- - - COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA PUBLIC HEARING - COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY - - - Room 400, City Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Monday, February 7, 2005, 1:30 p.m. - - - RESOLUTION 040816 - Resolution authorizing City Council's Committee on Public Safety to conduct public hearings to examine and analyze the Community Re-entry process of ex-offenders and persons under authority of the criminal justice system, hear testimony and collect data on related public, private and community based program and policy efforts, so as to determine what actions Council may take to help deliver the resources and support required to operate and promote such programs and policies. PRESENT: COUNCILWOMAN DONNA-REED MILLER, Chair COUNCILMAN JUAN F. RAMOS - - - V A R A L L O Incorporated Litigation Support Services 1835 Market Street, Suite 600 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103 215.561.2220 215.567.2670 2 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 - - - P R O C E E D I N G S - - -
Good afternoon, everyone. I'm Councilwoman Donna Reed-Miller, Chair of the Committee on Public Safety. And I just want to say that the public hearing is officially now in session. We will be joined by other Council members momentarily. I don't want you to think that absence means people aren't interested. So, we'll have our clerk read the title of the resolution.
Resolution 040816, authorizing City Council's Committee on Public Safety to conduct public hearings to examine and analyze the community re-entry process of ex-offenders and persons under authority of the criminal justice system, hear testimony and collect data on related public, private and community based program and policy efforts, so as to determine what 3 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 actions Council may take to help deliver the resources and support required to operate and promote such programs and policies.
Okay. Thank you. I just want to start this hearing by a statement. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, wherever. Whatever affects one directly affects all. A great many people in this country are worried about law and order, and a great many people are worried about justice. But one thing is certain. You cannot have either until you have both. Ramsey Clark, former Attorney General, indirectly Martin Luther King. In matters of government, I believe justice is served when we develop and implement policy that produces the greatest good for the greatest number of people. Ex-offender community re-entry programs and initiatives are about that type of policy. We have all heard it said it is not 4 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 enough to help the fallen get up. We should also, if we can, offer support as they try to get along. As a civilized and healthy society, this principle should reflect our approach to the process of re-entry. Re-entry programs and processes work to assist and facilitate the successful return of offenders back into open community life, after being released from confinement or while they interact with the criminal justice system. The goals and methods are to provide literacy, job training, and placement, temporary housing, including counseling, life skill supports, and a host of other vital services. The process begins the moment someone is incarcerated. Individually or collectively, by helping another, we reap certain benefits for ourselves. So it is with the positive rewards and outcomes of effect and progressive 5 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 re-entry programs and policies that are absolutely essential to maintaining the well-being of our total society environment. The payback is crystal clear. When adequate resources, dollars and people are allocated towards the institutions, organizations and systems dealing with all aspects of re-entry, we see a dramatic decrease in all aspects of the high cost of crime. The drop in deadly recidivism is the most apparent and desirable effect of all. This viewpoint is growing all over the country, throughout every rank of government, as we will witness during the course of these hearings. Philadelphia is in the forefront of promoting and demonstrating this perspective. A community, faith-based, business and criminal justice partnership has actively begun to materialize. And the Mayor is involved with a national panel on the subject. As a result of the kind of work and 6 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 dedication of those who are present or represented here today, policy makers everywhere are beginning to see the cost benefits and cost effectiveness of investing in re-entry programs and initiatives. My colleagues and I thank and commend you all. These factors are a part of my motivation for drafting Resolution Number 040816, and calling for these hearings, to hear from those who are most involved and invested in the re-entry process, about, one, re-entry programs, needs and assessments, what is working, what is not; two, legal, legislative and public policy status and evaluation, what is helping and what is not; and three, resource allocation, funding and levels, and what is being delivered and what is not, in the terms of dollars, personnel and structures. From this information, Council can determine how it can best help to promote and support the best practices of the re-entry process. Additionally, we recognize and 7 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 understand the need to increase communication, coordination and cooperation between all agencies and agents involved in the re-entry process, as well as the need for more public awareness. We believe these hearings can provide a forum and opportunity to advance both causes.
As an elected public servant, I see my contribution to serving justice as making every attempt, when it comes to public policy, to do the right thing for the right reasons, to help Council achieve this goal on behalf of the critical issue of ex-offender community re-entry, and do it the right way, and let us begin right now. I've just been astounded at some of the data and numbers that we've been hearing, just dealing with this issue in the past few months. On any given day, more than 48,000 county cases and more than 8,400 state cases of parole and probation are active in Philadelphia. You know, that's more than a 8 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 quarter of our population. There are neighborhoods where eight ought of ten families are affected in some way by the criminal justice system. We can safely estimate, by virtue of these numbers and others, that 40 to 50 percent of all families in Philadelphia have been impacted in some way by someone involved in the criminal justice system. So, with that, we'd like to start. And I do have a witness list. Okay. The first witness I'd like to call is Commissioner Leon King. Please proceed to the witness table. I know you're here somewhere. I saw you. Okay. Please proceed to the witness table, and identify yourself for the purpose of the record, and proceed with your testimony. COMMISSIONER KING: Good morning. I am Leon king, Commissioner of the Philadelphia Prison System.
Good morning. COMMISSIONER KING: I believe, Councilwoman Miller, you have a copy of my 9 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 testimony. I'm not going to read the whole thing. I have edited it down a bit for your... You can read the rest of the juicy details at your leisure.
Okay. Thank you. COMMISSIONER KING: I am pleased to present testimony on the issue surrounding prisoner re-entry in Philadelphia, and the Philadelphia Prison System's vision for improving the services it provides to inmates in this process. Seated with me are Deputy Commissioner for treatment, Alan Appel. I don't know where he is -- yes, to my left; Mike Resnick, our Chief of Staff; and Joyce Adams, our Deputy Director of Inmate Services. Seated in the audience are various members of the Prison System staff who are here to lend their moral support, and to help me answer questions that might be posed that I cannot remember from my present 10 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 recollection. As we have pointed out later in my written testimony, the rise in the prison population in the United States and in the City of Philadelphia in the last few years has been significant. With a census of 8336 on October 16, 2004, the Philadelphia Prison System topped all previous population levels since its beginnings in 1683. Commensurate with the national rise in the prison population, we have seen here in Philadelphia a rise in the operating expenses of the Philadelphia Prison System. And the time has come to more strategically address the issues. Under the direction of Mayor Street, the City and its Prison System have undertaken to address the growing prison census and related operating budget in a multi-pronged manner. Revamping the services provided to inmates in the re-entry process and thereby reducing the recidivism rate is one of the 11 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 key facets of this strategy. There are several key facts that we must all understand when we consider these issues. First, we know by way of empirical evidence, that in order for an inmate to be successful in re-entering society and remaining crime free is, first and foremost, acceptance on his or her part of the responsibility for the results of their actions, and a desire to change. No amount of programming will be successful without that personal epiphany. As Mayor Street has often said, inmates must understand that they are not innocent and injured. Secondly, we know that in order to be successful upon release, inmates must have an adequate job, paying a livable wage, adequate housing, substance abuse and intervention and counseling, mental health or physical health interventions where appropriate, and adequate community support. Providing these necessary 12 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 requirements must, and I repeat must, begin inside the walls of the prison or jail, with full cooperation and planning of correctional officials. Programs and services not coordinated in this fashion are doomed to failure. Your correctional professionals in the Philadelphia Prison System must coordinate the beginning of this process. Moreover, these services must be coordinated across City departments, and I must, and I repeat must, include cooperation and planning by all the members of the criminal justice system, service providers, the faith community, the business community -- and that's one I'd really like to emphasize, the business community -- and the leaders and the residents of the neighborhoods where these inmates will return upon release from jail or prison. At present there is more than one group in this City planning for inmate re-entry and requesting funds from various sources to aide in their efforts. 13 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 If the services are not properly coordinate, precious resources will be wasted. We as a City must also recognize and understand the inmate population we are dealing with and planning for. While the ingredients of successful re-entry are common across correctional agencies, planning for true prison populations as opposed to jail populations is an essential element to understand in the planning process.
I as the Commissioner of Prisons for the City of Philadelphia am addressing and concerned with the jail population of inmates. While referred to as a prison system, the Philadelphia Prison System is really a county jail system, meaning the inmates in our care, custody and control are approximately 60 percent pre-trial detainees, meaning they cannot afford bail and are being held pending the outcome of the criminal proceedings lodged against them in our 14 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 courts. A sizable portion of our overall inmate population is released on average within two weeks of their incarceration in our jails, most often with no significant prior notice to the Prison System. Translated, this means that out of the 8336 inmates under the supervision of the Philadelphia Prison System on October 16, 2003, it was impossible for the Prison System to provide adequate re-entry services to at least 5,001 inmates. Likewise, of the approximately 35,000 admissions a year, it would be impossible for the system to provide adequate re-entry discharge services to at least 21,000 of those admissions. This is the nature of the short-term stay of most inmates in a jail-based correctional system. The remainder of the 8336 inmates housed on October 16th would be inmates sentenced to a county sentence, that the Prison System would have more of an 15 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 opportunity to adequately plan for their re-entry into society. It is the sentenced population of the Philadelphia Prison System that our most coordinated efforts on successful re-entry should be primarily focused. This is contrasted from a true prison system, like the Pennsylvania State Department of Corrections. C. generally houses inmates for terms of five years and longer. Thus, from a time perspective, they have a wider window to plan for and to work with inmates prior to their release. In these budgetary times, we must also understand that the City's coffers are not full. In recent months all City departments have been asked to reduce their expenditures and lay off staff. The Prison System had to do its part and, must live within the budgetary guidelines set by the administration. The Prison System's plans are therefore based on an assumption of no new 16 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 revenue to its upcoming proposed operating budget, and no additional General Fund employees to carry out its mission. Finally, public attitudes towards rehabilitated inmates must change. Too often public discourse around corrections and rehabilitation of inmates becomes bogged down in public perceptions that we, as correctional officials, are somehow coddling inmates and/or the common health perception that when we are discussing these issues we are most referring to murderers, rapists and child molesters. The inherent reality is that unless sentenced to death or life in prison without parole, the vast majority of inmates are going to be released from prison or jail at some point. These released inmates may include murderers, rapists and child molesters. However, they also include inmates housed in the Philadelphia Prison System who are serving county sentences for less serious crimes, and those crimes related to drugs and 17 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 theft. The glaring point that is missed too often is that these inmates will be returning to the communities from whence they came. The more inmates we can successfully intervene with and stop their criminal behavior, the less crime will be committed by released inmates; and thus, the safer our City and its neighborhoods will be. The more successful we are with the inmates we can reach, the more we can redirect City resources to other worthy civic causes. Thus, the issue of successful inmate re-entry and rehabilitation is a matter of public safety, as well as fiscal responsibility. We are blessed to live in a City such as Philadelphia.
