Safer Foundation simulation shows reentry battles after prison

People leaving prison and returning to society often face a tough battle – from finding a job, housing, food or transportation, to getting the proper identification paperwork and much more. That’s the main lesson that about 50 people from the Quad Cities region learned Thursday morning, April 27, during a “reentry simulation” exercise conducted by […]

People leaving prison and returning to society often face a tough battle – from finding a job, housing, food or transportation, to getting the proper identification paperwork and much more. That’s the main lesson that about 50 people from the Quad Cities region learned Thursday morning, April 27, during a “reentry simulation” exercise conducted by the Safer Foundation of the Quad Cities. The event was held on the fifth floor of the Seventh Judicial District, Department of Corrections building in downtown Davenport. “This is about raising awareness. … If people don’t have resources (when they get out of jail), they can quickly get (a parole violation) and go back to jail,” said Erica Lee, director of the Safer Foundation Quad Cities.

The “reentry simulation” exercise focused on that struggle to stay out of jail and return to society. During the event, the participants took on the roles of fictional people leaving prison and trying to get food, housing, jobs and other necessities. (Many of the attendees work in area social services; businesses; organizations, such as One Eighty and Unity House of Davenport; the Iowa Department of Human Services; area colleges and other groups.) For instance, Major Robert Doliber of the Salvation Army of the Quad Cities took on the role of “Dawson,” a high school dropout who just got out of jail, has no job and only $30 in cash. He and others in the exercise were given the task of trying to navigate their way through the legal and societal systems to meet all the requirements of a supervised release. During 15-minute sessions, the participants went to a series of tables – marked grocery store, probation, quick loan and pawn shop, jobs, banks, identification and others –  in an attempt to get the proper identification forms, money, an apartment and other requirements of their release. Each brief session was meant to represent a week of supervised release. And each session pointed out the frustrations of getting any of those tasks accomplished. For instance, the participants could not get groceries without money or even get to a store without transportation.  Before they could even attempt to accomplish many tasks, they needed proper IDs which meant visiting several different tables. (During the first session, the ID tables had the longest lines.)

After each 15-minute session,  Ms. Lee would check on the progress made by the participants. If they didn’t make enough progress, their parole would be violated and they would return to jail. When the first exercise session was over, most of the participants had to return to jail for not making enough progress. In this exercise, “jail” was a corner of the meeting room.  “It was a real eye-opener of what people face when they get out of jail. … I was in line three times, but time ran out on me. I was trying the best I could, but I ended up in jail,” said Mr. Doliber. In addition to the expected struggles facing the participants, Safer Foundation officials added an unexpected twist to the  “reentry simulation” exercise. After each 15-minute session, some of the people taking part were given a “wild card.” These cards represented some of life’s unexpected challenges and events – sometimes good, but often bad news.  A couple of the “wild card” events handed out included: “Landlord found out you have a dog. Pay $50 deposit immediately” and “Old warrant served. Go to court.” Ms. Lee said the “wild cards” represent additional challenges that often land people back in jail. Another participant landing in “jail” was Mason Herring, a businessman from Galesburg, Illinois.  Mr. Herrig was playing the role of “Jeremy,” a man who spent 25 years in prison for murder. “Jeremy” got his GED while in prison and had a DVD player that he can pawn for money. “I believe everybody deserves a second chance. … This event is showing me it takes a lot more than I thought it would,” Mr. Herrig said. Safer Foundation officials provided these statistics related to the battles people returning to society from prison face:

• 95% of people who were incarcerated nationwide come home and face barriers to employment, housing, education, access to public benefits and more.
• Because of those barriers, about 70% of those people will end up in jail or prison again.
• There is a 30% recidivate rate within the first 60 months of release.
• In Iowa, the recidivism rate is almost 40% return to prison within six months of release. The state has 7,959 in prison; 39,226 under field supervision; and 2,140 in residential correction housing.
• In Illinois, the recidivism rate is about 39% return to person within six months of release. The state has 29,729 people incarcerated; and 116,112 under field supervision.