up in the course of this debate.
+ Years ago, when I was a staffer for the House, a man named
+Bob Woodson told me, when I went to talk to him, he said,
+``Don't be a typical White guy who sits on your duff and
+pronounces what is wrong with the urban centers. Go out and
+meet some people.''
+ So I said, ``OK, introduce me to some.'' One of the men I
+met was V.G. Ginnis, who over 20 years ago was working with
+gang problems with the Bloods and the Crips in the city of Los
+Angeles. We had done a number of antigang initiatives to
+provide job training, housing assistance, counseling, drug
+treatment to people and gangs. And he said, ``Here is the
+problem with some of what you do.'' Guess what that program
+did? More kids joined gangs because they couldn't get job
+training, drug treatment, housing assistance if they didn't
+belong to the gang, so gang membership went up.
+ When these services don't exist in the community for people
+who are following the law, how do we best make the argument--
+other than a pure cost question here, which you can, but it
+doesn't get into the equity question--how do we make this
+argument to sell a bill like this, when there is a shortage of
+services across the board?
+ Mr. Mata. If I could just answer that, Mr. Chairman, with
+the reentry center that we are trying to start in Baltimore,
+that is actually one of the issues that we are looking at,
+because if we put it in the northwest corridor, we are actually
+replacing a center that assists all the population in that
+northwest area of Baltimore City. But what we are looking at is
+that it will be open to all Baltimore City residents, but with
+specialists who focus on ex-offender issues.
+ The reason why you need that there is because those
+specialists, they have the contacts who know what works
+specifically for ex-offenders.
+ Going back to the business aspect, you don't only want to
+put an ex-offender into a job, you want to put them into a
+career pathway, and you want to do that for any resident.
+Because the older you get or the more experienced you get, you
+want to move up the career ladder, you want to be a better
+taxpaying citizen and you want to help others do the same
+thing. Those specialists that would be at that center would be
+able to do that and better assist that population.
+ Mr. McNeil. Mr. Chairman, I would like to share something
+with you. In Texas, after an offender has been out 2 years and
+he can get permission from his parole officer, from the unit,
+they can come back to that unit and be a volunteer in services.
+ David has just gone through the Texas Department of
+Corrections, or TDCJ, security and safety training, and he is
+becoming a mentor himself. We have several of our fellows who
+are back in mentoring, and we find that they are the best
+mentors. But we also find that it is real good for them. You
+can't keep it if you don't give it away.
+ They really can work with the guys with their problems.
+They understand them, they have been there. And we have fellows
+that are really wanting to come back and work as volunteers.
+ Thank you.
+ Mr. Souder. Mr. Quander.
+ Mr. Quander. Sometimes I believe we just have to take small
+steps. For certain individuals that are returning from periods
+of incarceration, they have never held any type of job. So the
+first step sometimes is just getting into a job, learning those
+soft skills: How do you work with others? How do you resolve
+disputes? How do you talk to people? It may not be a career
+that a person is looking for, but it is a start.
+ There are jobs out here in our communities that we can get
+people started. Sometimes, you know, a long journey begins with
+that first step. So sometimes the first job, the first positive
+experience that we can provide to men and women who are
+returning can help them, along with other support, to make the
+next steps in their lives.
+ So a job is a job when you have that support, and it can be
+more than just that first job, it can be the first step. That
+is the approach we have to take, because I know across the
+country, there are limitations. But for individuals who are
+just returning from prison that first step can be so important
+and meaningful.
+ Mr. Souder. I thank you each for your testimony. If you
+want to submit anything else into the record, if you hear
+anything on the third panel or you have additional thoughts,
+please get it to us in the next 5 legislative days, and thank
+you for your patience.
+ If the third panel could now come forward: Pat Nolan,
+Joseph Williams, Chaplain Robert Toney, Frederick Davie and
+George Williams.
+ If you could each remain standing, I need to swear you in.
+ [Witnesses sworn.]
+ Mr. Souder. Let the record show each of the witnesses
+responded in the affirmative.
+ The first witness on this panel--and thank you very much
+for your patience; it has been a long afternoon--is Pat Nolan
+from Prison Fellowship, from Justice Fellowship. Pat and I have
+known each other longer than we want to admit. It is great to
+see you here today, and thank you for your leadership in this
+area.
+
+ STATEMENTS OF PAT NOLAN, PRISON FELLOWSHIP; JOSEPH WILLIAMS,
+TRANSITION OF PRISONERS; CHAPLAIN ROBERT TONEY, ANGOLA PRISON,
+LOUISIANA; FREDERICK A. DAVIE, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF PUBLIC
+ POLICY, PUBLIC/PRIVATE VENTURES; AND GEORGE A.H. WILLIAMS,
+ TREATMENT ALTERNATIVES FOR SAFE COMMUNITIES
+
+ STATEMENT OF PAT NOLAN
+
+ Mr. Nolan. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman, and distinguished
+Members. It really is an honor to be here with you and discuss
+with you this very important issue of public safety.
+ We are working to prepare prisoners to return to their
+community, and we want them to do it safely and successfully so
+they can become productive, law-abiding, contributing members
+of the community.
+ Mr. Chairman, as you noted, I am the president of Justice
+Fellowship, which is the criminal justice reform arm of Prison
+Fellowship Ministries. Prison Fellowship for three decades now
+has worked to change prisoners' lives by taking the gospel into
+prisons; and part of that is, we can't take the gospel into
+prisons if we also don't care about the circumstances in which
+they live and to which they return and the circumstances that
+got them there. So we work at dealing with the prisoner in all
+of those circumstances from a biblical basis.
+ Scientific studies have shown that inmates who participate
+in just 10 or more of our Bible studies are two-thirds less
+likely to recidivate. And that is significant because, for many
+of us, Joe and others, who have been incarcerated--I knocked
+off 10 Bible studies in about 2 weeks. For those who are
+interested, there are plenty of opportunities to do it. So just
+10 or more having that impact is very significant.
+ I wrote a book, ``When Prisoners Return,'' to call the
+church to become involved in preparing prisoners for their
+return and then helping them after they return. It is based on
+our experience as a ministry and my own personal experiences.
+ I bring a unique background to the ministry. I was for 15
+years a member of the California State Assembly. I was
+Republican leader of the Assembly for 4 of those years. I was a
+leader on crime issues.
+ I was one of the original sponsors of the Victims' Bill of
+Rights, Proposition 15. I was the author of the Death Penalty
+Restoration Act and author of tough-on-crime measures,
+including mandatory minimum sentences.
+ I pushed for the expansion of California's prison system as
+the floor leader at a time when we built nine new prisons and
+not one new university.
+ Then I was targeted for prosecution over a campaign
+contribution that turned out to be part of an FBI sting
+operation. I pleaded guilty to one count of racketeering and
+went to prison for 25 months and spent another 4 months in a
+halfway house.
+ I had a chance to see the impact of the policies that I had
+so ardently advocated played out, and I saw how our system is
+failing us. I saw that the prisons were not making the
+community safer, that the atmosphere inside a prison was not
+conducive toward reformation of character, and in fact the
+skills you learn to survive inside prison make you antisocial
+when you get out.
+ And while in good faith I had supported all those policies,
+in fact they weren't keeping the public safer; they were making
+the public more dangerous. Even low-risk or nonviolent
+offenders that go to prison are more likely to commit offenses
+when they get out. The RAND Corp. studies have shown that.
+ While I was in prison, I had plenty of time to think about
+why that was, why those policies that I had strongly supported
+weren't working. My testimony today reflects the conclusions
+that I came to and that we have learned from our experience in
+trying to minister to people.
+ First, let me tell you what it is like to be released from
+prison. The moment you get off the bus, you are faced with
+several critical decisions immediately: Where will you live?
+Where are you going to find your next meal? Where will you look
+for a job? How do you get to the job interview? How do you get
+to where you hope to live? How can you earn enough money to
+support yourself?
+ There are a million business details: How do you open a
+bank account? How do you get an I.D. card? Most people are
+released from prison without even identification, and these
+days, after September 11, you can't get a hotel room, you can't
+get on a train, you can't get on a plane, without I.D. What are
+you going to do?