We have a visionary Mayor who understands the importance of prisoner re-entry. S. Conference of Mayors' Committee on Prisoner Re-entry, he is spreading the word, the 18 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 importance of this subject around the country, ensuring that we lead the nation on this issue. As a result of the Mayor's efforts, in the next few months the Corporation for National Service will announce that Philadelphia has been selected as one of the ten national sites to launch a pilot program, underwritten by funds from the Federal Government, to focus on prisoner re-entry. We are also blessed because it was here in Philadelphia that the modern theory of corrections was born. It was through the Quaker tradition that the Philadelphia jails originated the idea that punishment for punishment's sake was not the proper way for government to treat criminals. It was here in Philadelphia that the idea of rehabilitation of inmates took hold and changed penology around the world. It is the combination of this history and the leadership of this Mayor that Philadelphia will become the national leader in prisoner re-entry. 19 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 Our blessings in Philadelphia also include the approximately 2,000 security and treatment staff, who provide services and security to our inmates, while at the same time working in the most dangerous police districts in the City. This work force is complemented by the almost 2,000 volunteers who also help us with our mission. All of them are priceless assets to this City. Our final blessing is that, unlike many other jurisdictions, we have a City Council, criminal justice partners, a faith-based community, and numerous other individuals and groups in the community, who are willing to lend their aide, support and hard works to the inmates in our care. And I'm just going to skip after that. And you can just note there's background information about the prisons, who's there, the charges that are present, the increase in the population since FY'99. I would stop and draw your attention to the chart on which is very 20 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 interesting. It breaks down by Zip Code where inmates are coming from and where they're going to. And you can note the areas of the City where, you know, there's an increase in number of folks that are released. In talking before we came, you know, there may be areas on that map where Council people... you know, maybe that's not your District. But the point, I think, Councilwoman Miller, you made in your opening statement was that while inmates in these areas are returned there because that's where they live, that's not necessarily where they're committing their crimes, number one. And number two, if you multiply out the family members, the children, and everybody else connected to those inmates, as I think you pointed out in your opening statement, it really is a problem that affects the whole City. I just want to skip forward. There's a very detailed layout of all the 21 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 programs that we have going on at the prison. And then I just want to read about the...
Excuse me. Which one is the Zip Code map? The print's so small I'm having a difficult time reading it. COMMISSIONER KING: . They're both Zip Code maps.
Both Zip Code maps. COMMISSIONER KING: Yes. One's by admission and one's by release. I think that's what it is. The bottom one is release and the top one is admission.
Thank you. COMMISSIONER KING: So, when I talk about the community round table later on, we use this map to make our choice about where we're going to have the round table. My formal testimony states all the programs that we have going on currently at the prison that we've always had going on. And I just want to capsulize for you what our plan is moving forward, starting on . 22 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05
14. COMMISSIONER KING: Despite the decades of experience in maintaining programs that foster successful re-entry, I must credit the work of many others who have made re-entry the byword among correctional administrators across the country, and credit a Mayor who has relentlessly kept the focus on re-entry across Philadelphia for the past five years. On January 1, Mayor Street created a new tradition, when he addressed inmates assembled at each of our major prison facilities, with a message of hope and a promise that this City would be there for them when they got out of jail. Mayor Street told inmates, you are important to us; you are part of our family. We will do our part. You will have to do your part. No mayor has ever visited the prisons, as Mayor Street has. We looked it 23 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 up. No Mayor has done what Mayor Street has done. He has clearly set the agenda for staff and inmates alike. It is the inmate's obligation to change his behavior, and it's our obligation as a community to be at the prison door when he is released with the necessary resources and support. In combination with Mayor Street, Mayor Wilson Goode helped mobilize the communities of faith across Philadelphia, seeking volunteers to mentor children of inmates because we know that if you're a child of an inmate, you're more likely to become an inmate. T. Program. The Cambria Community Center was something else that came out of that. Of course, we're going to change that to the Youth Study Center. But I think we've successfully duplicated that at the Riverside 24 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 Correctional Facility. S. within the Philadelphia Prison System. And I think we have a pretty comprehensive national model, as far as that is concerned. In 2002, the late Deputy Managing Director Diane Granlan convened an ad hoc retreat for all those agencies dealing with inmate behavioral health issues. And out of that meeting was something born called the Forensic Task Force. You'll hear more about this in detail when Dr. Evans testifies next week. But the good news with that is we had the National Institute of Corrections up to the jails. They surveyed what we're doing. And as a result of that, we've been given a grant. I guess it's financed partly by the National Institute of Corrections, and the Council of State Governments, to continue to look at the mental health services at the prison, and give us technical assistance to 25 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 improve on what we already have. Some more recent things. With the close of the Jackson vs. Hendricks lawsuit in 2001, the City agreed to pay, I think, $2 million in settlement of that case. Instead of distributing that to all of the inmates, we put it in an escrow fund. And there's a committee that was appointed to distribute that money. S. Project in 2003, again focusing on sentenced inmates, providing treatment, education and vocational training while they were in jail. These inmates... This is a new thing at the prison, too. We recognized our responsibility to help inmates after they were discharged, as opposed to just sort of treating them and showing them to the door. And through the money in the Jackson fund, we have contracted and procured the services of the Pennsylvania Prison Society, Impact Services, Top/Win, The People's Emergency Center, Philadelphia Alive Center Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 for Transformation, Mount Airy Community Computer Center and the African Chamber of Commerce. Also in 2003, the Prison System contracted with the Urban Institute to create a portrait of prisoner re-entry here in Philadelphia, to review inmate preparation for re-entry and study program effectiveness and outcomes. The first of these reports is presently in draft form. And we look forward to its release in the months ahead. S. S. Project. S. I didn't go into detail to, but it's in my testimony.
The Prison System also created the Office of Community Justice and Outreach, to help improve relationships with 27 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 community-based organizations, and to provide an on-campus single point of resource for inmates who are discharged from the Prison System. With the crescendo of interest in re-entry projects in the field of housing, drug treatment, medical and behavioral health, job training and job placement, the Prison System created a re-entry oversight board in 2004, with representation from the various members of the community and the criminal justice system. The purpose of the oversight board was to harness the interest and energies of all these public agencies, advocacy groups and community groups into a single vision, a single coherent strategy, and to coordinate re-entry programs and evaluate proposals. The first outgrowth of the re-entry oversight board was the Prison System Re-entry Summit which was held in Sharon Baptist Church on June 24th, and I believe that Council has been provided with copies of the report that was generated as a result of 28 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 that. The Re-entry Summit was truly remarkable, in my biased opinion. We had 800 people who showed up at Sharon Baptist Church. Had you been there for the lunch break, you would have seen correctional officers in their uniforms, members of the faith-based community, people in suits, ex-offenders sitting on the steps of the church, eating the lunch that prison industries provided for us. It was a very, very unique scene, I think. As a result of that, we compiled our report. And we have some further action plans that begin on , in regard to what the Prison System is going to do, in regard to improving our services around re-entry. We're going to continue to coordinate re-entry efforts to the Philadelphia Prison System's Re-entry Oversight Board. The most immediate issue is to begin 29 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 discussions to integrate and/or combine the resources and the membership of the Philadelphia... the Philadelphia Consensus Group on re-entry and reintegration of adjudicated offenders. This will provide the Prison System with an expanded set of staffing and other resources to initiate the various recommendations made around the issue of prisoner re-entry, and to coordinate the outside interest groups, agencies, service providers and community groups interested in assisting us in prisoner re-entry. This would include the services of a Vista worker from the Federal Government. Under leadership of Julia Danzy, Director of the Division of Social Services, complete the plan which is in progress for coordination among City departments, around the issues of jobs, housing and treatment of inmates being discharged from the Philadelphia Prison System. Part of this reorganization will involve leveraging and redirecting 30 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 non-operating budget dollars, to directly assist us in their prisoner re-entry efforts. Upon the retirement in the early spring of our present Deputy Commissioner for Treatment, Alan Appel, who's looking quite smart in his uniform today, abolishing that office as it currently exists, and naming a Deputy Commissioner for Offender Re-entry and Rehabilitation Planning, finish developing a comprehensive plan to transform one of the five major jails on the prison campus into a re-entry jail. Inmates assigned to this facility would be sentenced inmates, and all the services at the facility would be directed to prisoner re-entry. Included in this process will be the new performance measures for inmate programming, and modification to the Prison System's management information systems lock and track function, to enable us to track inmates' success, and to direct resources only to those programs that are effective; commence and complete, in cooperation with 31 Res.
040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 the Urban Institute, the planned community round table in the Frankford section of the City. Using this model, we will duplicate this process in other highly effective neighborhoods, complete a reorganization of the Volunteer Services Division, with its 2,000 volunteers, as well as the Chaplaincy Services Division of the Prison System, to strategically deploy these services as a true supplement to running prison programs. In cooperation with the Mayor's Office of Faith-Based Initiatives, the National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice and the Corporation for National Service, expanding the training and strategic deployment of members of the faith-based community, support inmates -- to support inmates, beginning behind the walls, and continuing after they're they are released from jail. Initiating a study of the Criminal Justice System of the City, in conjunction with the Mayor's Criminal Justice 32 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 Coordinating Committee. The purpose of this study will be to better focus resources in the criminal justice system, to reduce the prison population. Receipt, study and implementation of the recommendation of the Urban Institute's study of prisoner re-entry in Philadelphia. S. project. Implementation of modifications to justify expanding the program, to include more inmates. Implementing the recommendations of the National Institute of Corrections recent technical assistance survey of the Philadelphia Prison System, and utilization of the technical assistance grant provided to the City as a result of this survey. Expanding the operations of the Prison System's Office of Community Justice and Outreach, to continue to foster partnerships in the community, and educate 33 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 the public on issues of prisoner re-entry, and the correctional perspective on public safety. These issues will include public service spots similar to those produced by the New Jersey Department of Corrections, which will focus young people on the perils of jail, in an effort to deter young people from entering a life of crime, and making the point that jail or prisons is not an honorable right of passage in life. Under the auspices of the Philadelphia Prison System Re-entry Oversight Board, develop specific action plans for all the areas discussed in the 11 break-out sessions conducted during the first Annual Re-entry Summit, convening a second Re-entry Summit in the late spring, with all those partners who attended the first summit, to implement those action plans. Expand the Forensic Intensive Recovery Program. S. program, and 34 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 improve service delivery. Continue and finalize plans with the School District of Philadelphia, to improve and expand the services provided by the School District's Pennypack House School, located on the prison campus. D. Mod III facility, with funding from a federal grant, into special housing and programming for juvenile offenders. And in our final section of our testimony, we answered the question of some of the things we thought City Council could do to assist in this effort. In cooperation with the Office of the Mayor, create additional legislative changes, like the employment tax credit legislation authored by Councilman Goode, that assists inmates of their re-entry into society, and/or similar legislation that prohibits discrimination in employment and housing for those inmates who have successfully completed rehabilitative programs within the Philadelphia Prison 35 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 System. Approved the Prison System's proposed legislation to expand the market of the Prison System's industries arm, PhilaCor. Lend your voice, credibility and presence and encouragement to community groups, businesses, the faith-based community, and ordinary citizens in your districts to understand and get involved in the issues surrounding prisoner re-entry.
