Prison Alternatives Endorsed in Mass. July 23, 2004
News Summary
In an Op-Ed piece in the July 13 Boston Globe, Joseph McDonough, sheriff of Plymouth County, Mass., endorsed a shift to education and reentry programs over the current incarceration philosophy in state prisons.The commentary was in response to a report on the Massachusetts prison system from the Governor's Commission on Corrections Reform. The commission recommended a reassessment of incarceration philosophy, which currently views prison as the "end of the line" for criminal offenders. Reentry programs, the report noted, can provide inmates with resources for living a productive life after prison.
McDonough said Plymouth County's Reintegration After Care Program offers services that begin six months prior to an inmate's release and continue for up to six months after. "The program, which focuses on inmates incarcerated for drug and alcohol-related offenses, offers intensive instruction on anger-management, addiction counseling, and discharge planning, the latter of which assists inmates in choosing an appropriate halfway house and arranging for outpatient counseling or mental-health assistance," wrote McDonough.
He said that of the 210 inmates who participated in the program over a one-year period starting in early 1993, only 42, or 20 percent, have committed another crime. Nationally, recidivism rates are near 50 percent.
McDonough said other counties in Massachusetts are showing similar results with their aftercare and reentry programs. But he wrote that such programs could be enhanced by "early, effective communication between correctional facilities and the state's Parole Department."
McDonough also applauded the commission for recommending that the state hold inmates more accountable for participation in activities aimed at reducing the likelihood that they will reoffend. "In Plymouth we have targeted a former warehouse on the grounds of the correctional facility for conversion into a 66-bed step-down center, which inmates near the end of their incarceration period can use as a transitional base," McDonough wrote. "The inmates would work during the day and return to a supervised environment at night."
If the state follows the commission's recommendations, McDonough said it would "mark an important shift in the state's approach to corrections."
He added, "Changing the system will be a challenge, but a blueprint exists at the county level. The result will be a state corrections system that recognizes the wisdom of using incarceration as a tool for protecting citizens both during and after an inmate's lockup."
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