+ How do you make medical appointments? Inside prison you are
+exposed to staph infections, hepatitis C, tuberculosis, HIV/
+AIDS. How do you get a medical appointment? And how do you have
+a doctor treat you when you don't have any of your records with
+you?
+ These things put a lot of stress on an inmate coming out.
+And the problem is, the pressure of these decisions hits you at
+a point when you have been stripped for years of any control
+over any aspect of your life. You are desensitized to making
+decisions.
+ I will give you a perfect example. When I came out, a bunch
+of my friends--it was the first day at the halfway house. A
+bunch of my friends took me to lunch at the 8th Street Deli,
+right near the Capitol. We all sat there. The waiter came and
+they went around and ordered. And I sat there and stared at the
+menu. And I looked at it--you know, on a deli menu there are
+hundreds of choices. I stared and was paralyzed; I couldn't
+make a choice. For 2 years I hadn't ordered anything for
+myself. I hadn't decided what to eat. And here I was.
+ Finally, in embarrassment, I just ordered where my eyes
+hit, but I didn't want it. I was just too embarrassed. I just
+wanted to get that moment over with.
+ I come from a good background. I had a great education. I
+was an attorney. I was a member of the legislature. If, after
+just 2 years of incarceration, I couldn't order something from
+a menu, think of a person that didn't have any of those
+advantages going into prison, and they confront where to live,
+where to sleep, how to get a job, what to do with their time.
+It is a significant problem.
+ The first thing I want to say to you, mentors make all the
+difference in the world. It is not programs that are as
+important as relationships. Programs are important, but only if
+they facilitate a relationship, or the real live human being
+that loves you.
+ By the very statement of being a mentor, it is an act of
+love. Just being there for the inmates is a powerful statement.
+That somebody like Jim McNeil would come every week and visit
+David Russell in prison and then walk through the gate with him
+and help him, to be there as he confronted all those decisions,
+is an act of love. Government programs can't love people, only
+people can.
+ The second thing I want to say is where are those loving
+people going to come from? Ninety-five-plus percent of them
+come from churches. We can use euphemistic terms such as
+``community-based,'' but it is churches that provide these
+people. Willie Sutton was asked, ``Why do you rob banks?'' He
+said, ``That is where the money is.''
+ If we are interested in finding loving people to start
+these relationships with inmates, it is the churches where they
+are going to come from, and that is just the reality. We can
+play all around that, but going and speaking to a Kiwanis Club,
+you are not going to have nearly the impact as you do going to
+a church, saying, ``Will you come and join us in walking with
+these men and women and helping prepare them for their return
+and then walk through the gate with them as they make those
+decisions?''
+ The church is also a healthy atmosphere. John Dilulio made
+a very interesting observation: ``The last two institutions to
+leave the inner-city are liquor stores and the churches.''
+Think of the clusters of ill health, of pathology, around
+liquor stores, the gambling, the vice, the drugs, versus the
+clusters of health, healthy lives, around churches.
+ We want the people coming out of prisons to be healthy, not
+just physically--mentally, morally--healthy, good people.
+Churches are the place. If they are going to hang, if they are
+going to spend time, the church is a lot healthier place for
+them to hang out than the liquor store. So we need to
+facilitate that. We need to encourage that.
+ But it is uncomfortable coming out of prison. You are not
+sure if anybody will welcome you. The mentor helps them. They
+introduce them to the church, they hopefully will have told
+them ahead of time, this inmate is coming out that they have
+that relationship with, introduce them to the church and get
+them involved in healthy activities.
+ Not just Bible studies and worship services, but also just
+helping around the church. Our parents told us that idle hands
+are the devil's playground. There is plenty of idle time when
+you get out of prison. You go from a period of control to a
+period of total freedom with your time. It is better to channel
+that to where healthy, loving people are in the churches.
+ The last point I will make is that the government has to
+treat the faith community as a partner. Too many government
+agencies treat it as an auxiliary that it is a cheap way to do
+what we don't have enough money to do. That is wrong, because
+it misses the power that the church has.
+ The church provides something that government never can,
+and that is not only that love, but it is also that moral
+outlook and direction. We don't want the government preaching
+and giving moral direction. But crime at its root is a moral
+problem. Bad moral choices were made. The decision was made to
+harm somebody else. And we need to reform that attitude, that
+world view, that helps get that person thinking right, thinking
+in terms of living a good, healthy, productive life. The only
+way that comes is from a world view.
+ We don't have enough cops in the world to stop people from
+doing something bad that pops in their head. There has to be
+self-restraint, and it is the church that can teach that self-
+restraint, and the loving mentor that can help model that
+behavior and help them when they stumble and make mistakes to
+get back on their feet.
+ The last thing I will say is that Dr. Martin Luther King
+said, ``To change someone, you must first love them, and they
+must know that you love them.'' It is the faith-based community
+that reaches out in love to people society would rather forget
+and says, ``We love
+you, we will walk with you, we are here to help you get back on
+your feet.''
+ Thank you.
+ Mr. Souder. Thank you.
+ [The prepared statement of Mr. Nolan follows:]
+
+ [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.043
+
+ [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.044
+
+ [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.045
+
+ [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.046
+
+ [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.047
+
+ [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.048
+
+ [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.049
+
+ Mr. Souder. Our next witness is Mr. Joseph Williams,
+Transition of Prisoners.
+
+ STATEMENT OF JOSEPH WILLIAMS
+
+ Mr. Joseph Williams. Thank you, and good evening.
+ First, let me start by saying what an honor it is for me to
+be able to testify before this committee on an issue that is
+very near and dear to my heart, prison aftercare and prison
+reentry and the reduction of prison recidivism.
+ If we are going to have a significant impact on this whole
+problem of prisoner recidivism, I think it is very important
+for us to first understand the types of people who populate our
+prisons, and if you would allow me to read just a few prisoner
+demographics.
+ First of all, 50 percent were raised by a single parent,
+usually the mother; 15 percent were raised by neither parent,
+but were raised by another relative or in a foster care home or
+in an institution; 25 percent were raised by a parent or a
+guardian who was a substance abuser; 15 percent of male inmates
+and 55 percent of female inmates were physically or sexually
+abused as children, and the numbers are even higher for those
+raised in foster care homes or institutions--44 percent for men
+and 87 percent for women; 95 percent of the men had no loving
+father figure in their life.
+ As far as educational achievement is concerned, 40 percent
+did not have a high school diploma or its equivalent; 40 to 65
+percent are functionally illiterate, meaning they lack the
+skills necessary to read and understand a newspaper, balance a
+checkbook or fill out an application for a job--on the average,
+they read at a 7th grade level; 25 to 50 percent have symptoms
+of a learning disability; on the average, their IQ score is 14
+points below the national average, and about 15 percent score
+low enough on an IQ test to be identified as mentally retarded.
+ As far as substance abuse is concerned, alcohol and other
+drugs are implicated in the offenses of about 80 percent of
+inmates. Drug offenses account for 20 to 60 percent of inmates;
+60 to 80 percent have used drugs at some point in their lives;
+70 to 85 percent of inmates need some level of drug treatment,
+but only 13 percent receive treatment while in prison.
+ Then there are the effects of prison after a person ends up
+in the prison for a number of years. They have a prison
+mentality: Don't talk, don't trust, don't feel. They are
+indecisive, distrustful, afraid of life beyond the walls. They
+are out of touch--out of touch with family, out of touch with
+society in general, and out of touch with the requirements of
+today's workplace.
+ I think when we look at the characteristics of these
+individuals who are in prison and are being released into the
+community, we can see that this is not going to be a quick-fix
+solution, that in order to have a significant impact on the
+problem of prison recidivism, comprehensive and relatively
+long-term measures are going to be required.
+ I can say that, like Pat, I feel that I am uniquely
+qualified to speak to this issue. First of all, I am a former
+inmate. I am a former career criminal and former drug addict.
+For 13 years, between the ages of 15 and 28, I lived as a drug
+addict and a drug dealer.