Lend your voice, credibility, presence and encouragement to the employees of the Philadelphia Prison System. This one is one, I think, that people like to brush over, and they don't think it's very important. But I actually think it's one of the key, sometimes more important than money, because we ask our people to work for -- You know, I'd like more money. Everybody would like more money. But I think this is one of the keys, so I pause for a moment before I read the rest. The employees of the Philadelphia Prisons are what are sometimes referred to as 36 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 the invisible arm of law enforcement. Security and treatment staff at the prisons risk their lives on a daily basis, working in what are quite literally the worst police districts in the City. They play an important part in public safety and public health, by keeping dangerous people off the streets, making sure these people do not hurt each other, making sure they receive adequate medical and mental health services, and at the same time trying to rehabilitate as many as they can with limited resources. Appearances by Council members at Prison System events, such as Correctional Employee Week, the annual Retirement Dinner, cadet graduations, and other employee-related events throughout the calendar year that lets these employees know you care. While my staff at the prisons already go the extra mile for us, physical presence at their events show them they are appreciated. The extra mile will become two miles. 37 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 Lend your voice, credibility and presence and encouragement to the inmates of the Philadelphia Prison by appearing at their events. The Prison System hosts inmate functions for inmates who successfully complete programs within the system. S. S. D. graduations, lots of graduations. , jobs fairs and related events. D. graduation, the inmates are truly impressed and gratified to have their efforts recognized in this way. This is not to mention the positive effect on the security of treatment staff who cooperate to make these accomplishments and events possible. Partner with your counterparts in 38 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 Harrisburg and Washington to provide assistance with the issues surrounding prisoner re-entry on the state and national level. Share with us your insights, ideas and proposals. We do not know it all. This concludes my testimony. And I wish to thank all the members of Council, especially Council President Verna and Councilwoman Donna Reed-Miller for making these hearings possible, and for helping us focus attention on the issue of prisoner re-entry in Philadelphia. My staff and I are available if you have any questions. Thank you.
Thank you. Okay. We'll start. I just have a few questions. One very quick one. What are the goods and services that PhilaCor, your prison industry, what do they produce? COMMISSIONER KING: They produce many things. They produce business cards, stationery for the various City departments, 39 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 furniture. They make furniture. They re-upholster furniture. They do wood finishing. A number of things. I can have Mr. Freedman come up here and give you the litany, but that covers it generally.
Does the City, usually Public Property or whomever, many times -- I think pieces of furniture I have in my office were made by someone in-house, some City employee. Do you make furniture for City Hall offices or... COMMISSIONER KING: We market our furniture to City agencies. And that's part of the reason I mentioned the legislation. We'd like to be able to expand the market of PhilaCor, so we can use that money to make the programming that they provide for the inmates better. So, it depends. Some departments use us and some don't. Is that right, Mr. Freedman?
Do you have a 40 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 catalog? COMMISSIONER KING: Yes, we have a catalog. And we can send you one, if you like. We also have a lovely showroom up at State Road, if you want to come and visit. (Laughter.)
I'd like to see it. Listen, when we order furniture, they give us catalogs. I just had three, four pieces of furniture re-upholstered in my office. COMMISSIONER KING: We'll make sure everybody gets a copy of the catalog and what services are provided.
Okay. I just also, for the record, want to make mention that Councilman Juan Ramos is here. We received written correspondence from Councilman Frank Rizzo, that he would not be able to attend today. And also, Councilwoman Joan 41 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 Krajewski is out sick, for the record. Okay. Councilman Ramos, you have a few questions, you said?
Yes. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Commissioner, and all of you from your respective offices, either from within the Philadelphia Prison System or from the outside, as advocates or just concerned people, families, and so forth, on this very important issue of re-entry. I want to share a story with you. It's a very, very short story. Early last summer, as we were just getting -- as we were in the middle of the Wilson Goode legislation, something that came out of the Committee of Labor and Civil Service that I Chair, as part of the unemployment hearings -- And by the way, we're going to have those unemployment hearings. We were going to have them tomorrow, but we were supposed to have a parade, and I cancelled the hearings. When are that hearings, Andrew? 42 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 ANDREW (unidentified last name): March 3rd.
1:00 p.m. March 3rd at 1:00 p.m. the Committee of Labor and Civil Service is going to continue its hearings on the reality of unemployment in Philadelphia. And, of course, we would like to extend an invitation to you all, if you have anything to offer. And we'll be giving an update on what has transpired from last spring to this time. I had a gentleman show up in my office early summer. And my constituency service person tells me, Councilman, I have a person that is dressed in dark brown or a dark brown suit. He's got a box with him. He says he was just released from prison yesterday. And these are his -- This is his story: That he was he was released. He was 43 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 given some money to get on a bus. And he went to where he used to live at. The neighborhood had changed. It was not in one of our county prisons. This inmate came from a state prison. And he went there. The neighborhood had changed. He knew no one and didn't know -- No one knew of his relative, who he hadn't heard from in, I believe, almost 11 years. 12 And then he landed up sleeping in 13 the park. And then he landed up... Someone, 14 a Spanish-speaking gentleman... Someone 15 asked him -- He asked someone, is there 16 anyone Spanish-speaking in Philadelphia. I 17 mean, in City Hall. So he landed up in my 18 office. 19 And I was... We were able to help 20 him in getting him into a place to live. And I believe he qualified for food stamps for a little bit. When I said, why is this a strange coincidence, that we were just discussing this particular issue of re-entry. 44 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 And although he was not released from the Philadelphia Prison System, he was still released from a prison. And the only thing he got or the way it worked, according to him, was that he got some money to get on the bus, and then he was on his own. He had done his time. He was on his own. What do you do when you release an inmate from your custody? COMMISSIONER KING: It depends on who the inmate is and when they're released.
Can you give me a couple examples? COMMISSIONER KING: Well, for example, if you were arrested... Let's say we were going to have a parade tomorrow, and we got carried away with celebrating the Eagle's victory, and you got arrested, and you went to the Police Administration Building and you couldn't post bail. So, you're down there two days. You get to the Prison System. On the third day, finally your 45 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 family comes up with bail. On the fourth day, you're released. When you're released on that day, you get the Mayor's discharge package, as I recall. I think you may get a bus token. And that's it. That's all you get. You know, if you're there two weeks or less, that's all you get. If you are lucky enough to be an inmate, for example, who's in one of the programs I talked about, like J.O.B.S. or Ready4Work or one of the new things that we've started, you may be lucky enough to have a mentor that's there waiting for you that comes and picks you up at the jail, and they've arranged ahead of time for a place for you to live, and, you know, there's support around you. So, for people who are in those specialized programs, there's somebody waiting for them, so that there's a connection. And that's part of what we started doing new in the last year or two, is recognizing, at least for some of the people 46 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 that are in those programs, that they're -- You know, we don't want situations to happen like the one that you described because that's the situation that leads people to commit crime again, they get arrested. So, there's a variety of things. And Miss Adams and Mr. Appel probably can be more specific. But generally speaking, if you're in jobs or if you're in Ready4Work or one of the other programs that I mentioned in my testimony, you're going to have someone there who's waiting for you, who knows you're coming, and there's a plan that you know about that's started within the walls, in regard to what we're going to do with you when you're released. But there are -- The vast majority of people who are released from the prison don't get all that. And that's more a function of what I talked about in my testimony. You know, if you're only there two days, there's not a lot we can do. So, the analogy I made this morning, 47 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 that may not be right on point, but it's sort of like saying, you know, we have the Roundhouse at 8th and Race. You know, what re-entry planning are you doing for people down there? And I guess the Police Commissioner would say, well, they're there for three days. There isn't much you can do. So... And I'm not saying that -- I think in the future we'd like to improve that for those people who are, you know, just released within the two weeks. We have -- If you come up to C.F.C.F., there's the guard tower, and then there's a little house over here that used to be the gate house for Riverview. And the Office of Community Justice is in the process -- We've gotten it all painted and revamped. There's going to be computers and phones, et cetera. And that's going to be sort of a one-stop shop for inmates who are, you know, released after two weeks or three weeks, who haven't had chance to get into the program, to come over there. 48 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 And we're going to have referrals for them for how they get a home, jobs, whatever it is. We just have to figure out a way to get them to come because, you know, most people when they leave prison, they don't want to stop at the kiosk in front of C.F.C.F. They really want to get on the bus. So, we're trying to figure out a way that we can, you know, entice people to come, so that we can have referral services, and we can cut down on the number of people out of the people who are there for a very short time who just leave with nothing.
So unless you're there for just a couple days, for some sort of non... you know, non-violent misdemeanor, the inmates leave with some kind of a package that tells them where to go for housing, for treatment or relocation, whatever it may be? COMMISSIONER KING: Yes.
Within our Philadelphia Prison System. COMMISSIONER KING: They get a 49 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 letter from the Mayor. And in that letter there's a whole packet of information: Names, phone numbers that they can call.
Now, Spanish-speaking inmates or other inmates, do you have services for them? COMMISSIONER KING: I believe the Mayor's letter is translated into Spanish, and... You know, I don't know... What about the other languages?
(Shakes head from side to side.) COMMISSIONER KING: Just Spanish at this point.
What does the letter say? COMMISSIONER KING: I haven't read it in a long time. But it basically is the Mayor's message to inmates, you know, this is your chance; take responsibility; you know, there are a lot of resources out there that you can take advantage of. And then there's a list of churches, resource centers, all sorts of things that 50 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 everybody gets when they leave.
Okay. I'd like to get a copy of the letter. COMMISSIONER KING: Okay.
Can I ask a question related to the Councilman's question?
Is enrollment in the special programs voluntary or is it mandatory or... COMMISSIONER KING: I'll let Deputy Commissioner Appel explain that.
The programs are voluntary, although there are inmates that are stipulated by their Judge. But ultimately, they still have to have a choice to go in or not to.
Okay. So, if and when you implement the new entry prison, that will all be pretty much voluntary. COMMISSIONER KING: Yeah.
