The Northwest Michigan Prisoner Re-entry Initiative has been selected by the Michigan Department of Corrections Office of Offender Re-entry and the Michigan Department of Human Services Domestic Violence Prevention and Treatment Board to pilot a family approach to prisoner re-entry.

"We are pleased to be asked to contribute our experience in this collaborative effort," stated Kirt Baab, MPRI Community Coordinator. "Our number one goal with MPRI is public safety. This approach will help achieve that goal."

It is expected that a family approach will help increase community safety and prevent violence in the home.

The goals include:

• helping fathers become responsible
• prevent violence
• ensure family safety

The MPRI is a state and local collaborative initiative connecting resources to improve the quality of life in the community.

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In Northwest Michigan there is a collaborative effort to prepare ex-offenders for successful integration into the community where they can become contributing members. The Michigan Works! MPRI Transition Specialists are a part of the team which works toward that goal. Benefits to the community include the sustainability of quality of life and safety for those living and working in the region.

The four transition specialists in Northwest Michigan are Heidi Solmose who works in Antrim, Kalkaska, and Grand Traverse counties; John Hart who works in Grand Traverse and Charlevoix counties; Colleen Sexton who works in Benzie, Manistee, Missaukee, and Wexford counties; and Sophia DeLonghi who works in Emmet, Grand Traverse, and Leelanau counties.

Each transition specialist receives ongoing training to help their clients establish themselves back in society. A recent professional development training, presented by the Michigan Association of Rehabilitation Organizations, provided information on preparing ex-offenders for employment, a key component of leading a responsible life.

"Employment provides an ex-offender the opportunity to contribute to society in a positive, pro-social manner, while at the same time holding the returning citizen accountable," stated Jessica Willis, MPRI Community Resource Specialist. "Oftentimes, employment empowers the returning citizen to become self-sufficient and instills a healthy sense of confidence in the individual," she said.

Hart indicated that the recent training has helped him to instruct his clients on being prepared with a resume and how to participate in an interview. "The whole process helps to build confidence and gets our clients to think beyond just the moment," he said.

"Ex-offenders have barriers but these can be overcome," said Sexton. "Preparedness for employment, for example, brings more confidence so that they can address the barriers more easily," she said.

"My role is sometimes more of an encourager than that of disciplinarian," stated Solmose. "Sometimes we're the cheerleaders that will notice and celebrate successes-even if just baby steps at times."

Sophia DeLonghi, the newest member of the transition specialist team concurs. "We can build off each others' successes. Our training also helps us to connect and build rapport with our clients. That is important when we are trying to instill accountability and refocused thinking."

The income an ex-offender earns from working can be put towards owed restitution, child support, or other fines. Obtaining employment can make all the difference for a returning citizen remaining stable in the community.    

Hart sees the value of the recent training on client employment. "I am looking forward to better serving our people through the training we are receiving. It's rewarding to see ex-offenders moving forward, making positive changes, reaching goals, and engaging in positive social activities," he said.

The Northwest Michigan Prisoner Reentry Initiative is committed to the safety of victims of violent crimes. This year, MPRI designated funding to provide domestic violence prevention and batterer intervention services to parolees. The program helps the prisoners begin the process of changing formerly ingrained and habitual behaviors that harm others before and after they are released from prison.

At the parole agent's request, men who have a history of behaviors that put them and their families at risk for domestic violence are placed in classes designed to prevent assaults on family members. In these classes, prisoners learn about relationship dynamics and the scenarios which can trigger old, violent behaviors. Group participants learn new skills for dealing with those triggers and for resolving conflicts with others in a safe and more productive manner. Participants are encouraged to continue the classes upon release. Those who do continue the classes receive reinforcement for their newly learned skills.

Women's Resource Center of Traverse City began partnering with MPRI in 2007 to provide these services for MPRI participants who were returning to Grand Traverse, Leelanau, Antrim, Kalkaska, and Benzie Counties. The 2008 MPRI Comprehensive Plan calls for expansion of these services by helping to form a network of domestic violence providers in Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Charlevoix, and Emmet Counties who will help reinforce the lessons learned at Pugsley Correctional Facility by MPRI participants returning to those counties.

• On any given day, 1 out of every 238 individuals in the United States is in prison or jail *
• On any given day, one out of every 38 individuals in the United States is under supervision (probation or parole)
• In 2004, the parolee recidivism rate in Michigan was 48% (returning to prison within the first two years after parole)
• In 2007, after two years of MRPI, the recidivism rate of parolees who participated in MPRI was 23%
• During fiscal year 2007, the Northwest Michigan MRPI program served 117 parolees
• In a given month, approximately 61% of active MPRI clients are working in some kind of job

* Source Bureau of Justice Administration

** Source Michigan Department of Corrections

Nine Counties in Northwest Michigan were chosen as one of eight pilot sites for the Michigan Prisoner Reentry Initiative (MPRI). This project includes Grand Traverse, Leelanau, Otsego, Antrim, Kalkaska, Manistee, Charlevoix and Emmet Counties.

The goals of MPRI are: 1.) to reduce recidivism, 2.) increase parolee success, and 3.) create safer neighborhoods by implementing a seamless system of services for offenders from the time of their entry to prison through their transition, community reintegration and aftercare in their communities.

Since the Nine County Area pilot started in October of 2005 the project has accomplished the following:

• A total of 250 parolees have been served,
• 165 of them were newly released to this area,
• 85 of them were already in the community.

The following services were provided to these individuals and their families:

• 128 received housing assistance in the form of transitional and permanent housing, 159 received vocational assistance in the form of work assessment, work readiness training, temporary work experience, vocational rehabilitation assistance and job placements,
• 105 parolees received some form of substance abuse treatment,
• 26 received bus passes, gas vouchers, or bicycles,
• 28 received clothing vouchers,
• 44 received assistance in obtaining birth certificates and/or social security cards,
• 4 received treatment for a severe mental illness and
• 12 received treatment for a mental health condition,
• 6 parolees received family therapy and
• 6 received dental screenings, office visits with a physician, or prescription assistance.

To date, 83.6% are employed or otherwise occupied on the following ways:

• Full – time permanent
• Full – time temporary
• Part-time permanent
• Part-time temporary
• temporary services
• casual labor
• temporary work experience
• enrolled in vocational training
• unemployable due to treatment or detention needs.

The remaining 16.4% continue to search for work.

The Transition Teams that accomplished this work include the following local partners: Michigan Works!, Michigan Rehabilitation Services, Grand Traverse Industries, Goodwill, Catholic Human Services, Addiction Treatment Services, Child and Family Services, Pugsley Correctional Facility, and area Parole Offices. Each returning prisoner has a case coordinator who collaborates with the parole agent to ensure that these services are in place and that the parolee actively participates in his or her Transition Accountability Plan.

Preliminary results indicate the strategy for guiding reentering prisoners back into their communities is providing additional security for the community by:

• increasing the number of people who are monitoring the parolee,
• engaging parolees in productive work,
• stabilizing them in parole approved housing, and
• reducing the number of individuals who violate their parole during the first few weeks they return to the community, a time period when parolees and the community were formerly at the greatest risk.

Effectiveness of the program will be evaluated based on the rate former prisoners return to prison. The goal is to increase the number of people who successfully complete parole and reduce the number of people who return to prison before they have been in the community two years.

Kirt J. Baab, MPRI Community Coordinator

and

Mary Harwood, LBSW