+ When I was 28 years old, God miraculously delivered me from
+heroin addiction and from a life of crime, and within a year
+after my deliverance and my transition from a life of crime to
+a life of being productive in the community, I began to go back
+into the jails and the prisons and help others who were in the
+same situation that God had brought me out of. But I was not
+involved in jail and prison ministry very long before I
+realized that most of the people that I was ministering to in
+the jails and the prison, once they were released from prison,
+were back in prison within a short period of time.
+ For 23 years now, I have worked in some form of ministry to
+prisoners, ex-prisoners and their families.
+ I was also blessed to be able to go back to school, and I
+received a bachelor's degree in religious education with a
+double major in urban studies and Bible; and I was also able to
+attend Wayne State and to achieve a master of arts degree in
+applied sociology.
+ While I was at Wayne State, I discovered the theory of
+social integration. Basically what the theory of social
+integration says is that those who have strong attachments to
+positive social institutions, such as the church, family and
+work, are far less likely to engage in antisocial behaviors.
+ I was employed by Prison Fellowship in 1992 and started the
+Detroit Transition of Prisoners program in 1993. We used the
+theory of social integration as a basis for our program model.
+The way that we achieve social integration is through the
+churches. We have about 80 churches working with us in Detroit,
+and they provide 120 mentors who work with men and women who
+transition from prison back into the community.
+ It has been referenced today during these hearings, but I
+want to put more emphasis on it, that most of those, like I
+was--those people who were in prison and coming out of prison--
+have strong attachments to antisocial networks, and in order
+for them to be successful, then we have to facilitate their
+integration into pro-social networks.
+ A person can go through the finest program. We know that
+drug treatment and housing and job placement and education and
+all of those things are very much needed. But unless we are
+able to facilitate their connection to pro-social support
+networks, they are very likely to go back to old friends and
+associates, as Mr. Cummings alluded to; and it is only a matter
+of time before they end up back using drugs, back committing
+crime and back in prison.
+ We have collected quite a bit of data on our program since
+the time that we started. We have been in existence now for
+about 12 years. Our program evaluator is Leon Wilson, who is
+the Chair of Sociology and Criminal Justice at Wayne State
+University, and he conducted a study in 2000. He found that
+only 18 percent of those who graduated from a TOP program had
+any further contact with the criminal justice system within 3
+years, and of that 18 percent, only one person went back to
+prison for the commission of a new crime.
+ I want to say that I wholeheartedly support the idea of
+faith-based and community-based organizations working hand in
+hand with the government to impact this problem, and our data
+and my experience suggest that when we in the church and in the
+community work hand in hand with the government, we can have a
+significant impact on the problem of recidivism.
+ Thank you.
+ Mr. Souder. Thank you.
+ [The prepared statement of Mr. Joseph Williams follows:]
+
+ [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.050
+
+ [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.051
+
+ [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.052
+
+ [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.053
+
+ [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.054
+
+ Mr. Souder. Our next witness is Chaplain Robert Toney from
+the Angola Prison in Louisiana.
+ Thank you for coming today.
+ Rev. Toney. Thank you.
+ I would like to thank this committee and Brandon Lerch for
+the opportunity of a lifetime today for me to be here before
+you distinguished gentlemen and ladies. I also would like to
+thank my warden of the Louisiana State Penitentiary for the
+opportunity to represent him today, Warden Burl Cain, and the
+5,108 inmates and the 1,800 employees of the Louisiana State
+Penitentiary.
+ The Louisiana State Penitentiary is better known as simply
+Angola. It was once the most violent prison in America. Today,
+we are known as the safest prison in America. This change began
+with a warden that believed that change could occur. He also
+came with a dream that within these walls transformation could
+take place within the lives of those inmates there and that
+they could become productive people in our world.
+ The chaplain and the programs within a prison cannot make
+this change. The only way that change is possible within
+America inside the walls of our prison is through the warden,
+the secretary of corrections and through the Governor's Office;
+and our warden had that support. He was willing to do it,
+Secretary of Corrections Richard Stalder was willing to do it,
+and they had the support of the Governor.
+ Angola houses the most violent offenders with an average
+sentence length of 88 years. We have only four types of inmates
+within our facility: We have murderers, we have aggravated sex
+offenders, we have habitual offenders, we have short-timers
+that were so violent they could not be kept in another facility
+so they sent them to us in Angola.
+ Warden Cain brought this moral change 10 years ago to
+Angola.
+ Moral rehabilitation is the only rehabilitation that works.
+If you just have education, what you have done is just created
+a smarter criminal. The change must come from within.
+ The New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, a 4-year,
+accredited college, was started in 1997 within the walls of
+Angola. This school exists today without any tax dollars. This
+school is supported by the local churches, the Judson Baptist
+Association of Churches.
+ In 1997, we had our first group of inmates graduate from
+this school, and I want to remind you they are graduating with
+a B.A. degree that is an accredited degree, that when they are
+out of the system can be built upon with a master's degree or
+doctoral degree.
+ We had our first group that graduated. We put these to work
+as inmate ministers. We put them to work all over our prison.
+It is their job to minister and serve others. Inmates put down
+the knives and the weapons and they picked up the Bible.
+ I have a graph that I have given to you today that shows
+that during this 10-year period of Warden Cain's
+administration, the more rehabilitation has occurred, the
+violence of inmates on inmates, inmates on staff, has gone down
+to nearly nothing.
+ We had a culture change. We have no profanity. Profanity is
+only one step away from violence. If we can keep it out of our
+prisons, we are two steps away from violence.
+ We sent missionaries from Angola to the other prisons
+within our State. A missionary, as we would call it, is one of
+our inmates that graduated from our 4-year college. In 2005, we
+will have 50 more graduates with a 4-year degree. We will have
+a graduation like any other college. Moms and dads are going to
+come. The president of the seminary, Dr. Chuck Kelley, from New
+Orleans, LA, will be there, along with other professors. They
+will be in their attire of their gowns and their caps. In many
+inmates' lives, this will be the first positive accomplishment
+in their entire life. Moms and dads will get to see their sons
+accomplish a great goal.
+ The New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary is not just
+Baptists, it is for all faiths. Within this seminary, within
+this college, we have Pentecostal, Methodists, Episcopal,
+Muslim, Jehovah's Witnesses, Church of Latter Day Saints--non-
+religion.
+ It is non-religion. It is moral education. We want you to
+have morality, because character counts.
+ All religious groups have grown as a result of this school
+being inside our walls. The culture of the bloodiest prison in
+America has changed. Morality exists, hope lives, men have been
+rehabilitated. The men who have gone home after completing this
+program have not returned to prison.
+ Angola, out of 5,108 inmates, has only 1,400 of our inmates
+living in a cell. Most of our population live in a dormitory
+setting, and I want you to know they live in peace. Tonight
+they will be able to go to sleep and not have to worry about
+someone taking their life.
+ We have church 7 nights a week, 7 days a week. We had
+11,000 outside volunteers enter our prison in 2004 conducting
+various types of ministry. Ms. America came to Angola in 2003.
+She walked all over our prison without one whistle or catcall.
+You are safer in Angola tonight than you are on the streets of
+Washington, DC.
+ If you want the prison systems changed in America, it is
+moral rehabilitation. Our Secretary Richard Stalder says,
+``Faith in a prison makes our prisons safer.'' Faith doesn't
+need to be a side street, but it needs to be the Main Street.
+ Warden Cain has said, even an atheist warden would want
+faith within a prison, because faith within a prison system
+makes a prison safer. People can change. Moral rehabilitation
+works.
+ The New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary began a 4-year
+degree program in Mississippi this year at Parchman. Georgia is
+looking next week at our system. Florida is looking. Alabama is
+looking. Arkansas is looking. Moody Bible College is ready to
+take on this same challenge in Illinois if the door will open.
+ Remember, no tax dollars. The church of America will pay
+for this. It won't cost the government anything. The church of
+America is waiting for a vehicle to drive. All you have to do
+is put us in the driver's seat, give us an opportunity to
+change it, and it can take place. You can watch recidivism go
+down immediately.
+ This year, One Day With God occurred within our walls. We
+brought in 300 children of our inmates to reconnect with their
+father. This had never happened in the history of Angola. We
+are a maximum security prison for the State. We are not a
+medium security or minimum security. Because of a warden that
+wants to make a difference, change has occurred.