Thank you, Madam 51 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 Chair. Commissioner, during the hearings that I referred to earlier in the spring, I believe it was the Philadelphia Prison Society that testified that a number -- might have been -- I think I can safely say it was at least 20,000 -- might have been more -- inmates were going to be released from our Prison System -- I believe it also included state prisons -- into the Philadelphia and vicinity area. And that, I remember, you know, was -- I raised my eyebrows. That's a lot of people coming out of our Prison System, coming back to probably their old neighborhoods. And we needed to do something about this mass of people coming out. And that's why I -- It was -- It wasn't that far after that that this gentleman walks into my office that morning and says -- This has to be one of that big number of inmates that the Prison Society stated would be coming back into the community, what are we going to do with this 52 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 big population. Do you have any idea how many inmates will be released? I know you have like a weekly or monthly number that I've seen over the last year. Do you have any idea how many inmates will be released between now and June of this year from the Philadelphia Prison System? COMMISSIONER KING: You're asking me to do multiplication, but the last --
Doesn't have to be precise. COMMISSIONER KING: We just... If we discharge 500 people a week -- I think that's what it is -- you'd have to do the math. What is that?
This is just you. This is just the Philadelphia Prison System. COMMISSIONER KING: Right.
Okay. COMMISSIONER KING: Deputy 53 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 Commissioner Appel is telling me it's closer to 3,000 a month. So if you do --
3,000 a month? COMMISSIONER KING: So if you do -- Six times three is 18,000.
So my 20,000 number might have been -- might have been a small number. Might have been much higher than 20,000. COMMISSIONER KING: Well, you also have to take into account the people that are being released from the State Department of Corrections --
Okay. COMMISSIONER KING: -- that are coming back. And I don't know what that number is.
So we're talking about 18,000 between now -- conservatively, right, between now and earlier June or around that much. COMMISSIONER KING: Correct. 54 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05
And I know we have some good programs out there, and I know I can laud a number of organizations, like the Prison Society. And this is very hard work. I did prison ministry for a bunch of years, and it was... It might have helped -- It might have helped those men, in my case of the year at that time I was visiting men. Might have helped them. Probably helped me more than it helped them, to just be a witness to the reality of life behind bars, and to see the other side of human nature, and the other side of a person who was waiting trial for, you know, a crime. But this is still a big number of people. And I know that you're doing the best you can. But somehow we need to continue to talk more and do more about this issue. Because what happens to a person that's released and is now thinking positive. And then there's not enough positive out there for them, meaning, where am I going to 55 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 get a j-o-b, or where do I go to finish -- you know, to continue rehabilitation or how do I get my family back, and how do I get a... you know, how do I get these things behind me and moving forward. Is there something -- and please excuse my -- please excuse my, you know, ignorance, right? Is there -- Is there a group that kind of like puts all of our efforts together to drive this? I know you mentioned in your testimony about some Federal funds or a pilot program that you've been funded for. I mean, how do you move this to address -- You know, what does the Philadelphia community do with 18,000 just-released inmates? COMMISSIONER KING: Well, first I would say that there's no way that we're going to be able to handle doing something for all those 18,000 inmates.
I understand. COMMISSIONER KING: So we have to be strategic about who we're talking about. And 56 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 that's why I tried focusing people's attention on sentenced folks. The other thing I would say is the Re-entry Oversight Board, that's part of what we're trying to do with that, because part of what I want to make sure people understand is, I was in Washington the other week with the National Corporation for Public Services. Is that right, Mr. Taliafero? Folks and we were sitting around talking about this pot of money that President Bush has for prisoner re-entry. And we're all trying to get some. I'm trying to get some. And, you know, we're sitting around the room. There was a guy there from the Salvation Army, I think. And he was telling me how he had a grant for prisoner re-entry, and he was doing it here in Philadelphia. And I said, well, that's news to me. I've never heard of you. So, I'm trying to figure out -- And part of the reason we have the Re-entry Oversight Board, if we have, for example, $3 57 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 million down in Washington to be used for prisoner re-entry, and there are 400 groups in Philadelphia who want to do it, and no one has come to the prison and said -- And we tell you, even though, if you want to be realistic, there are really only 6,000 people that we need to focus on. And you have all these people, you know, getting money and making plans, and they don't -- you know, they haven't connected with us, it's going to be a lot of wasted money, and a lot of wasted resources. So that's why we've got this Re-entry Oversight Board. It has anybody on it that has anything to do with this. So, we can try to be strategic about what we do. Because I do think, if you think about the money that's coming from Washington, the 2,000 volunteers that we have -- And, you know, a year or two ago -- I can't remember how long it was -- Miss Eisen, in which she worked for Judge Shapiro, came up and did a survey of voluntary services. And they're not as strategically 58 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 deployed as we would have -- as I would like them to be. It sort of works now. You want to be a volunteer, you call the prison. The volunteer services calls around; and, you know, you're sort of hooked up. We need to have it in a way where we've identified, you know, the holes in the services that we provide, and, you know, the volunteer services are provided accordingly, so that if we already have... I don't know... 350 services for deaf inmates, and we only have two deaf inmates, and we need to turn those people away and bring other types of volunteers that we need, because volunteers, you know, take up time and money with C.O.'s, you know, escorting them around. When you think about that; when you think about our chaplaincy services, those... We're going to undertake to more strategically deploy, too, sort of on the lines of what the faith community has done, and sort of backing up to what you said, Councilman Ramos about, you know, when you 59 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 went into jail and you were there with prison ministry. You know, it's more than -- inmates need more than -- They need prayer, and they need songs, and they need services. But in the end, when they leave, they need a job, they need a house.
Need a job and a house. COMMISSIONER KING: Et cetera. So, all of those things. You know, we've initiated training with the faith-based communities, that when you come into the prison, you know, you understand what you're dealing with, what it is that we need, and it's more than just providing a service. The other thing is marshaling the community. That's why we have the Office of Community Outreach and Justice. And in conjunction with the Urban Institute, we're actually going to try. We picked Frankford because of the fact that the Zip Codes -- the Zip Code information indicated a lot of our inmates, that was one 60 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 of the highest areas of the City where our inmates were discharged. We also... The Re-entry Oversight Board also thought it was important that the neighborhood was ethnically mixed, and that we thought that there were support services there that could help us. And that's another model that we want to try and implement, where we get everybody in that particular community to understand the problem and help us.
Thank you, Madam Chair, for being so patient with me. I'll try and wrap up my last question, put it all together. In your Re-entry Board, do you have Hispanic representation on that Board? COMMISSIONER KING: Yes. Mr. Rojas is there.
Okay. All right. COMMISSIONER KING: He's everywhere. And I believe there may be some others, but I 61 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 can't remember off the top of my head.
Okay. The issue of Latino inmates, do you have a variety? Because of what you just mentioned, when I took a look at your statement, I saw West Kensington had a high proportion of inmates going back into that community. I saw Fishtown, even. I saw Frankford, east of Broad Street, where you have a lot of people that speak Spanish. You have a lot of people of Hispanic descent in that area. Do you think you have enough programs to address some -- you know, some of the distinct needs of the Latino inmates? COMMISSIONER KING: Well, I know that -- and I'll let Deputy Commissioner Appel comment on that -- that we do have groups come into the prison just specifically for Hispanic inmates.
I know faith-based groups are active on Sunday over there. 62 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 COMMISSIONER KING: But I can't answer the question specifically, so I'll ask Deputy Commissioner Appel.
Thank you. We also have Spanish-speaking A.A. groups and N.A. We have groups from our drug treatment program. We have quite a few of our own employees are bilingual and bicultural. One of our re-entry partners works with the inmates who speak Spanish only. So, we are trying to make certain that no one is left out of the programs due to a language barrier.
Thank you for all your efforts. I know that there's still, you know, a whole lot of work to do in all these areas. And as you well know, I'm available to you and to be of whatever help. I like your idea of the PhilaCor stuff, by the way. I think that's a wonderful idea. Thank you, Madam Chair, for bearing with me. 63 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05
Okay. Thank you. COMMISSIONER KING: You're making Mr. Freeman feel very good about your comments about PhilaCor.
Great. I'd just like to get some information on the results of the employment services, the housing. I mean, are people finding jobs? COMMISSIONER KING: That's part of what I'm hoping I'll be getting this week. We did the J.O.B.S. project, I think -- Has it been a year yet, Mr. Appel?
About a year. COMMISSIONER KING: About a year. And I know they've had some kinks. And I want to -- I requested a report because I want to know -- We spent a number of dollars on this particular project. And I want to know if we've actually gotten inmates jobs. And if we haven't gotten inmates jobs, then we need to pick some other people 64 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 to find inmate jobs or modify the programs that we have, because that's the whole point of it. You know, I don't want to come back to Council when I testify for my budget and you say, how much did you spend on the J.O.B.S. project? And I say, a million dollars. And you say how many jobs did you find? And I say 14.
Right. COMMISSIONER KING: That's not what I -- You know, I don't want you to hear that. So I hopefully will have that report this week because, you know, that was the whole point of instituting this. We want to know how many jobs we actually find people, especially through that. And we're also trying with the... I don't know if I talk about Corestar in here, but we're trying... It's very difficult because, you know, we have our M.I.S. system at the jail. It's been there a while. Costs 65 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 a lot of money, but it doesn't do everything that we want it to do. So, part of what we're doing, for example, with the O.P.T.I.O.N.S. program, the treatment staff has been nice enough, because I asked them to, to go back, because if we're ever going to make a case to improve the service or expand it, we're going to have to make a demonstration, especially with the -- given the City budget, that the program does what it does. But the problem is all the records are manual. So we're going back at the prison right now and we researching. I don't know what time period they picked. And they're going to pull inmates who have been through O.P.T.I.O.N.S. because we do have, you know, good information with O.P.T.I.O.N.S. and F.I.R. together, that that works. But we don't have information on O.P.T.I.O.N.S. by itself. So we're in the process of going back with all these programs and manually going back, to figure out 66 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 whether they're doing what they're supposed to be doing. And I hope to have at least information on the J.O.B.S. project before I come back for testimony... I think it's in March.
That will be good, because I do remember, now that you said it, that when we had the hearings in the spring on... the same hearings that Councilman referred to, around employment issues here in Philadelphia, he did mention the jobs. I think that is important to have studies, but we seem to have a whole bunch of studies year after year. And I think people have been looking at the re-entry issue for quite some time. And maybe it was different ten years ago, to some of the problems that people had, because so many people -- According to the data that I've read, 80 percent of those that come in contact with the criminal justice system are there because of some drug-related 67 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 offense or use or whatever. So, maybe we didn't have that large of a number years ago, but I just... I'd know that it's very frustrating for me. Many, many people stop me, probably just like every other elected official, about helping them find employment. And those... An ex-offender is the hardest person to help secure employment. And one reason why I'd like to know if you're doing a good job, so I can refer them to you, and... COMMISSIONER KING: Well, I mean, I'll make a deal. If the folks who are working for us haven't found enough jobs for the people for the amount of money we're paying them, I'll resign, take that money -- although I don't think I can do that; I'll wait a year -- and I'll find inmates jobs.
