Ex-offenders have many strikes against them, most of their own doing. But the state should not add to the problem ? and its prison population ? by releasing prisoners without training them for jobs.
That?s why Gov. Martin O?Malley and his administration deserve praise for pledging to quadruple the number of inmates who work before they are released from prison.
Multiple studies show those who learn job skills are much more likely to find work after release and to stay out of prison, which costs taxpayers $25,000 per year per prisoner. That means if we reduced Maryland?s prison population by 1,000 people it would save the state $25 million, not to mention reduced costs of crime, investigation and prosecution. And fewer people would be raped, lose a friend to a murderer and pay higher car insurance. Plus, convicts who get jobs instead of returning to crime pay taxes.
O?Malley repeated that commitment earlier this week at the same time he said the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services would begin to release prisoners closer to their homes. That makes sense and should have always been the policy. More than half of prisoners released from Maryland prisons live in Baltimore City. Many do not have transportation or money, giving them plenty of opportunities to fall immediately back into bad habits.
As Phil Holmes, vice president of Goodwill Industries of the Chesapeake, which helps former inmates find work, said “People being released from prisons need to quickly connect with community-based programs, ideally within 72 hours of release. This policy and renewed emphasis on employment for inmates are welcome and much-needed changes.”
A recent study shows that about 50 percent of Maryland prisoners released in 2001 returned to prison within three years. Instead of setting prisoners up to fail, the state ? and particularly Baltimore City ? should bedoing everything in its power to help ex-convicts become productive members of society.
The change in transportation policy and commitment to give more prisoners job training is a good start. Baltimore City must also reprioritize its public safety efforts. Last year the city devoted about $6.3 million (a combination of state, federal and local money) to prisoner re-entry programs. It spent $286 million on the police department. Shifting even a few million of those police dollars to prisoner reentry programs could aid beleaguered police, potentially save the city and the state millions ? and give thousands of men and women a real opportunity to transform their lives.