+ Angola represents the true spirit of America. This is what
+happens when you have true morality. I would like to invite
+each one of you, on behalf of our Warden Burl Cain and our
+Secretary Richard Stalder, to come and see the truth for
+yourself.
+ Thank you today.
+ Mr. Souder. Thank you very much.
+ [The information referred to follows:]
+
+ [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.055
+
+ Mr. Souder. Our next witness is Mr. Frederick Davie, senior
+vice president of public policy, Public-Private Ventures. Thank
+you for coming.
+
+ STATEMENT OF FREDERICK A. DAVIE
+
+ Mr. Davie. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you, Members,
+and Ranking Member Cummings. Thank you very much. And thanks to
+you for taking the time to examine this issue. I also want to
+thank Congressman Davis and Congressman Portman for your work
+on behalf of the returning offender population.
+ Public-Private Ventures is a national nonprofit
+organization seeking to improve the effectiveness of social
+policies and programs, with a particular emphasis on work force
+development issues. Public-Private Ventures designs, tests and
+studies initiatives that increase opportunities for the
+residents of low-income communities.
+ As has been stated here already today, every year nearly
+760,000 ex-prisoners threaten the already tenuous cohesion of
+many of the country's most troubled communities. In response,
+Public-Private Ventures developed and launched a $32\1/2\
+million national reentry initiative. We call it Ready4Work, An
+Ex-prisoner, Faith and Community Initiative. We have done it in
+partnership with the U.S. Departments of Labor and Justice and
+the Annie E. Casey and the Ford Foundation.
+ I want to thank Secretary Chow and her staff, especially
+Brent Orrell, who is the DOL's Director of Faith and Community
+Initiatives, as well as Robert Florez, who is an Administrative
+OJDDP at the Justice Department and his staff, Gwendolyn
+Dilworth, for creating this partnership with us.
+ Ready4Work operates in areas of high crime to strengthen
+local networks of young adults and juveniles as they reenter
+their communities following detention or incarceration. Our
+primary mission is to connect ex-offenders with employment
+opportunities and to help them find housing, transportation and
+child care support they need to sustain that employment. Each
+participant is also matched with a volunteer mentor recruited
+through local faith-based and community organizations to
+provide personal support and assistance.
+ There are 16 sites across the country, both secular and
+faith-based. I have included a full list for the record, and
+Public-Private Ventures would be happy to facilitate contact
+between this committee or any other Members of Congress and any
+other participating organizations.
+ Ready4Work is currently in its second year of operation.
+The sites have so far recruited over 2,000 participants, all
+nonviolent, nonsexual, except for prostitution felony
+offenders. Eighty-five percent of the participants are male,
+nearly 80 percent are African Americans.
+ Of the adult participants, nearly 100 percent are receiving
+case management, 64 percent have been placed in jobs, and
+nearly half have been matched with mentors.
+ In the juvenile sites, 64 percent are African American and
+84 percent are male. Half are between the ages of 17 and 19.
+Almost 100 percent of the juveniles are receiving case
+management, 79 percent are being mentored, 60 percent are
+receiving educational services, and 67 percent are receiving
+employment services.
+ What sets Ready4Work apart from traditional reentry efforts
+is its focus on placing local, faith-based and community
+organizations at the heart of the network that greets folks
+when they come out of prison. We believe that these
+organizations are a unique source of accountability and support
+for returning offenders. They are frequently located in the
+most deeply affected neighborhoods, as we have heard, and they
+have resources that can make a difference between success and
+failure for a returnee.
+ Frankly, the compassion and commitment that these groups
+bring to the work is irreplaceable.
+ We also benefit immeasurably from our partnership with the
+business community and its willingness to employ Ready4Work
+participants. We applaud those of you who have moved this issue
+of reentry to the top of Congress' agenda. Public-Private
+Ventures believes that the Second Chance Act provides a solid
+basis for creating a national policy aimed at reducing crime
+and recidivism. We also believe that the bill should be
+strengthened to find ways to direct more assistance toward the
+faith community and community institutions.
+ We further believe that Congress should look for ways to
+match the program experience and technical capacity of
+organizations like ours with the people power of smaller
+groups. This has been the Ready4Work model, one that we believe
+offers an excellent chance to break the cycle of crime and
+imprisonment for the benefit of returning offenders and their
+communities.
+ I want to thank you again for this opportunity, and we look
+forward to continuing to work with the 109th Congress to enact
+meaningful reentry legislation.
+ Thank you very much.
+ Mr. Souder. Thank you very much.
+ [The prepared statement of Mr. Davie follows:]
+
+ [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.056
+
+ [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.057
+
+ [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.058
+
+ Mr. Souder. And now that Sammy Sosa apparently is heading
+to Congressman Cummings' district, you will be our clean-up
+person from Chicago.
+ Mr. George A.H. Williams, Treatment Alternatives for Safe
+Communities, from Chicago, IL. Thank you for your patience
+today.
+
+ STATEMENT OF GEORGE A.H. WILLIAMS
+
+ Mr. George Williams. Thank you. Thank you very much. Yes,
+as a matter of fact, we are going to miss Sammy very much.
+ To the chairman, thank you, sir. It is good seeing you
+again. The last time I saw you was in Chicago on the West Side
+at Congressman Davis' district when you had your committee
+hearing there. I would like to thank you today for having this
+process here.
+ And to the past president, Congressman Elijah Cummings, of
+the Congressional Black Caucus, thank you, sir, for your tenure
+in that process. I appreciate all the hard work you have done
+and will do over the years.
+ And to my esteemed Congressman and my trusted leader, Mr.
+Congressman Danny Davis--he is my Congressman, but most
+importantly, he is a trusted leader, a man that has the trust
+of his district, of the men that live in his district.
+ I am going to talk a little bit about my organization,
+TSAC. Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities is a
+statewide, not-for-profit organization that provides access to
+recovery and other specialized services to individuals in
+Illinois involved in the criminal justice systems, and the
+corrections, juvenile justice, child welfare, public aid
+systems also. TSAC programs reaches over 30,000 people across
+the State each year, including correctional transition programs
+that provide clinical case management for more than 4,000
+adults annually who are reentering the community following
+incarceration.
+ TSAC works with an array of service providers and community
+partners, including treatment, recovery, support,
+nontraditional, traditional organizations, faith-based
+throughout the State of Illinois.
+ We at TSAC are in full support of the Second Chance Act to
+help to reduce the numerous barriers facing men and women,
+families and communities as well. The Second Chance Act is a
+necessary step toward reducing the high recidivism rate and the
+costs that accompany recidivism and repeat incarceration,
+including the threat to public health, public safety.
+ This legislation begins the process of ensuring better
+coordination and planning for relief, providing necessary drug
+treatment and recovery support services, job training,
+education, housing, family assistance upon release. TSAC
+strongly urges Congress to support this legislation to provide
+the health, justice, welfare and safety to all of our residents
+and communities.
+ Thank you very much for this legislation and for this
+discussion.
+ Now I want to spend a few seconds on a particular component
+of our services that we call ``restoring citizenship.'' The
+work that we do is primarily focused on how do you go into the
+man and the woman to get them to look within themselves, as
+well, with all of these external supports that are available.
+Because if you keep in mind, most men and most women go into
+the system because they have offended. They don't come out of
+the system because they offended, they went into the system
+because they offended. That means there was something there in
+the beginning that attracted that type of lifestyle.
+ As a matter of fact, I was searching in my mind some time
+ago about the first crime, and I started reading books and
+trying to do some research. Somehow I was led to the Bible. In
+the Bible there is a situation in there where God asks one of
+the humans a question, where was his brother? And he responded
+to God, why are you asking me? I mean, am I my brother's
+keeper? And right then and there for me was probably reflective
+of what we are up against.
+ When man lied to God about a crime that he committed, did
+we inherit that consciousness and that spirit as we go forth
+and try to look at and dismantle so many pieces to criminality.