Okay. And I just want to ask you this. When we had the hearings back in the spring around employment, it was a young man that testified that said that he was not able to 68 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 access services because of some length of time. I can't really remember. You may remember. He was at the table. He just testified on and on and on. But how long does one qualify for services as an ex-offender? I mean, is it within a couple months of being released or... COMMISSIONER KING: Are you talking about services like food stamps?
Like employment. No. Maybe employment, housing. Just some type of supportive services, to help them become independent. COMMISSIONER KING: You mean is there a time before --
Is there a time limit that it's cut off? COMMISSIONER KING: Oh, with the J.O.B.S. project? I don't think we -- Yeah. With the J.O.B.S. project it's six months they follow them.
Six months. 69 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 COMMISSIONER KING: And I'm not sure for the other programs. Do you know?
We can get you the information on the other programs. But for the J.O.B.S. project it's about six months.
Okay. And of course there's been some talk about creating an office of re-entry. And if that office was created, where do you think it should be housed and who should administer it? COMMISSIONER KING: Well, I think that, as I mentioned in my testimony, and as I guess I should also point out when I went to Washington, you know, we are there all in a room trying to figure out where to spend re-entry dollars. And the only person from a jail or a prison was me. And that was because I bumped into the gentleman who was chairing the meeting the day before at just a Sunday at one of my jails. 70 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 So, in my opinion the responsibility for this should rest with the prisons because that's where the re-entry process starts. I think that we are the City department that has the most self interest in this area. I mean, until time ends you'll be asking the prisons about the recidivism rate and re-entry, et cetera. So, having the expertise and the self interest, I think it should rest in the prison system. And I think, naturally, as the Prison Commissioner, that's the person who should be responsible.
Okay. COMMISSIONER KING: That's my personal opinion. I'm not sure what the Mayor thinks, but that's what I think.
Okay. I want to thank you for your testimony. I have, like, a whole lot of questions, but this is not the last discussion that we're going to have around re-entry. And I'm just very conscious of the 71 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 time. And I want to make sure that everyone gets an opportunity to present and testify today. So, thank you very much, and thank you for doing a good job. COMMISSIONER KING: Thank you, Councilwoman and Councilman Ramos.
Okay. Is representative Mark Cohen here? (No response.)
We can have Ray Jones and Reverend Linward Crowe, please come up to the witness table. Is Ray Jones from Impact services or is anyone here from Impact? Okay. Thank you. Thank you for coming. Please state your name and the agency that you're representing. And speak directly into the mike so that the stenographer can hear you.
My name is Ray Jones. 72 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 I'm Director of Ex-offender Services at Impact Services.
Okay. I'll be very brief. I have submitted some paperwork to the Council, in regards to two programs that we directly oversee. And the Commissioner was kind enough to talk about one of our other programs. We are one of the re-entry partners in the J.O.B.S. project. But the primary thing that I want to talk about today is how best we can take what we've learned from 30 years of experience, working with an ex-offender population, and pass that on not only to this Council but to Philadelphia, as to how best we can move forward on the re-entry initiative. The programs that are in the packet of information that was distributed to Council reflect two programs that have received national recognition, the Fathers at Work Initiative Program and the Helping 73 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 Offenders Work Program. Both programs were built around strong collaboration between government departments and Impact Services. The collaborations allow Impact to deliver a quality program through the support and access generated by the agreements with the government departments. The second key factor that makes these programs so effective is the fact that Impact Services has developed a strong relationship with business. Businesses must understand the benefits of hiring ex-offenders. And then more importantly, they must understand the importance of hiring ex-offenders that come out of supportive programs such as Fathers at Work, and H.O.W. The third thing that I wanted to mention was how critical communication is. And Commissioner King alluded to this. We must make sure that all of the partners involved in the re-entry process are at the table, and are able to hear and participate 74 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 in this discussion. I'm, in fact, a little disappointed that we don't have more agencies here today, so that Council can hear from all of them that are working in this re-entry field. I would like to make three quick recommendations to the Council. One is to expand and encourage ways that City departments can collaborate on exchange of information and services to help them serve this population, and also to help the community-based programs and faith-based programs that provide supportive services. Second, expand and encourage ways to better inform and reward businesses that hire ex-offenders. Some of the work that Councilman Ramos and Councilman Goode have done, in terms of the tax relief program for businesses that hire ex-offenders is wonderful. But there are many other ways that we can entice businesses to become more informed, and more importantly, to become more receptive to working with the 75 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 ex-offender population. And finally, encourage all entities that want to help solve this problem to come together and join a unified effort to deliver these solutions. The consensus group is one of those entities. The Commissioner mentioned his Oversight Board that he has. We all need to be at the table so that we can hear each other and make sure that we're moving together as one City. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Jones. You can proceed. Please state your name for the record. REV. CROWE: My name is Reverend Linward Crowe. I am a Presbyterian minister, but I would like to give testimony today as a volunteer. And I would like Council to see the work of volunteers through the eyes of the congregations of the City. And in particular, Councilman Ramos, you mentioned your own involvement as a 76 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 religious volunteer in your own personal experience. , but I also participate on the Re-entry Oversight Board at the prison, and I'm also part of the Philadelphia Consensus Group on Re-entry. And in each of those arenas I represent and speak with and for the faith community in its particular interest. And I believe that we're in the process right now of experiencing a dramatic reorienting of people's understanding of how to do volunteer service in prison. And it's related to the various programmatic issues that the Commissioner raised, and the people like my colleague Ray Jones raises. But so that you can get a snapshot of the big picture, we have about 2,000 religious care volunteers who participate in the Philadelphia prisons every year. That's a virtual army. 77 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 And they represent dozens and dozens of congregations. And they really care what happens to these men and women in the prisons. And there's a great interest in a renewed energy around re-entry, that's been stimulated by the prisons, by the Mayor, by the Council itself. So in my mind there's a great opportunity here, but one that may not require a huge outlay of new money, but as Ray has just mentioned, a better coordination of service, that involves and includes volunteers and involves congregations. What I have submitted to you in my written report is a condensation of the report of our Summit this summer. Deputy Commissioner Appel and myself facilitated the workshop on the faith community and volunteers. And we felt that some of the key issues raised in that Summit this summer are the key issues that need to be focused on here by City Council. And the two issues that we 78 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 identified, I think, are extremely important to understand how congregations connect to the professional services, not only of prison staff, but of other agencies that provide services to ex-offenders. And the one question is, how can the faith community effectively provide personal support to the offender and his family through mentors or through mentor groups? And the second is, how can the faith community assist offenders to gain knowledge of resources that are available in the community, because they are often a place where people come to find help. And that raises the issue that I discovered over the last several years, that our faith community has been largely ineffective in addressing these questions because we've been focused, in a sense, on the wrong issue. The faith communities were coming into the prisons for years, largely conducting religious services, and not focused on the providing of other kinds of 79 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 care and service. And partly that's because of an institutional interest and predilection on the part of those who serve, but it's also been a problem that the Philadelphia Prison System had created. But they've now recognized that problem and have begun to move beyond it. And the problem is that they created a fire wall. If you came into the prison, as you had done yourself, to serve as an in-house prison ministry group, like if you came in with a choir or if you came in to teach, you were not permitted to be on the individual visitor list for inmate. And so, it was almost impossible to have follow through and to have a real mentoring relationship. And when the Prison System recognized that challenge and that obstacle, they began to change those rules.
So now, as a result of changes this year, it's possible for faith community groups or volunteer groups to actually 80 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 strategically think about conducting ministry in a different way, establishing mentoring relationships that will carry forward. And so, as we met this summer, and as our group met during the Summit, we had a very diverse group. And in my written comments to you, you'll see the diverse membership on our panel. We had people from the Catholic community, from the Islamic community, a variety of different Protestant groups involved, we raised up three different models for people to look at. One was a group mentoring model that the Philadelphia Archdiocese has. T. Philly which you'll hear testimony from them, I'm sure, at the next session of the hearing, under Dr. McKinney. And another was the model of the Philadelphia Ex-offender After Care Program, under Bishop Ernest McNair, kind of a typical City congregation, but a group very committed, to try to provide after-care service. 81 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 In fact, just for your information, I noticed -- This is not a part of my testimony, but I just noticed that Prison Fellowship which is the largest prison ministry group probably in the world, in their current issue of their newsletter features on the front page a wonderful story about that program right here in Philadelphia, right down at 16th and Mifflin at Bishop McNair's church. And I have copies of that if you're interested to look at that. But they look at it as a model, an example, of how a congregation can best serve. Well, the key details that we raised, I think, are part of the discussion and the process of testimony before you today. And the challenges are, how do you improve communication with this vast, this diverse group of volunteers. Secondly, how do you enroll inmates qualitatively in a relationship with mentors? And third, how do you train those mentors so that they can become more 82 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 effective? There are risks for congregations, but there are also risks for inmates. What if this does not go well? What if the congregation becomes disappointed by the work? So, this is not something that's automatic because it's laid out on a piece of paper. But it's a human dynamic, and it's a human drama that's unfolding here in the City, because the churches are getting more and more interested and willing to become mentors. And so, as the Commissioner has stated, as Mr. Jones has stated, there's a need for a broad coalition of groups that will work to strengthen the mentoring capacity of not only professional service agencies which they represent, but also this great body of volunteers here in the City. And I want to suggest to you that, without a whole lot of money, but changing policies and changing purposes, we believe that the congregations of the City can become 83 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 much more effective partners, by raising awareness of the importance of mentoring, by including training for those mentors, but also by requiring that all groups that come into this prison system to provide religious care services be part of this network that's focused on after care. And a good bit of control can be supervised in that way. And I think as an outcome we'll have an effective network here in the City that mobilizes thousands of volunteers. And in conclusion, I had a paragraph there where I raised kind of a vision challenge. And we believe that sitting in our institutions here in the prisons are many people who contribute and make a tremendous impact and do much good here in the City. And we often raise, even with the inmates themselves, the picture of, in the religious care community, in our Judeo-Christian community, two of the greatest examples are Moses in the Old Testament and the Apostle Paul in the New Testament, both of whom committed serious 84 Res.
