The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is hoping to find as-yet unrecognized patterns of adaptation and recidivism — which the agency terms “inmate reintegration into the community — by asking software developers to provide information about commercially available software capable of aggregating the various types of data the agency already collects. A request published…

Read More

By Christopher Zoukis

The American criminal justice system is broken.  Wrongdoers go to prison, become hardened by the experience, only to be released and commit additional crimes, thus reentering the criminal justice system.  This cycle of crime, punishment, crime, and then back to punishment is often continual, and it is intergenerational, too.  According to the latest RAND Corporation/Correctional Education Association study, 43 percent of released prisoners will recidivate within 3 years of their release from prison.  While this is in line with several Pew Center on the States’ studies, the Bureau of Justice Statistics actually states that the 3 year recidivism rate is in the 50th percentile.  Something clearly needs to be done.

Prisons: The Warehousing of People

While there are many causes for such a high recidivism — or failure — rate, in my mind they all come down to one component: wrongdoers are going to prison and are not being transformed by the experience.  This is quite a sad statement considering that the American taxpayers spend tens of thousands of dollars per year to incarcerate each offender.  We are essentially paying for the state to house people in concrete and cinderblock rooms, wait the prescribed time, and then release them as the same people they were when they went in in the first place.  To call this ineffectual and simpleminded would be a gross understatement.

A Transformational Experience

What is needed is to manufacture a transformational experience for those Americans we incarcerate.  We need to come up with some way to change people, not merely warehouse them.  The research indicates that prison education, substance abuse and mental health treatment, as well as a structured reintegration plan, will make all the difference in the world.  Let’s take each in turn.

Read More

PHILADELPHIA, PA (USA) – 6 OCTOBER 2013    He is a Thought Leader on Social Justice and Reintegration issues, a dynamic voice in the National Dialogue on Mass Incarceration, and the Founder and Executive Director of The Center For Returning Citizens (www.tcrcphilly.org).  He is Mr. J. Jondhi Harrell.  Mr. Harrell will be a featured guest on…

Read More

CONTACT:

Mr. J. Jondhi Harrell

Executive Director

The Center for Returning Citizens Mr. J. Jondhi Harrell / Photo courtesy philly.com

Telephone: (215) 305-8793

E-Mail: jharrell@tcrcphilly.org

THE CENTER FOR RETURNING CITIZENS TAPPED FOR LEADERSHIP ROLE FOR 2013 INTERNATIONAL MEN’S DAY

PHILADELPHIA, PA (USA) – 12 August 2013 – Each year approximately 35,000 individuals who have been incarcerated in federal, state, and local correctional facilities return to their families and neighborhoods in the City of Philadelphia – the fifth largest metropolitan area in the United States. For these Men and Women, who are often referred to as “Returning Citizens,” the journey of redemption and reintegration is arduous and challenging. The Center for Returning Citizens (“TCRC”) is the brainchild of Mr. J. Jondhi Harrell, a Thought Leader on social justice and the successful reintegration of formerly incarcerated individuals into society. Mr. Harrell serves as the organization’s Executive Director. Under his leadership, the organization offers a myriad of services which comprehensively and effectively addresses the unique issues of formerly incarcerated individuals. A global model for healing and repatriation for formerly incarcerated individuals, TCRC has been selected to assume a leadership role for 2013 International Men’s Day for Returning Citizens and individuals and organizations that provide resources and support services to them throughout the City of Philadelphia.

Read More