+ It is just not the behavior; it is that men and women can
+exist in communities where the behavior is validated, sometimes
+within their family structure, within their community
+structure. So how do we also begin to dismantle those
+processes? And within the Seventh Congressional District, we
+have processes in place in terms of where we are engaging
+communities to dismantle some of the norms that exist, where
+men can exist in those kinds of behaviors and don't get called
+out.
+ We are trying to call them out and make them to be
+accountable and to crush some of those support systems that
+allow them to exist as well.
+ Behavior is an extremely difficult proposition sometimes,
+and I know that the work we are doing right now, this is a
+movement. This movement around reentry is very early, but this
+is a real strong, powerful movement to look at men and women
+and to help them think about establishing and restoring their
+citizenship, their rights and responsibilities. Because all
+over this country, in the urban areas, in the rural areas, in
+the suburban areas, you have men and women crying out, asking
+for a chance to be self-sufficient and asking this country for
+a second chance. And at some point in time we as a people have
+to answer the question, at what point in time do men and women
+stop serving time?
+ Thank you very much.
+ [The prepared statement of Mr. George Williams follows:]
+
+ [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.059
+
+ [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.060
+
+ Mr. Souder. Well, thank you all for your testimony.
+ I wanted to just ask Chaplain Toney again, did you say the
+average was 88 years in the sentence?
+ Rev. Toney. Yes, sir.
+ Mr. Souder. I just wanted to make sure I heard that right,
+in case I quote that sometime. I am not used to that number.
+ One of the challenges that we face--just to be very open as
+we try to work through this legislation, one of the great
+things with today's hearing is, it suggests some possibilities
+about how we address this.
+ There are several things that are happening, whether
+anybody likes them or not, and that is State funding is flat at
+best and not inflation-adjusted even, just flat funding.
+Federal funding is tight, and the problems are not, overall,
+going down. In fact, crime has gone down, but that is because
+we lock so many people up.
+ Now they are about to come back out, and what does that
+mean?
+ This is a huge challenge. That is why we have expanded
+discussions about faith-based and community organizations and
+business organizations, because it doesn't matter whether you
+have a Republican or a Democratic Governor, it doesn't matter
+who is in charge of the legislature, it doesn't matter who is
+in charge, the money is not going up. So how do we deal with
+this?
+ We also have another sociological, demographic problem that
+was alluded to from the beginning today that is a huge
+challenge politically, and that is that the most difficult
+crime, if not all crime, is certainly skewed to inside the
+black male community and in the minority community and in the
+urban areas. It doesn't mean there isn't crime elsewhere, it
+doesn't mean there are not addictions to pornography or other
+types of problems in all sorts of suburbs, and it doesn't mean
+that the majority, or close to the majority, of people in
+prisons are not majority white population. But it does mean
+that this disproportionately hits urban centers and
+disproportionately hits the minority community.
+ It is also true that those population areas overall in the
+United States have declined. So there are fewer Members of
+Congress from those areas. And politically it becomes harder to
+move legislation that focuses on those communities as they are
+less representative of the whole of the United States.
+ And it isn't surprising necessarily that the Congressmen at
+our hearing today that were most interested were from Los
+Angeles and Baltimore and Kansas City and Chicago and
+Washington, DC, and major metropolitan areas, because they have
+the most stake in it.
+ The problem is, to pass this legislation, how do we broaden
+our base? How does this base reach the majority community, as
+some of you have reached out and said you have obligations
+here?
+ One is a cost question, which is cheaper? But, quite
+frankly, it is not absolutely clear which is cheaper. At some
+point, because of the difficulty of this, it is cheaper, but it
+is not guaranteed cheaper based on the housing questions, job
+training questions and all of the other kinds of things that we
+need to do.
+ There is a moral obligation with it, and I think what is
+interesting and what I believe is a potential breakthrough
+opportunity with this is that as you hear people like Pat, and
+we have known each other for at least 35 years, like you know
+Congressman Doolittle and Congressman Royce and Congressman
+Dana Rohrabacher, because we all grew up together in the
+conservative movement, that having people who have gone through
+this, not that I want to or recommend other Members of Congress
+go to prison for 24 months to figure out the difficulty of it,
+but to try to figure out and hear from people who share our
+ideology make a passionate appeal of both the need to mentor,
+the time, the obligation to spend the time, and the need for
+services and how we address the follow-through, and the
+difficulty, given some of the laws that we passed, that our
+constituents support and polls show they still support and even
+want them to be tougher. This is a huge dilemma as we work this
+through in Congress.
+ But when we hear--and one of the things the American people
+are desperate for is hope. They see recidivism rates go up.
+They see the problems seem to be there. We battle on this drug
+issue all the time. This is a drug policy committee.
+ But when we hear in Angola prison a story like that, or we
+hear individual cases like we heard today, or cases that this
+is going on in Detroit, not known as an easy city necessarily
+to work in, or in Washington, DC, which has been the murder
+capital of the United States 7 of the last 8 years, that to
+listen to those kind of programs offers hope. And I hope that
+today's hearing can advance that, that in fact--because if this
+is viewed as just a traditional way to transfer more money into
+urban communities and gets an ``us against them'' type of
+mentality in battling for dollars, which is often where the
+rubber meets the road here in Congress, it isn't going to go
+anywhere.
+ This has been a very difficult process, to even get this
+bill launched. It sounds great, it is very moving, but in the
+reality of how bills become law, it is hard. I think you have
+suggested a number of things today, and it has been great to
+hear all of your testimonies about different things that have
+worked well.
+ I may have a particular question here to wrap up the
+hearing, but let me yield to Mr. Cummings.
+ Mr. Cummings. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Thank you
+very much, Mr. Chairman.
+ What you were just saying, as I sit here, I couldn't help
+but say to myself that trying to get the public to realize that
+people can do their time and then go out into the world and be
+productive is so very, very hard; and that, as testimony, has
+been stated over and over again in this hearing here today,
+that a prison sentence--or not necessarily a sentence, a
+conviction dooms a person for a lifetime.
+ Mr. Williams, I just want to go to something that you said,
+and I am so glad you brought this out. I actually in my law
+practice and when I was a State delegate, hired former inmates
+to give them a chance. One of the things that I realized early
+on is that prison does take more away from a person than their
+freedom. I noticed just the whole being on schedule, time,
+coming to work on time was a problem. It is like they had to
+readjust.
+ I noticed another very interesting thing that came up not
+long ago. We had a fellow in Maryland who was wrongfully
+accused and served 27 years and got out, and his fiance said
+that even after he got out, he would stay in the basement and
+wouldn't come out. She said she could hardly get him to come
+out of the basement, and he would just sit there.
+ I think a lot of people don't realize. They think about
+just the physical incarceration. They don't think about the
+fact that it really does something to a person. It takes them
+out of society. And that reintegration thing is so significant.
+ I was talking a little bit earlier about the program that
+we had in Baltimore. When you talk about integration and you
+talk about family, I think you said church.
+ Mr. Joseph Williams. And employment.
+ Mr. Cummings. And employment. One of the things that we
+noticed--take for example with family, fellows, the volunteers
+who had done pretty well in life would come on Saturdays, and
+we would have like a 12-step program where people sit around
+and talk about their lives or whatever. But they would open up
+into social activities with folk who had been in prison and
+want their families together, and it made a world of
+difference, because then they became more attached to the
+family.
+ We also had a fatherhood piece, where fathers could
+reconnect with their children. So that gave them something to
+hold onto as opposed to the streets. It gave them somebody kind
+of looking over their shoulder, and somebody else to disappoint
+if anything went wrong.
+ The same thing with work. I think a lot of people don't
+realize how significant work is. A lot of jobs create a whole
+new set of family members, because they found they begin to
+socialize with these folks, they became a team at work,
+depending on what kind of job it was, a team at work, and had
+new people, new people getting up at 6 a.m., maybe getting off
+at 5 p.m., and talking about things other than committing a
+crime; and they had something else, they had hope.
+ Because a lot of these jobs had opportunities for them to
+move up in life. Things that are very basic to those who may
+not have gone through the system, but we take them for granted.
+But the fact is that all of that I think is needed to make a
+person whole. And certainly church.