040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 crimes, and yet, were used in dramatic ways. If you remember, Moses killed an Egyptian, and ran into the desert and was an outcast. And yet, it was only after that experience that he was called out to become a leader of his people, to lead them out of slavery. And the same with the Apostle Paul, who was terrorizing the Christian community. And after becoming a mass murderer, he was called out to become an Apostle and wrote most of the New Testament. And so, we believe that even men and women who commit serious crimes, if they take personal responsibility and become part of a fellowship in a faith community, can do much good. And so, we're encouraged. And I just want to pass on to you, as volunteers, encouragement to become part of this new emerging network. No matter who drives the train, everyone needs to be on board. Thank you.
Okay. Do you 85 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 have information you want us to receive with you today? REV. CROWE: I just have additional copies of that newsletter.
Okay. Is the Sergeant-at-arms here? REV. CROWE: Apart from my written testimony. I have four copies of it here.
All right. Thank you. I have a question. When you say that all the services should come together, are you not a part of the Oversight Board? REV. CROWE: Yes, ma'am.
Oh. Okay. Good. And I want to thank Impact Services because your agency is one that my office calls all the time when we're trying to help an ex-offender find employment. I want to ask you this question. You know, many ex-offenders -- some anyway -- try to get a pardon. So, if you have a pardon -- And on 86 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 some employment applications -- on most -- they do ask whether you've ever been convicted of a felony or of a crime. So if you get a pardon, how do you answer that?
If the Governor has granted a pardon -- And in Pennsylvania it does come through the Governor's Office.
If the Governor has granted a pardon, then you can clearly say on the application that you have not committed any crime.
That's the good news. The bad news is that the difficulty in getting a pardon is extreme. The percentage of people who apply and who actually receive one is probably less than three or four percent.
Are you familiar with the movement in Illinois, through the state, where they're trying to 87 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 get the records expunged?
Of those non-violent criminals? Non-violent. People that have been convicted of a non-violent offense.
There are actually several states that are in the process of looking at that type of expungement legislation.
And Impact, along with several other organizations, are trying to bring public policy issues to the state level, in regards to not only expungement but other ex-offender issues. I think there are a lot of things that we can do to make it easier for the ex-offender to get back into the work force. And expungement of non-violent crimes would make a lot of sense, I think, after a period of proving to the community that they have led a good life and that they're back and trying to do -- trying to do 88 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 the right thing.
Okay. All right. I want to thank both of you for coming in, and look forward to having further discussions another time. Thank you.
Okay. Roger Zepernick from Centro Pedro Claver, Inc. And you're accompanied by two people or... (No response.)
Deborah Raddock, Director of O.P.T.I.O.N.S. Now, there are a lot of people here. Have you signed up to testify? And I just have one other group listed here, Byron Cotter, Director of Alternative Sentencing Unit, Defender Association. And those are the only names I have on my witness list. So if there's someone here that is here to testify, they need to sign up with Howard.
Hi. Thank 89 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 you. You can begin. Don't forget to speak directly into the mike.
Councilwoman, my name is Roger Zepernick, from Centro Pedro Claver. Centro Pedro Claver is a community-based organization in North Philadelphia. First of all, I'd like to thank you for calling for these hearings and for this testimony. Also like to thank the Commissioner from the Philadelphia Prison System. It's very clear to us that it's important that there be an attitude in our City that recognizes the value of people and doesn't separate people, as seems to be a common tendency more and more in our country and has recurred throughout history, of trying to separate people into the good and the bad, the sheep and the goats or the do-gooders and the evildoers. That is a national problem. And I'm glad to feel that our City, our Council, our Mayor, and the Commissioner of the Prison 90 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 System all are speaking of the value of lives that some people may be tempted to classify as being bad. We're all some good and some bad. Central Claver is a community-based organization that has a history of dealing with the criminal justice system. We started over years ago as a 10 sister organization to a civil rights group 11 known as the Puerto Rican Alliance. 12 And part of our work has gone from 13 trying to defend people in cases where we 14 felt that the community had a strong support 15 for folks that incorrectly were incarcerated, 16 including some people who subsequently were 17 released from what was called in the '70s the 18 Art Museum case. And that's a struggle that 19 goes on, after 30-some years. 20 We were also involved in community 21 policing program in the Franklinville/Hunting 22 Park area of North Philadelphia which some 23 people have said was a model for community 24 policing work that was done later. 25 I don't know if that's true or not, 91 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 but it certainly was effective, in terms of breaking up a very serious problem of violence in gang-related drug dealing in our community in the '80s. And we continue to try to work with people that on the one hand we fuss about when they're causing damage to our community, and on the other hand that we try to do some work with and support when they come back to our community. Our position is, as mentioned in the paper that we have handed out, that, first of all, that we think it is important that we strengthen that voice that recognizes the value of all of God's creation and all human beings. But specifically, we realize that in our community, in Eastern North Philadelphia specifically, there's a tremendous need to strengthen relationship between our neighborhood, our people, and the criminal justice system; that is, that we're not taking advantage of some of the resources that are available. 92 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 We do not have some of the dialogue, are not carrying out some of the dialogue that is important to us, and that we need to work at that even harder than we have been. We appreciate the fact that the Prison System is reaching out to us. We've been able to work with the Office of Community Justice. Mr. Rojas, again, has spent a lot of time with folks in our community, with individuals and organizations in our community. And that's an important effort. And our community needs to respond. And we're trying to respond in kind by building on that relationship and improving the relationship that we have with the entire criminal justice system. And the third position, third point under that section on position, is that we want to put on the record today -- and it's very important that it be on record -- that resources for re-entry include programs, support and relationships with people that have limited English proficiency, that fall 93 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 under the category of Act as declared by the Mayor of Philadelphia, where resources would be available in that category. We specifically are speaking about folks whose primary language is Spanish.
There is a high percentage of folks -- We talk about needs. There is a high percentage of folks in our system who are Latino, who out of that percentage two years ago was a little over ten, almost eleven percent of our inmates that were identified as Latino. We do not know the percentage of those folks that speak only Spanish. And there's a continuum, in terms of language skills. But we recognize, first of all, that there's a need to make sure that resources are available to people that have the limited English proficiency, whose major language is Spanish. And we believe that it's also important that some of the relationships be built in a way that respects some of the cultural values of our community, of the 94 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 Latino community, and of the North Philadelphia community which has a variety of cultures, but which has also a community culture that is important. The other... There's a number of statistics that don't need restated, but as you all know, too many of our kids are going to jail, getting caught up in the system. And we need to find ways to prevent that from happening. And that's part of the response that we see that we have to make as a community and as a community-based organization. We have in the documents that we are submitting a presentation for a program. We're trying to secure funding from the Hendricks Jackson settlement, forward with people that are coming back to our community, and work that would be accessible to people that have limited English proficiency. And it's pretty general, the same thing that most folks would do, except for two items that I wanted to mention. One is that we feel it's important. 95 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 And again, it's part of building relationships with the system and within our community, that it's important to identify leaders. And we would intend to look for leadership among the folks that are coming to us from the institutions. We work now with a Latino inmate group in a state institution in Graterford which is actually one of the best-run organizations that we work with anywhere in Southeastern Pennsylvania. And we have hopes that similar kinds of organizations can be done with leadership among ex-inmates. In addition to that, we found in our work with young people, that a knowledge of Latino history and culture is an important tool for people to establish themselves and to establish self respect and to seek dignity, their self worth and their dignity as a value. And we want to make that part of our program that is available -- part of a presentation that is available to people that come to us that come back to our community. 96 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 So, in addition to working on jobs and housing, that's part of what we hope to do as a program. So, part of it is our presentation is to say there's a need -- And I hope the Council and the folks in the Prison System keep in mind the need to work with people who have limited English proficiency, the need to develop stronger relationships with our community. And then obviously we're making a pitch for our own organization, Centro Pedro Claver. In the documents that are handed out are two statements, one by a gentleman named Garcia, Jorge Garcia, who, when he came out of jail, went into a halfway house. Fussed with the people in the halfway house because of some of the restrictions, but in the end realized that they were helpful to him. And he's been able to get back with his family. He's been able to find work. He's been able to be a positive member of our 97 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 community. And he gives credit to the fact that people were there to help him when he came out. There's also a statement from a Mr. Rivera, Javier Rivera, who still has not found work, and who has pretty much been going it alone. Those statements are on record and we'll leave you with them.
They represent, I think, the kind of continuum that people find themselves in, coming back to our community. Thank you.
Okay. I just have a question. And just listening to you testify, do you work with female offenders also?
We do not have an offenders -- an ex-offenders program at this time, but there are people from our neighborhood that come to us, to our 98 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 organization. We're a community-based organization mainly doing housing counseling, community improvement projects, and a variety of programs with youth. But because of being in that neighborhood, there are constantly folks coming to us, including females, but we do not have a program per se.
Like you do at Graterford, you don't have one at Muncy or...
Okay. Everybody comes up here saying "he." And I was just wondering what was happening with the females.
No; we put that on our agenda, Muncy. And for a while we were working with some people in New Jersey. But we just don't have the resources to do it.
We do have a program. We have a series of programs about history, culture, the history of North Philadelphia, various issues that we'd like to take, and that the folks in Graterford have said have been helpful. But we just don't have the resources to go further at this point. You can help us with that, maybe.
All right. That's something we have to help you with. All right. Thank you.
Good afternoon, Councilwoman Miller. My name is Deborah Raddock, and I am the Director of the O.P.T.I.O.N.S. program at the Philadelphia Prisons which is the prison alcohol and other drugs treatment program. And I want to thank you so much for having these hearings, and also for mentioning about the women's issues because when I first started in 1972, we had 35 women in the prison. And when we wanted to open a program 100 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 for women, we were told, well, women are a minority. Well, now we have 800 women. So sometimes it's important to look at those issues and see what could have been prevented.
