HELP CRIMINALS REJOIN MAINSTREAM

Ostracizing Ex-Inmates Only Hastens Their Return To A Life Of Crime

Prison is no bargain for taxpayers: It costs a fortune -- $28,000 a year
per inmate -- and about half the time, it doesn't deter ex-prisoners from
getting into trouble again.

For the nine out of every 10 convicts who eventually get out of prison,
what happens to them after release is more important to community safety
than how much time they spent behind bars.

Thousands of prisoners will be released from state prisons in the coming
year. As the Wisconsin State Journal's Phil Brinkman reported as part of
his in-depth series, "Conning Ourselves," ex-inmates hit the streets with
no money, car, home or job.

More intensive supervision of offenders in the community, where they can
work or stay in school and maintain family ties, would be cheaper and more
effective than the current catch-and-release cycle of Wisconsin criminal
justice.

Wisconsin should build a stronger community-based system that closely
tracks ex-inmates, helps them rejoin the law-abiding mainstream, and keeps
some parole violators and other minor criminals out of prison altogether.
Keeping closer tabs on ex-inmates and people put on probation would deter
them from committing new crimes more effectively than the mere threat of
punishment.

Recent task force recommendations urge the nation to pay more attention to
prisoner re-entry issues. The Re-entry Policy Council of 100 national
experts says that first, prisons must do a better job of preparing prison
inmates for freedom.

Then, local government and agencies must play a bigger and better
coordinated role in helping ex-offenders adapt -- especially because many
go home to troubled neighborhoods where they can be recaptured by crime,
drugs and vice. Counties, which oversee social services, need more money to
develop cost-effective local programs to help offenders find a place in the
community.

As a model, Delaware has launched a pilot program using federal money that
matches ex-convicts with their own "case manager" who helps arrange
housing, health care, a job or skills training, and substance abuse
counseling if needed. The program targets male and female prisoners ages 18
to 35 who are considered most likely to lapse into criminal behavior.

Wisconsin also should consider reviving the idea of community confinement,
which would expand the use of county jails, halfway houses and apartments
to house minor offenders in their communities. Judges could sentence
eligible offenders to intensive treatment under close supervision while the
offender keeps a job and family contacts proven to be important factors in
keeping criminals straight.

Implementing such a program statewide probably would require an initial
investment of more than $100 million a year. That's expensive, but the
amount is a fraction of the $852 million now spent annually on corrections.
And the change would save money in the long run by caging up fewer
offenders in expensive state prisons.

Short of this major change, we must recognize that most inmates do not know
which way to turn when they leave prison and many lapse into crime as a
result. Wisconsin must release its inmates under closer supervision by a
better coordinated network of community-based transition programs.

This overhaul won't score many points for politicians attuned to
politically popular "get-tough" tactics on crime. But these improvements
could potentially save the state millions of dollars a year, keep better
watch over ex-convicts and help them adjust to life outside a cell -- and
most important, keep communities safe.