+ As the son of two preachers, I found a lot of the people in
+our church will come. They will have, again, a reintegration, a
+whole other family to connect with, and a family that is not
+dealing with drugs, a family not committing crime, a family
+where the norm is to do the right thing.
+ So it is just a whole lot. But I am glad you brought that
+aspect. And I didn't hear your testimony, Mr. Nolan. Maybe you
+hit on that, too, and others. But I just think that is a part,
+no matter what we have to do, we have to deal with that piece.
+ Any comments, sir?
+ Mr. Joseph Williams. Yes, I wholeheartedly agree with you.
+ Back in 1981, when I was making the transition from a life
+of crime to one of being productive in the community, the
+greatest challenge I faced--many times people ask me what was
+the greatest challenge I faced, was it struggling with the
+addiction issue or the lifestyle issue? But it was loneliness.
+Because for 13 years, most of my teenage years and all of my
+adult years up to that point, all of my associations and
+friendships were with criminals and drug addicts.
+ And so, now, I was drug free. I wanted to do the right
+thing, but I was very lonely. And I heard that Mother Teresa
+was quoted as citing--she was asked, what was the greatest
+disease that she had ever seen, the most devastating disease
+she had ever seen? And she cited it was loneliness. And that
+loneliness, because I didn't have the kinds of people, the pro-
+social types of people to fellowship with and to direct me in
+the right way, was a danger of driving me back to my old
+associates and back to the old behaviors. And I wonder, with
+the other two former inmates who testified earlier, that had I
+not been able to, through my church, make all those new
+associations through friendships and through school and through
+employment, that I would not be here today.
+ Mr. Cummings. How does government--and this is my last
+question--how does a program like the one we are talking about,
+how do we in government--we can only do but so much. But what
+do you see us doing, or you all see us doing, and I assume we
+pretty much all agree that's a big part of it, to get people
+more socially integrated?
+ I mean, what do you see government's role in that, if any?
+ Mr. Joseph Williams. Yes, and I don't think that it is
+something that the government can do per se, but I think the
+greatest role that government can take on is to build the
+capacity of organizations such as Transition of Prisoners and
+these organizations who have been committed to this cause for a
+number of years.
+ And unfortunately, what happens is, you know, we have
+thrown around some figures of some $300 million and $100
+million, and so a lot of nonprofits will develop a desire to go
+into re-entry because of that. But there's been a lot of
+organizations that have been out here for years and have been
+committed to it, and they are going to do it whether the
+funding is there or not. But they don't have the capacity to
+really do it at a large scale.
+ So I think that the best thing that government could do is
+to build the capacity of community-based and faith-based
+organizations as we build the capacity of the churches. And
+that way, I believe that we will be able to sustain our
+programs. And we know that the funding will not be there
+forever, but we need a way to build our capacity so that we
+could continue to do this work after the funding is gone.
+ Mr. Nolan. If I could answer, too, the government could
+also view churches as a partner. Justice Fellowship sponsored a
+conference and the head of transition services from New Mexico
+attended it, and he said it never occurred to him to look to
+the churches for mentors.
+ He was in charge of finding mentors, and he was going to
+all of these community groups and not having much success. And
+it never occurred to him to go to churches. And so he called me
+when he got home, and he said, half of the folks in New Mexico
+are Catholics. And I am not a Catholic. What do I do?
+ And I knew the bishop there, and the Catholic Church
+provided a nun full-time to organize parishes to recruit
+mentors. And the Protestants, several churches got together and
+hired somebody half-time. And all he had to do was just be open
+to that. And, frankly, a lot of government officials aren't
+open to that.
+ They think it's improper to have a relationship. Again,
+they view churches as maybe providing an education program, or
+it's programmatic as opposed to a partner. Then a lot of States
+have policies that put up barriers. Many States have a policy
+that says, if you mentor someone in prison, the prisoner is
+prohibited from being in a relationship with you when you get
+out of prison. The Federal Bureau of Prisons has that policy.
+If a volunteer comes in and mentors you in prison, you are
+prohibited from being in touch with them when they get out.
+Texas had that policy. IFI had----
+ Mr. Souder. Would you elaborate on that? I don't
+understand.
+ Mr. Nolan. Yes. The idea is that the inmates are all cons
+and, therefore, will take advantage of these volunteers when
+they get out; that the volunteers would be victims of the
+offenders when they get out, and so they have to sever that
+relationship.
+ Most States have that policy, and the Federal Bureau of
+Prisons has that policy. Texas had that policy, and IFI had to
+have an exemption. Texas still has that policy. And IFI is
+exempted from that policy.
+ Let me say one last thing. Now, Director Wilkinson is
+definitely an exception to this. But most prison systems are
+built on or structured around what is convenient for the
+system. If nobody riots and nobody escapes, they are a good
+warden. If somebody riots and somebody escapes, they are bad.
+ Therefore, volunteers, religious volunteers and mentors are
+a threat to their careers, because every time a volunteer comes
+in, there might be contraband there; there might be something
+there, and so it's easier to exclude those volunteers. They are
+a pain in the neck. They are more work to the people with that
+attitude.
+ Institutional security is more important than--and, in
+fact, one warden said to me that the way he was trained--now
+he's different in this. But the way he was trained in Oklahoma
+was that, if nobody rioted and nobody escaped, he was a good
+warden. If that prisoner walked out of prison 1 block and raped
+or murdered somebody, that was still OK because they hadn't
+done it on his watch.
+ And we need to change that attitude to where corrections
+people view public safety as their role.
+ And that whole mindset--if public safety is a role, then
+you welcome religious volunteers and mentors. And Burl Cain--
+you know, I have been to Angola. It is a different atmosphere.
+The inmates look you in the eye. They have hope even. The
+reason that 88 years is the average sentence is because most of
+them are going to die in prison there. And Warden Cain has
+changed it so they are buried with dignity. The choir sings.
+They can make their own casket or another inmate can.
+ They have created a carriage with horses to draw it. They
+have a ceremony to bear them. They used to be just buried in
+cardboard boxes in paupers' graves. Now there's a ceremony to
+honor their life with their friends. They are treated like
+human beings whose lives matter.
+ And you see it in the way that the inmates talk--outsiders
+the way they talk to each other, the respect with which they
+treat each other and are treated by the staff.
+ Mr. Cummings. I just have one other thing.
+ Mr. Nolan, as I listened to you talk, I have to tell you, I
+became a little bit depressed when you talked about them, you
+know, the caskets and everything.
+ I guess one of the things that I am--and maybe nobody else
+will say this, but I am going to say it--you know, there are so
+many people in my community who come upon the Earth, and
+because of circumstances, a lot of times, and some poor
+decisions sometimes, they don't believe that they can live the
+kind of life that other people live.
+ And I will never forget one time when I went to speak at a
+prison, and I looked around, and I was speaking at a
+graduation. And if you did not see the guards in the room, I
+would have sworn you were at a church.
+ I guess my point is that, you know, some kind of way--I
+want to see people believe that they don't have to--the prison
+doesn't have to be a part of their lives.
+ Mr. Nolan. Right.
+ Mr. Cummings. And I don't want to get to a point where--and
+I am not knocking anybody who has gone through that process--
+but, I tell you, I want people to have hope. I don't
+necessarily talk about coping skills; I talk about hoping
+skills. Because I think when you lose hope--and that my hope is
+to have a nice funeral in a prison, and a fellow inmate is
+making me a casket, to me that ain't no hope. That's not hope
+to me. That does not excite me.
+ What does excite me is trying to--although some of these
+gentlemen and women, perhaps, may not ever get out, but for
+them to know that, every day, they can be better than they were
+the day before, that's hope under those circumstances. It's
+hope knowing that they can perhaps counsel a younger inmate and
+try to show him or her the path to that, when they get out, to
+how you have things that they want to consider, things of that
+nature.
+ And I don't want--I tell you, I don't want us to adopt a
+philosophy--you know, one of the things I say all the time is,
+we have one life to live, and this is no dress rehearsal, and
+this is the life.
+ And sometimes I think that when we get into scenarios like
+that, like, you know, the big deal is to be able to make a
+casket, and what that reminds me of, one of the guys in my
+neighborhood, because I live in the inner city, Baltimore, who
+believe they are going to die before they are 18.