As I said, I came to the prison in 1972. And in 1973, I was privileged to open the system's first therapeutic community, which we opened with men at the 14 House of Correction. 15 And now in 2000... is it '5? S. program treats close to 17 900 men and women every month. So, we've 18 come a long way. 19 In my testimony today, I wanted to 20 touch on a couple of things, some of them from a professional standpoint and some of them a very personal standpoint because I feel very passionately about the programs and services that we deliver behind the walls. First I want to say that jails in 101 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 themselves don't interrupt the behavior or the thinking that the people, the men and women, behind the walls came in with. Because it's the way that their values are. It's the way the priorities are. It's their coping skills. They come not because of one crime, but they come with multiple levels of burden in most instances. They come with multiple levels of burden that have built up over the years. And it's important for us -- For those of us that may not understand, there's a real difference between someone that's in a jail and somebody that's in a prison, because someone that's in the state prison is going to be there for a longer amount of time, and they're going to be able to start and finish treatment, as opposed to people who are in the jail system. So, when they come into our system and we do have the ability to work with them, our mission in programs and services needs to be interrupted their lifestyle and all the 102 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 things that were included in their lifestyle, and then not just interrupt that but redirect people. Because believe it or not -- and I've looked at grown men and women's faces in the prisons over the years. And they've said, Oh, Miss Raddock, you look like you think I should know this. And then I realize, yes, because of their chronological age, that they should know certain things that all of us take for granted. And they don't always know. They may be able to say to you, I know I need a job. I know I need to take care of my family, but when it comes back down to the actual steps of doing that, they may be clueless. And that's not everybody. And I don't want to generalize about everybody behind the walls, but it's many, many of the people that we work with because of what they've been doing, what's been happening in their lives. 103 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 And so, I really think it's important -- We've talked a lot about the services that are on the outside. And I think it's very important for us to look at that re-entry or return begins very early in the incarceration process. And so, it's very important for us to deliver these services and continue to deliver these services behind the walls, getting men and women ready to return and go beyond the walls. And to do that in partnership with many of the people that are here today and many others is really important because, as I said, we have a short time. And we can accelerate the treatment. We do know ways of doing that. And we need to improve some of the ways that we're doing treatment behind the walls. And then we can, in partnership with all these re-entry partners that want to come in, these volunteers and other associations, we can link and hand over our men and women to their care, because it really does take a 104 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 network. For most folks behind the walls it's going to take a network to help them to go out and stay out. And that's another thing, in terms of keeping a realistic expectation. My expertise is in alcohol and other drugs. Recovery... We say that relapse is part of recovery. It's not necessarily a requirement, but it can be expected. And so we know when we're trying to change our behavior how many times we might relapse.
Every Sunday night, if you want to -- You know, you're going to stop smoking; you're going to, you know, watch your budget; you're going to take your diabetes medication; and you're going to exercise, whatever it is you're going to do. We know how many Monday mornings we haven't followed up for ourselves. So, unfortunately, when the men and women behind the bars slip, they're slipping into also behavior that has illegal -- that has legal consequences. So I think that we need to also be 105 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 realistic about that recidivism is not always complete failure because I think our clients -- I call them clients -- I believe that my clients, you know, learn failure, if they learn nothing else. And they feel so overwhelmed. And I'm not saying... I don't take away any responsibility, nor do I condone any behavior that they engage in that hurts other people. But it does take... It takes -- We have to help them have the fortitude, and the information, and the skills to go out and do things differently. Because we say we know they need jobs, they need housing, they need this and that, they're feeling so overwhelmed. And if they can take small steps, they feel very encouraged. Often I think that -- I know personally I've seen a man or woman behind the walls, and I've seen all these, as I said, levels of burden. And I've translated that to them, and apparently put them in more of a panic than they were before they've seen me, you know, because I'm 106 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 saying, are your needs this, are your needs this, that? But there can be very small steps that they can take that can be incremental. And just as relapse can be progressive, so can recovery. So, I think it's just important to understand that. And then just to put -- just to put a face on some of the people that are in the prison. And we were discussing this morning before we came here some of the success cases. And you had brought up the PhilaCor department. And Mr. Freedman had shared with us that he had an inmate in the PhilaCor program who then went on to work release. And then, when he was released into the community from work release, Mr. Freedman hired him, and now he works in the prison as a prison staff member. We also have several -- And it's wonderful. We also have several social workers who were behind the walls. Some were in our programs. Some were in other programs 107 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 when they left. 's which I think is incredible. And they're inspirations and they're role models. And we also have people who came from very, very dysfunctional families, where everybody was involved in criminal behavior and addiction behavior. And they did horrendous crimes. But they owned what they did, decided to make a change, took advantage of every opportunity. And they -- You know, for one in particular I think about who's working, he's managing a stop-and-go. And it's like awesome because he probably never envisioned himself, you know. If you're sitting in a room in the prison, and you're talking to people and you're getting a lot of blank stares. And you may say, okay. Wait a minute, how many of you think that you can make it? And you may not have anybody raise their hand at that point because they've been told or they've failed or they've experienced 108 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 or they feel that they have such a stigma now that there's no way that they can be accepted. So, all the people that come in for re-entry and the staff that works behind the walls delivering programs and services does give hope, they give direction, they give criticism which is fine, and they give opportunity. And I guess I'm very optimistic, even though 34 years ago I was determined that we wouldn't -- you know, we could close the jails up. And we only had 3,000 people in there then.
And, you know, 34 years later I'm still feeling as though this is a great conversation, and if we really follow up on it, that we can have not too far in the future a conversation about what to do with all that beautiful real estate up on State Road because we won't need to house the people in the jails there. So I want to thank you for listening. And I do have a prepared 109 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 statement that I deviated from which you may have because I e-mailed.
You know, actually, I don't have a copy of your statement.
Oh. Okay. I have to get you a clean one because I scribbled all over this. And I wanted also to give you this, as some of the voice of the men and women who are behind the walls, and what they see as their problems and what they see as the solutions.
All right. Thank you. Thank you for coming in. Thank both of you for coming in. So we have Byron Cotter, and... What is your name, sir? Do you want to come up to the table? I didn't get your name. From Employment Training and Referral Associates. 110 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 Mustaffa Bradford. Come on up. Well, you can wait, if you want to or you can just sit in one of these side chairs here because we only have two microphones. You can pull your chair up and we can... at some point you can just share the mike.
Good afternoon. Thank you for coming. State your name, and don't forget to speak in the mike.
Good afternoon. My name is Byron Cotter. I'm Director of Alternative Sentencing at the Defender Association. With me today is Kate Kochimonte (phonetic), who's an attorney who works for the Defender Association, and heads up our Intermediate Punishment Unit. I've submitted written testimony, plus additional supplemental testimony. The additional supplemental testimony may answer some of your questions about success rates. My function at the Defender Association is to review sentenced inmates in 111 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 the county prison and file early parole petitions. In 2004 I filed 2,731 petitions, and I was 81 percent successful. The judiciary granted 81 percent of those petitions. In order to prepare these petitions for early parole, I reviewed the client's history, prison social worker reports, Defender social worker reports, probation officers' reports, and information from the clients families. And then I try to put together a parole program which the District Attorney's Office and the courts will agree to. As I stated, I'm 81 percent successful with those petitions. These petitions are extremely important because they reduce overcrowding, and they prevent recidivism, and they save millions of dollars in prison costs. In fact, 50 percent of the petitions that I file were to drug and alcohol and psychiatric programs. We did a study to find out the 112 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 success rate. 66 percent -- There was a 66 percent decrease in convictions over the first two years for the clients that went into these programs, even though they were early parole. There's certainly a need for more housing, for more employment, and especially for more mental health housing. Often clients with mental health problems are not paroled, do their maximum sentence merely because there's no facility that will take them. I work with many groups to accomplish preparing early parole plans, the Philadelphia Consensus Group for Re-entry, Philadelphia Prison Re-entry Group, the F.I.R. programs, the R.E.S.T. group, Ready4Work, Prison J.O.B.S. Project, the Prison Work Release Program, Impact Services, the Prison Society, the Prison O.P.T.I.O.N.S. Program, run by Deborah Raddock who just testified, and the Career Link Program. I try to coordinate all these programs and come up with a rational, 113 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 successful early parole program. We also look at clients before they're sentenced. And Miss Kochimonte is going to speak about that.
My name is Katherine Kochimonte. I'm an attorney at the Defender Association. I've been an attorney there for about ten years. I currently head up the Intermediate Punishment Unit, under Byron Cotter's Alternative Sentencing Unit. The Intermediate Punishment Statute which was started in 1995 by the state designates certain clients for pre-trial sentencing to either house arrest and treatment or direct sentencing to treatment programs. The unique thing with the intermediate punishment sentence in Philadelphia County is the working together of all the parties. 114 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 We currently work with the District Attorney's Office, the Philadelphia Health Management Corporation, the Probation Department. And we all come up with a solution for the client that will involve house arrest and/or treatment. You had a question earlier as to when people are released from county custody, are they set up with anything and do they go anywhere? With the Intermediate Punishment Program, they're actually sentenced to either house arrest or the treatment program. If they get inpatient treatment programs, the sheriff actually transports them directly to the program. If they receive a house arrest sentence through intermediate punishment, the Probation Department transports them to either house arrest at a recovery house or house arrest at their home. And they are given detailed information, their case manager's name from Philadelphia Health Management Corporation, 115 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 as well as their probation officer's name through the Probation Department, and actual paperwork as to what is expected of them for the program. Each program, 50-plus programs, that we use in Philadelphia County through the F.I.R. network has specific guidelines, specific rules. And those are given to the inmates prior to them being released. And it seems to be working very well at this point. One of the positive things that we've done in the last three years is we've come up with case conferences, where we follow the clients after sentencing. About 30 to 60 days after they're sentenced, they are set up with a case conference. That is a meeting between the District Attorney's Office representative, myself from the Defender Association, as well as the case manager and the probation officer. We meet with the clients in a group, and we give a presentation to them as to how they're doing and what should be expected of 116 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 them. In addition, it's an open session for them. It's a chance for them to ask questions about what is going on with their treatment, how they are doing with their recovery, do they have any issues. And it seems to be going very well. And we've been doing that for about three years.
To sum up, we review clients after they're sentenced and before they go to trial, to try to come up with an alternative program that prevents recidivism and that saves the City millions of dollars in prison costs. Thank you very much for allowing us to speak today.
Thank you. Now, would people be referred to you through drug court?
Drug court's a little -- Treatment court, do you mean, 117 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 Councilwoman?
Treatment court's a portion of us. We are a little bit separate, though. We work together with treatment court. There's another Defender who targets, as well as I target some people for the treatment court. And we will work with the District attorney from treatment court, to see if the person is more eligible or more suited with treatment court or intermediate punishment.
And many of our offenders have prior records for the 118 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 intermediate punishment.
Okay. All right. Thank you. Thank you very much for your testimony. Now we'll have Mustaffa Bradford. Somebody will accompany him.
