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time in prison, they typically have little
savings to show for it when they’re released.
If they do have some cash, it’s usually not
much, said Paul Solomon. He’s the
executive director of Sponsors, a re-entry
program with a network of services
engaging roughly 500 former jail and prison
inmates in Lane County annually.
“When you’re starting out with nothing,
two or three hundred dollars doesn’t go very
far,” he said.
“The fact that almost half of the people
P H O T O B Y JOE G L O D E
O S P contact center m anager B ru ce Potts
being released from custody don’t have
(left) stands with inm ate Jim m y K a sh i
identified housing when they are released is
(right), who has worked in the contact center
a bit of a travesty in my mind,” Solomon
f o r the p a st fo u r years.
said, and where you’re released, in many
cases, dictates what type of resources you’ll
have.”
But if inmates want luxury items, such as
He said in some counties, especially
toothpaste,
they will likely have to work for
outside the 1-5 corridor, some inmates are
them. But if they get into trouble, not only
released to homelessness.
are they likely to, lose their job, but they
“It’s tough to start when you’re on the
also may be fined for misbehaving, which
streets,” he said.
can also eat into their savings.
But even if the Department of
In 2016, inmates at Oregon state prisons
Corrections wanted to pay inmates the
paid $316,810 in fines they accrued while
minimum wage - as prisons in Poland do 2
behind bars. Of that, $88,960 was for
it couldn’t afford it.
property damage or medical expenses
Oregon’s prisons couldn’t operate without related to an assault, and $227,850 was for
their underpaid inmate workers.
disciplinary fines.
Without them, “we would have to hire
When prisoners are released with little or
more people,” Corrections Department
no savings, it places an additional burden on
spokesperson Betty Bemt said. “We don’t
taxpayers.
have the resources to do that. That’s just
“We’re paying for it one way or another,”
not realistic.” ;
Solomon said.
He and re-entry counselor Ciccotelli both
agreed that most inmates will need some
form of support once they are released.
“According to DOC, about three-quarters
of the people in custody have moderate to
severe substance abuse issues, yet only a
fraction of them receive treatment,” ;
Solomon said. “Sex offender treatment is
another one. Oregon is a state that doesn’t
provide sex offender treatment,” he said,
this, despite Oregon having a high rate of
sex offenders.
He also expressed concern about the
under-capacity status of the automotive
training program at Oregon State
Penitentiary.
“There is ho reason those programs
shouldn’t be full, and if they aren’t, they
should be plucking people from other
institutions and bringing them there for the
better programs,” he said.
He plans to bring this up at the next
meeting of the Governor’s Reentry Council,
on which he sits.
Since it was established in 2007, this
council has introduced some productive
policy changes to help inmates succeed after
their release, he said, such as ensuring they
have identification.
There have also been improvements in
Oregon’s five largest counties, he said. In
Oregon, parole and re-entry are handled on
the county level, and it’s common practice
for parole officers, treatment providers and
other service providers to connect with
inmates before release to make the
transition back into society smoother.
But many rural counties don’t have the
resources to do this.
“We need to create more equity across
the state for services to make sure every
person that comes out of prison has
transitional housing, has employment
services, has treatment, thé things that we
know make a difference in a person’s
success,” Solomon said.
In the 2017 legislative session, a bill
creating a Certificate of Good Standing for
inmates will be introduced.
“It’s not something someone would get
immediately upon release; it would be
something that would take time,” said Sen.
Michael Dembrow (D-Portland).
An inmate would begin to earn thé
certificate before release and then would
obtain it if he or she continued to meet the
conditions of parole for a period of time
after re-entry. The intention is that having
this certificate of rehabilitation would carry
weight in the eyes of prospective employers,
Dembrow said.
“Is there more work to do? Sure. And
clearly there’s a lot we could be doing to
ensure people success when they get out,”
Solomon said. “Hell, when you take a look at
the recidivism rates with master’s degrees,
there’s a great solution! Give everybody an
education. But fiscally, it’s a little more
challenging.”
emily@streetroots.org
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