+ So what is their, I mean, so--committing a crime is not as
+big of a deal because they don't expect to be here.
+ What I am saying to you is that we have to, no matter what
+we do in our prison systems, I think we have to create a sense
+of hope.
+ And I know, I am not sitting here trying to sound like
+somebody who is some flaming liberal who thinks he is supposed
+to be paying for people who commit crimes. I know what it is to
+be a victim of a crime. I know what it is to have a gun, sawed-
+off shot gun, two of them, pointed at my head at 2 a.m. I
+understand it.
+ But at the same time I don't want us to move to that point
+where we think that it's nice that somebody can make a casket
+for me in prison and bury me on prison ground. I don't think
+that sends a very powerful message at all, to be frank with
+you.
+ Mr. Nolan. I didn't want to send that message. I wanted to
+say they are treated with dignity so they can live a life of
+consequence even if we are never going to let them out. That is
+what Warden Cain has done and the seminary where they can do
+exactly what you said, spread hope to the other prisoners. They
+even have a culinary class. They even have the chefs from New
+Orleans come up and teach them to create terrific, you know,
+high-level cuisine for the other inmates.
+ Mr. Cummings. But, see, the thing is that I know for a
+fact, once, one little decision in my life could have put me in
+the same position as a lot of those folks that find themselves
+in prison.
+ Mr. Nolan. And one of the things we want to work with you
+on is sentencing, because these long sentences are horribly
+cruel in many cases.
+ Mr. Cummings. Right, there you go.
+ Thank you.
+ Mr. Souder. Mr. Davis.
+ Mr. Davis. Thank you, again, Mr. Chairman. Let me again
+commend you and Ranking Member Cummings for holding this
+hearing.
+ I also want to thank this group of witnesses especially for
+coming to testify.
+ I agree with you when you talk about the difficulty of
+passing legislation, and especially when you talk about the
+differences that exist in different geographic areas, big
+cities versus smaller towns, urban areas versus rural areas,
+where the impact of certain issues are not felt as great.
+ Pat, it is always good to be where you are, talking about
+your experiences, and what you have seen and what you have
+done. And I thank you for continuing to do that.
+ Mr. Williams, it's--I think the kind of light that you
+shared and the kind of inspiration that you give and the kind
+of hope that you convey to others who may be in the same
+circumstances and situations that you have once been in.
+ Chaplain Toney, I grew up about 10 miles from what we used
+to call the Louisiana line. And so I knew about Angola when I
+was a child growing up in Arkansas.
+ And, of course, our parents would admonish us, whenever we
+went to Louisiana, that we better not get into any trouble
+because, if we did, we might end up in Angola.
+ And, of course, that spoke to the reputation that Angola
+had at that time. And to see how it's changing--as a matter of
+fact, I have an invitation from some inmates in Angola to visit
+that I have been trying to figure out when I could work that
+out, if I could work it out, in terms of my schedule.
+ Mr. Toney. Any time.
+ Mr. Davis. And I am going to put more effort on to it to
+try to work it out from hearing your testimony today and what
+you have conveyed.
+ George, it is always good to hear you talk about the work
+of TASC and what it does, and coming from your own experiences.
+And I also want to thank you not only for changing your
+schedule to come and to be here, but also for serving as co-
+chairman of our ex-offender task force in the 7th Congressional
+District back in Illinois. And the work that task does to help
+raise the level of understanding about these issues.
+ When I look at the panel knowing, for example, that three
+of you, at least, are what people would call ex-offenders, that
+there are three of you on the panel who are dignified citizens,
+who are self-sufficient, who are professional at what you do. I
+think that conveys a kind of hope in and of itself.
+ Because what it really says is that there are thousands and
+perhaps hundreds of thousands of others who find themselves in
+a position that you once were in.
+ And if given assistance, if given the opportunities, if
+provided the resources, they, too, become productive citizens.
+They, too, become self-sufficient. They, too, become
+contributing members of society, and that's exactly what I
+think we are trying to do is to indeed provide hope for those
+who have become hopeless, to provide help for those who think
+that they might be helpless and to help individuals know that
+it's not always a matter of where you have been, but it's also
+a matter of where you are going.
+ And I believe that our criminal justice system can, in
+fact, change.
+ Mr. George Williams. Yes, sir.
+ Mr. Davis. That it can, in fact, be different.
+ What I think government can provide is the impetus. But as
+others have already said, it does take a movement. And the only
+way there is a movement, there has to be the people. And I
+mean, you have given me so much hope.
+ Mr. Davis, organizations like yours that are really looking
+and searching--I think we know that it's not going to be easy.
+ Mr. George Williams. No, yes, sir.
+ Mr. Davis. I mean, I grew up listening to my folks tell us,
+you know the Langston Hughes stuff, that life ain't been no
+crystal stair, had a lot of tacks and a lot of holes in it. But
+we have just got to keep trying.
+ And that's what the Second Chance Act attempts to do.
+That's what the Public Safety Self-Sufficiency Act tries to do,
+is provide the hope that tells us that we got to keep trying.
+ And so I thank you gentlemen so very much.
+ And I thank you, Mr. Chairman, again, for this hearing.
+ And I believe that we are on the right track, and that the
+American people will respond and life does not have to be, for
+individuals who are incarcerated, one dark, gloomy picture.
+ So I thank you.
+ Mr. George Williams. Thank you, sir.
+ Mr. Souder. Thank you. As we move forward--and it was
+important that we get the year started out right in this 2-year
+session of Congress--a couple of thoughts here at the end: One
+is, it's very easy to be critical of those who commit crimes,
+and that those of us who haven't been to jail, it's hard--and
+since the population that hasn't had to vote the tax money with
+which to do this.
+ In communicating, I have been trying to think of analogies
+of every January, I and most Americans commit to lose weight.
+And yet, we don't; that we fail. And yet we criticize those,
+and they even have physical addictions, without any of the
+resources that we have to follow through, if they fail in what
+their goal is.
+ And how to get in a way that the average person can
+understand the difficulty without being condemning. Because at
+root, I believe, as Mr. Williams suggested and others, that the
+root cause is sin. And that we are in a constant battle, and
+that those of us who have extra resources with which to battle
+it are blessed.
+ And then the question comes, how do we reach out to those
+who don't have those and what is our obligation to do so and
+what is the individual's obligation then to change because,
+there is accountability there, too.
+ And trying to communicate this message is of critical
+importance as we move through this. Really, what are three
+stages for those who follow this bill and are going to be
+active and trying to promote this?
+ As Pat knows, from being in the Assembly, there's really
+three ways to do this. One is the bill directly, which is an
+authorizing bill that says this is allowed to fund these types
+of programs, and it's--Congressman Davis has a housing bill
+that we have supported before, and that is arguably the most
+difficult, because you have to go through the House, you have
+to go through the Senate, and the President has to reconcile
+and support it, too.
+ The second thing is that, in the appropriations process, to
+try to get little pieces here and there where we fund things in
+the appropriations process that are parts of the overall bill,
+and the general question of prison re-entry.
+ And the third is through the executive branch where they
+make decisions every day on how to allocate funding.
+ For example, in my home area in Ft. Wayne, IN, which is a
+city of 200,000, not as big as most of the cities you are
+dealing with for the most part today, the fact is that the
+Justice Department has a re-entry program because in Ft.
+Wayne--which has been bragging now for 5 years that they have
+had these great crime reductions. Now their people or many
+could go out of prison, 3,000 of them, in some neighborhoods
+that only have 10,000 people in front of them.
+ Now what happens, you know, the housing situation is
+stressed. The job situation is stressed. There aren't jobs in
+that section of the city that other sections of the city say,
+why should they come back there?
+ It is a problem all across America, as we as politicians
+and government leaders have bragged about the government
+reduction in crime. Many of those sentences were 3, 5, 7 years,
+and now we have the re-entry questions that we are going to
+have to deal with this, or what we have bragged about and run
+on, in areas outside the urban areas as well as inside the
+urban areas we are faced with. So I think there are multiple
+ways to try to tackle this.