Good afternoon. Yes. My name is Mustaffa Bradford. I'm President of Employment Training Referral Services and Associates. We work very diligently with the Point Breeze Community Development Coalition and the various organizations in that particular community. The issue of public safety is about consideration in paroling ex-offenders being released to the community and neighborhoods in Philadelphia. While consideration in safety is 119 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 fundamental and a benefit to our children and families and law-abiding citizens, the bigger question is, what is to be done about the issue of recidivism and rehabilitation of ex-offenders returning home to the community? How do we provide the means to aide ex-offenders in the successful transition through probation and parole? Is there a way to reunite these men with their families? An investment must be made to rehabilitate, promote and sustain ex-offenders to explore and re-define themselves in the contributions that they can make to society. The men and women -- These men and women have never been or never felt to be a part of the mainstream of society, and therefore have acted out of desperation and the despair -- and the cycle of despair, seeking the means to satisfy their unmet needs. The re-entry of ex-offenders is by definition -- is to oppress and control the movement of an outcast population. 120 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 The City of Philadelphia attempts to remove -- to resolve the issues of ex-offenders is a -- as a specific economic group, downtrodden and disenfranchised. We have to uplift them and keep them -- the promise of their American dream. Contrary to the conventions governing the criminal justice system in the areas of philosophy, psychology and punishment, these men and women have never been welcome in the society, and have been disenfranchised. They -- They are for the less expenditures dollar per dollar than newly arrived immigrants coming to America. The fact that there are... In fact, they are candidates for a re-entry program for formerly incarcerated persons who have been imprisoned by a conflict of poverty, despair, ignorance, and lack of opportunities. A. was founded on the precepts that obstacles confronted by those on welfare will ultimately encompass a 121 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 pyramid of issues. These issues includes but are not limited to poor education, abuse, neglect, child care, absentee fathers, and lack of male mentors as role models, that are challenged by social isolation that creates dysfunctional family lives, in the every-changing world of technology, economy and opportunity. Consequently, today's job markets has greater demands on family resources than ever before. Educational, employment and career opportunities, as well as the ability to sustain family life are all considered and connected by the lack of self-motivation, self-sufficiency, as it is characterized by this population. A. is committed to improving the quality of life with a variety of training components which will raise the level of self-awareness related to the issue of shared responsibility. Our rationale for implementing such specific employment and training programs, 122 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 non-custodial support services, and parental workshops serves to enhance the process and raise the level of family financial and social resources. The issue of improving parenting relations is in essence a commitment to provide consistent financial support for children and youth at risk are linked relatively by the social economic standing of their parent providers which these ex-offenders represent.
Research cited in June 3, 2002 edition of the Daily News, released by the Associated Press reports on a study, More Cons Returning to Jail Than a Decade Ago, the article highlights a study with the following findings: Within three years, 52 percent of prisoners released in 1994 was back in prison, either new lines [sic] of parole violations for the earlier release. Men were more likely to be re-arrested than women, 68 percent to 58 percent. Blacks were more likely to be 123 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 arrested again than whites, 73 percent to 64 percent. Among prisoners with one arrest prior to release, 41 percent were re-arrested. Among those with more than 7 prior arrests, 82 percent were released in a 8 three-year period. 9 The article indicates that 10 ex-offenders face significant barriers with 11 regard to employment, namely, a lack of 12 education, training, certification and work 13 experience, in addition to social -- the 14 social stigma of criminal -- of a criminal 15 record. The coalition that will operate to provide program services and deliver goals that are family centered with the extra organization projects a course curriculum [sic]. It is anticipated that extra in the coalition can provide a effective way to address and resolve consistent and chronic barriers to achieving self sufficiency [sic]. Okay. 124 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 In the report Legal Barriers to Employment, authored by Allen Paken, Esquire, Juris Doctorate of Law School, Widener University, he states that ex-offenders will encounter a myriad of legal barriers which will make it extraordinarily difficult for them to succeed in caring for their children. Ex-offenders who must find work, acquire safe housing, and assess public benefits, to just name a few, are hit harder with the reality that they are ill prepared and stigmatized. Addressing the legal barriers to employment by ex-offenders is paramount in their rehabilitation and success for returning to the community. In closing, Employment Training Referral Services and Associates welcome the opportunity to address City Council members, and to continue a dialogue that will result in the collaboration with the City of Philadelphia and the Department of Corrections, to develop a strategic plan for effective and innovative re-entry programs. 125 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 I thank you, the City Council.
We also would like to thank you for coming in. Do you do -- Your agency actually does counseling for family reunification, parenting issues, issues involving spouses, et cetera?
We do a fatherhood program where we counsel the individual father to reunite, to reconnect with his children.
We would like to expand that, to include family counseling. Given the dollars that it would take, we don't have that capability at this time, but we would like to be able to rise to that level.
Okay. All right. Thank you. Thank you for coming in. Mr. Austin and Hunt.
Yes. Good afternoon, Councilwoman Reed-Miller. 126 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 My is Lorell Austin. O. of Austin Hunt Consulting. A. A. is a non-profit organization. Austin Hunt is a private corporation for profit. We work with the ex-offenders, the inmates six months before they are released from prison, a job training readiness program. We're working in the State of Delaware currently right now with the Department of Labor and the Department of Corrections. We're working to develop contracts here in the City of Philadelphia which is our home. Our capability information that you have in front of you is basically a fact sheet of some important issues that ex-offenders need to know and need assistance in and the transition back into society. 127 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 Obviously it's housing. They need some strategic planning, working with social organizations on securing housing. And our forte is employment. The latter three pages that you have in our capability statement breaks down a 6-week or to a 12-week program -- I'm sorry -- It's six weeks to a 12-month program, that will assist them on the skills that are needed: Resume writing, interview skills, conflict resolution, skill assessments, developing a marketing job strategy, introduction to role playing, feedback, work force initiative, research and opportunities, developing a work strategy, dealing with customer service and public relation issues, team building and business loyalty, basic communication skills, oral and in writing, interview skills, techniques, job fairs. We're working towards bringing a job fair into the prison system. So, a month before the ex-offenders or the inmates are released, they will go through a thorough training program, and we will invite 128 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 prospective employers to come in and interview them while they're incarcerated so that they will know exactly what they're getting. At that time they'll be able to do a background check on the prospective employer. I'm sorry. The employer will be able to do a background check on the prospective employee, the ex-offender, so that when they are released, they will know that they have a strategic plan on where they're living, where they're going to start employment. And if the employer has any time before they're released, they're able to investigate and do all of their due diligence at that time. Our program is designed to help the inmate, before they become ex-offenders, to make a smooth transition back into society so that we can cut the recidivism rate to as minimal as possible. Our goal would like to be 50 to 80 percent. We're working with organizations. E. throughout 129 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 our Philadelphia area, and as I mentioned the Department of Labor in the State of Delaware, to work with the inmates so that when they are released into society, they have a strategy on how to secure gainful employment, how to work with their community, and develop ties back with their families. What we see as far as support as ex-offenders, there needs to be an orientation for help as needed. They need health insurance. They need public assistance. They need to know where they can go for public welfare, medical assistance. And in all cases, if there is needed, psychological help. They need to have this information readily at hand, so that they once they leave the prison walls they have a support mechanism that will give them the full support so that they can be gainful -- so that they can receive gainful employment and be valuable citizens back into society. We are encouraging them to follow the probation officers' program, to make sure 130 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 they report hours once they are released. That is mandatory to their parole. A lot of the problems that recidivism occurs is because the ex-offenders do not follow the program.
They do not 7 follow through on how the parole officer has 8 given them guidelines on what's needed for 9 them to be successful. A. works with 12 them so that they're able to have successful 13 re-entry back into the community. 14 I'd like to appreciate -- thank you 15 for taking the time to listen to our 16 testimony. 17 We're bringing the private side to 18 the testimony. 19
That's really 20 good. I mean, we need to hear the private 21 side. 22 How long have you been in 23 business -- 24
-- and how 131 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 successful have you been?
Two years in operation. And as I mentioned, we are currently with the State of Delaware which means we've been very successful. We're working diligently to secure contracts with the State of Pennsylvania.
Okay. And have you ever had this mini job fair before?
Yes. We're currently -- We've had a job fair in Delaware. We're currently operating -- There will be a job fair with the Department of Labor March the 16th in the State of Delaware.
And only those employers that already committed to hiring ex-offenders will be invited, correct?
No. We are -- We are -- It's currently -- We're looking for all employers, but currently we have a track record of a few employers who have hired ex-offenders in the State of Delaware. But, no. As far as we're concerned, 132 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 every employer that's within the Delaware Valley is an applicant for our clients.
Okay. What do you think are some of the barriers or misconceptions of employers? Why are they so resistant to hire ex-offenders?
Well, you have basically two types of employers. You have the ones that will hire ex-offenders and who are open to that. They tend to be maybe the lower-paying jobs and labor related. But we have an idea that we can retrain these ex-offenders into skilled positions, specifically into the construction trades, where manpower is needed. And whether you have a criminal record or not, you know, they're more interested in the skills.
One of the key issues that we are encouraging the inmates -- we call them clients -- is the technology aspect of it. We're gearing them towards computer programming, those who do not have computer skills. There are prisons that have, quote, labs that have computers. They are taking computer classes. We're trying to emphasize or bring that aspect to the inmates or the ex-offenders, so that when they come out they're able to operate some basic office equipment and things that they feel comfortable with. It's also the key issue with our employers is making the employers feel comfortable that you do have good quality, hard-working individuals. Once you've done your due diligence and done the background check, yes, they have served their time; but everyone deserves a second chance. And in some cases there are people 134 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 who really were wrongfully committed. And when they come back to work, they're no 4 different than your average employee. As a matter of fact, they may be a little better because they're a little more focused. They understand that this is their second shot, and that they need to take care of their family and do their civic responsibilities. So, we're spending a lot of time grooming the employers also. It's an education for employers.
I'm sure. I mean, we really have to work to help people get livable wage positions, rather than those positions --
However, when 135 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 you have a family, housing is not always so affordable. And I think now people that are ex-offenders don't qualify for programs like Section 8, and it just continues to create barrier over barrier, layers of barriers. Well, again, I want to thank you for coming in. I know that these discussions have been ongoing with many people. And they're going to continue. And I know you're based in Philadelphia. Where are you based?
Philadelphia. Okay. So I'm sure next week at these hearings -- We're going to recess -- Has everyone here had an opportunity to testify? (No response.)
Okay. Good. We're going to recess these hearings until Tuesday, February 15th, at 1:00 p.m. next week. 136 Res. 040816 - Public Safety - 2/7/05 And we have many community groups and other types of groups similar to yours coming in to testify. And we're, you know, again, we're looking at how can we make life a little bit more easier for ex-offenders. So I want to --
That's right. Okay. Thank you. Thank you very much for coming in. This hearing is now in recess until Tuesday, February 15th at 1:00 p.m. (Hearing concluded at 3:35 p.m.) 137 CERTIFICATE I HEREBY CERTIFY that the proceedings and evidence are contained fully and accurately in the stenographic notes taken by me upon the public hearing of The Philadelphia City Council, taken on February 7, 2005, and that this is a true and correct transcript of same. _____________________________ DAVID A. DEIK, RPR and Commissioner of Deeds (The foregoing certification of this transcript does not apply to any reproduction of the same by any means, unless under the direct control and/or supervision of the certifying reporter.)