The United States currently receive over two million people undergoing incarceration in prisons and jails where seventy-five percent of them get out of jail at the same point. The programs to prepare inmates for their release have been a significant problem due to overcrowding in the in prisons today. According to the statistics from Bureau of Justice, within three years approximately six hundred thousand inmates comes of prison annually, and about two-thirds of these people will return to the jail from either new conviction or parole revocation. There are many barriers along the way of inmates that makes there life complex and need special support so that they can adapt to the new and prosperous life after coming out of prison (Hagan, 2001). The barriers include; challenge to access to employment, health care, housing, public assistance, voting, and criminal records that forces them to have a negative attitude towards their lives (Weiman, 2007). This paper will focus on preparing a treatment plan putting into account goals and objectives that will help offenders in adapting the experience in the community after their release from the minimum-security facility.
Reentry programs in most cases comprise of three main phases that help the offender in succeeding in going back to the community after the release from prison or jail. The first phase consists of programs that take place during incarceration that aims in preparing the offender for their release. The second phase has the programs that help in connecting the offender with the essential services that they need after leaving prison. The last stage comprises of long-term plans that play a significant role in supporting the offenders to integrate permanently with the community reducing the chances of the individual to commit crimes that may land them back to prison (Nunez-Neto, 2008).
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It has not been easy for the offenders to go back into their communities because of the perception that the people have on the inmates as well as self-perception of the offender. For the reentry to be successful, the offenders should have a strong believe on themselves that they can reform and become good people that the society can depend on and this will enable them to transform and become law-abiding citizens. It is also essential for the offender to accept the changes that will happen and learn more on addressing the moves on a positive perception. In most cases, people will perceive the offenders as bad people, but they can prove these people wrong by ensuring that they follow the rules and regulations just like any other person, therefore, setting them free from the negative perception from the community. The individuals from the prison should also accept to change to the better for the reentry to be successful because the determinant to the success of the reentry process is the ability of the offender to allow for changes both physically and psychologically.
In America, inmates face many challenges as they reenter into the community from prison. In most cases, inmates after release go home with little money that enables them to pay their bus fare without considering what they will engage on after arriving at home. The inmates then reenter into the community with no health insurance, no guidance on getting employment, no financial support and housing among other rights like voting. These basic needs are very significant to the inmates as they go back to the community because it helps in preventing them from committing other crimes that may force them back to jail or prison. Providing the offender with good housing or financial support from the community will play a significant role in ensuring that the offender smoothly reintegrates with the society enabling them to work with the people hence preventing them from committing crimes that might force them back to prison.
It is also vital to accord them their full rights for instance rights to vote because this is essential in giving them that feeling of being not a lesser person in the community. When the offenders exercise their rights, they feel that they are part of the community and they can work together in building the society. Giving them employment is another critical step because it enables the inmates to depend upon themselves as they reenter back into the community. Work or job opportunity is significant because it makes the inmates active and busy preventing from becoming idle that might forces them into breaking laws or engaging in unlawful activities that may land one in jail or prison (Farabee, 2014). Some of the programs that the offenders should also participate in the community include giving them a chance to lead in one of the plans for instance that helps to educate the youths on the effects of drugs abuse. By doing so, these individuals will lead by example and in the process prevent them from committing crimes since they have to behave well so that they can set good examples or role models to other people in the community. The reentry process for the offender will be successful only if the community will accommodate and support the inmates in going through the process in a smooth and friendly way that they will not feel segregated or not part of the society hence boosting their self-esteem.
Another important consideration in the reentry process and its success is the housing. Housing is a basic need for every human being, and therefore the offenders should have access to the good and decent house that will enable them to re-enter back into the community with ease. In most cases, housing has been a barrier to the success of reentry as the ex-offenders goes back to the community. The issue of housing ex-offenders comes in because the property owners can deny them tenancy because of their criminal records forcing most of them to live with their families (Gideon & Sung, 2011). The ex-offenders should have access to good houses that are well served with clean water, power and sewerage facilities because these go a long way in enabling the success of reentry of the individuals into their communities.
Determining whether the ex-offender is making good progress on the goals and objectives is another crucial step towards success in the reentry process because it helps in ensuring that the individual is reintegrating with the community correctly and it can help in deciding on how to have successful reentry program (Seiter, 2002). One of the indicators that assist in determining the progress of reentry is the ability of the ex-offender to stick to the strict schedule that ensures that the person is devoted or willing to change for the better and reunite with the community correctly. The individual should attend rehabilitation process once every week and this is essential in the reentry process because it helps the person to reconnect with the society. Observing the behavior of the person is also another critical show that can indicate if the person is responding well to the preparation to reentry. When the individual is doing well with the program, the outcomes will be per the objectives enabling the success of reuniting the ex-offender with the community.
In conclusion, there have been many challenges that the ex-offenders face as they reenter into the community after jail or prison. The problems of accessing good houses, employment, amongst other basic needs and rights have been making the reentry process complicated forcing dome of the offenders to commit crimes that land them back into prison. It is therefore essential to ensure that the ex-offenders have a smooth reunion with their communities by providing that they get employment like any other person and have access to decent and affordable housing. It is also essential to rehabilitate them and monitor their progress because it enhances success to reentry.
References
Farabee, D. Z. (2014). An experimental evaluation of a nationally recognized employment-focused offender reentry program. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 10(3) , 309-322.
Gideon, L. &. (2011). Rethinking corrections rehabilitation, reentry, and reintegration. SAGE Publications.
Hagan, J. &. (2001). Returning captives of the American war on drugs: Issues of community and family reentry. Crime & Delinquency, 47(3) , 352-367.
Nuñez-Neto, B. (2008). Offender reentry: Correctional statistics, reintegration into the community, and recidivism. Report RL34287. Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, Domestic Social Policy Division. http://congressionalresearch. com/RL34287/document. php .
Seiter, R. P. (2002). Prisoner reentry and the role of parole officers. Fed. Probation, 66 , 50.
Weiman, D. F. (2007). Barriers to prisoners' reentry into the labor market and the social costs of recidivism. Social Research: An International Quarterly, 74(2) , 575-611.