+ I wanted to make sure that we started right at the
+beginning of the 2-year term to try to raise this, and you have
+helped. I would also like if you can work with Brandon Lerch on
+our staff, for example, in the Ready-to-Work Program, to
+identify youth listed in your testimony, all these different
+sites across the country, to give us a little more feedback in
+what government funds were in, how that has worked in the
+capacity building, so we can see. And if you have any data, any
+of the rest of you.
+ Mr. George Williams. OK.
+ Mr. Souder. In Chicago and Detroit, and I know Justice
+Fellowship can do that, too.
+ So as we move into this hearing record, as it moves into
+the different authorizing committees, that we can try to,
+whether it's through floor statements, through different
+meetings, that we bring people in. The more information we
+have, the better armed we will be to try to tackle these
+difficult questions.
+ This committee does authorizing and oversight on drug
+policy, so there are a number of things here--for example in
+the treatment program, when I have talked to--when I say about
+the appropriations process, Chairman Wolf and I have talked to
+Commerce, State and Justice Appropriations about, should drug
+treatment be more precisely targeted in a higher percentage
+toward prisons?
+ Because if we can't get to it early on, or if, in fact, it
+becomes a greater problem in prison or they are introduced to
+it in prison, it is a huge question, how do we best target
+these funds?
+ So any kind of information you can give us for this hearing
+record will not only be in the official record, but then we can
+use it as we debate it in multiple forms, including additional
+hearings in this subcommittee.
+ Would any of you like to make any closing comments?
+ Mr. Davie. I would, Mr. Chairman.
+ You asked earlier sort of what could Congress do. And I
+would like to suggest that one of the areas where we have not
+paid enough attention to garnering resources and partnerships
+is with the philanthropic community.
+ I mentioned the Ford Foundation and the Annie E. Casey
+Foundation in my testimony. I used to work for Ford. So I know
+that world pretty well, but I think if Congress and the
+President were to reach out to the heads of the major
+foundations and suggest they could play a role in this area, a
+bigger role as well in terms of helping to support local
+community and faith-based organizations, in the delivery of
+these services, you would find a good partner there. But I
+think they need to cover--I think if the legislation somehow
+required a match from philanthropic and private sources in the
+implementation of these programs, that would be another sort of
+incentive and method to get the philanthropic community
+involved. There are billions and billions of dollars there, and
+this is an issue that the philanthropic community has not paid
+a lot of attention to.
+ I, frankly, think they are scared of it in some ways for
+obvious reasons. But with the support and cover of government,
+in pursuing this as a national policy and a national issue, I
+do think a number of those philanthropic institutions will come
+along.
+ I would just encourage you--if you see your way so clear--
+to reach out to that community, because I think they can be a
+valuable resource.
+ Mr. Souder. We will followup directly on that question. If
+I can make an editorial comment here that, as we work this
+through--the President's faith-based initiative, when he first
+took office, somehow became mostly focused on the public
+funding portion that was going to go to faith-based. It really
+had multiple pieces, including capacity building, which we
+talked about. How do we get people setting up 501c3s? How do we
+train them in accounting methods so they can have credibility
+when they go to philanthropic institutions, and then the tax
+credit, which would give incentive to individuals when they
+give these 501c3s and to philanthropic organizations? The
+public fight became over the funding portion. And we kind of
+lost the other two, where we might have been able to move
+forward.
+ Steve Goldsmith was originally hired. And as he has pointed
+out repeatedly, there's far more dollars in the philanthropic
+area right now than there are in government. Somehow this got
+second, the back burner. Trying to reconstruct some of how that
+happened is important as we move forward.
+ Second, one of the things that appeared to have happened is
+that the philanthropic organizations themselves backed away--if
+government didn't put the money in, because government money
+was like a good-housekeeping seal, that we believe this group
+is good.
+ And so much like what is happening in pharmaceutical prices
+and Medicare is, as we were trying to go cheap on the drug
+prices, that every private insurance company standard emulated
+the government price. And if the philanthropic organizations
+merely mimic what we do, we are right back to the first place.
+ So as we move multiple faith-based pieces through, which we
+will probably be starting within 4 weeks, everything from
+welfare reform, social services block grant and other types of
+things, in addition to the regular bill and regular
+implementation, we will try to figure out how to do that, with
+suggestions of specifically how to do that, with regional
+conferences where the government brings philanthropic
+organizations in and lets groups come to present that. That was
+one of the things that was raised to me. We do this, for
+example, in small business centers around the United States.
+ We have small business centers where the secretary is
+shared. The phone lines are shared. The fax machines are
+shared. Students can come and volunteer. Could that be done in
+a social services way? And would philanthropic organizations
+pay for some of that, which would then build the capacity of
+small organizations, much who have no idea to whom you fill out
+a grant--fill out a grant to the Federal Government or a
+philanthropic organization, don't have time to hire somebody
+even to figure out the bid process of a small foundation, let
+alone the Federal Government when you don't know which 10 days
+it will be in the middle of the month and have some inside
+information.
+ This, on the surface, sounds really good, but how to
+implement it in some very practical things. They have done some
+of this around the country. Clearly, the Faith-based Office is
+trying to figure out how to do it. But we have missed this
+philanthropic piece, and the question is, how to jar them.
+There's lots of money there, and you are absolutely right, but
+it's a challenge. So any input you have on that.
+ Mr. Toney. Just one statement to you, that position has
+power, and each person who sits on this committee and everyone
+who serves in Congress and across the board, just by you taking
+notice of this and just by taking visits, you have the power to
+make a difference. One man can make a difference.
+ Warden Cain is just one man. He has only had 10 years in
+the maximum security prison, the bloodiest prison in America.
+Today, it's the safest. That's one man in the right position.
+Government officials have power. Put that one man in the right
+places in the prisons.
+ Education is powerful. We have seminaries across the United
+States. Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. They are a
+prestigious university. There are other universities that are
+ready to take on the process of putting education within the
+prison system, no tax dollars, supported by the Church of
+America. So position has power, and I thank you for what you
+are doing; 88 years, do I agree with that. No, I do not.
+ There is one man we have at Angola, Bishop Eugene
+Tannerhill, he is 70 years old, he has been behind bars for 50
+years. Would he be a detriment to society? No, sir. I would
+love for him to be my next-door neighbor.
+ There are many guys within our system. We can't help the 88
+years. We just have to do the best we can with where we are,
+and that's what we have done in regards to the caskets and
+those things being done.
+ That means a lot to Eugene Tannerhill, who has no one to be
+his emergency contact and to pick his body up when he dies.
+That means a lot to him, that he will have a decent burial,
+that he will have grace and dignity in those last days of his
+life. That means a lot to him.
+ You would only have to be in their position to see the hope
+these guys have; hope with no hope; 88 years alive, but they
+still have hope. And they have changed their culture. And the
+society that they live in is a great world, even within the
+walls of a prison. But you have power, and thank you for the
+power that you are using today to change our prisons in
+America.
+ Mr. Souder. Thank you.
+ Mr. Joseph Williams. I would say that I agree with others
+who have testified that there is a movement, re-entry and
+after-care. It's a very young movement, and it reminds me in
+many ways of the yearly substance-abuse treatment movement that
+started back in the 1960's, when people were looking at, you
+know, the validity of funding substance-abuse treatment.
+ And I think one of the major things that occurred in that
+movement was leadership of those who had formerly been addicted
+to drugs and alcohol. And somehow, I think, if a way could be
+found to encourage the leadership of those who have served time
+in prison and have successfully made that transition and assure
+that they have a prominent place in this movement, I think that
+is the best way to perpetuate it years into the future.
+ Mr. Souder. Thank you all very much for your testimony and
+participating in this hearing. We look forward to having a
+continuing dialog with you.
+ Thank you, Congressman Davis, again for your leadership.
+ With that, the committee stands adjourned.
+ [Whereupon, at 5:30 p.m., the committee was adjourned.]
+ [Additional information submitted for the hearing record
+follows:]
+
+[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.061
+
+[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.062
+
+[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.063
+
+[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.064
+
+[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.065
+
+[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.066
+
+[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.067
+
+[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T0377.068
+
+
+
+