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KS Inmate Program Nurtures Freedom On Many Levels

January 16th, 2012
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Diana Jurik left home at 12. She was an alcoholic by 14 and a school dropout by 16. By 36 she had been in prison five times and convicted of nine felonies.

But age 37 has been different. Jurik is working and staying clean. She is going to school and learning there are people in the world who care about her. Report by LJWorld.com.

“I feel like somebody worth something,” she said, sitting between the two women she credits with much of her success.

The women are Dot Fernandez and Cindy Manske, co-founders of Freedom Foundation Ministries. Since last June, they have been holding life-skills classes for women in Topeka Correctional Facility and pairing them with mentors for when they are released. The group also offers optional religious services.

“It’s important for them to have that support from somebody who doesn’t want anything from them,” Fernandez said.

After Jurik was released from prison last April, Fernandez helped her get a job at a restaurant and enroll in cosmetology school in Topeka. She has also helped Jurik avoid her old way of life, which included alcohol abuse and bad relationships. She was convicted multiple times for forgery and drug possession.

Jurik said she has had one addiction relapse since being released from prison. In the past, that would have been the beginning of a downward spiral that likely would have ended in another prison cell. This time she called for help, and Fernandez spent an emotional hour in a cafe counseling Jurik.

Jurik said she has been clean since.

“I’ve used her to pick me up when I’ve fallen,” Jurik said.

Progress lost

Kansas was recently a model for helping people like Jurik.

In 2007, former Gov. Kathleen Sebelius signed legislation to grant up to 60 days in reduced sentences for inmates who attended offender re-entry programs and appropriated $4 million in grants for communities with plans to reduce recidivism.

Kansas was among the top three states with the largest improvement in its recidivism rate from 2004-2007, according to a 2011 Pew Study, and its inmate population fell 5 percent from fiscal year 2006 fiscal to year 2009, according to the Kansas Legislative Research Department.

Gov. Sam Brownback, then a U.S. senator, championed a bipartisan bill inspired by the Kansas law. It was later signed by President George W. Bush and became the Second Chance Act, which awarded grants to governments and organizations that helped offenders better return to society.

But Kansas’ fiscal woes have taken a toll on such programs, and the Kansas inmate population has been back on the rise. Every year since fiscal year 2009, there have been more people in Kansas prisons and jails than the year before. There were 9,186 prisoners in September 2011, the highest number in a decade.

It’s a trend the Department of Corrections worries will continue given current funding levels for offender programs. The Kansas Legislative Research Department included that concern in its 2012 legislators’ briefing book, a guide of issues provided to state lawmakers.

Fernandez believes her program is allowed access to the prison because of the state’s diminished ability to provide such services. But she praised Brownback, who has called for every Kansas inmate to have a mentor during the months before and after they are released.

“I know he (Brownback) isn’t always the most popular, but that’s something very positive he’s done,” Fernandez said.

As of December, 500 volunteers have been recruited for Brownback’s Mentoring 4 Success initiative.

Manske, the other Freedom Foundation co-founder, acknowledges the teaching and the mentoring is time intensive and affects relatively few. They have resources to help just 10 women each year. To her, it’s still progress.

“It’s one woman at a time,” Manske said.

Hope

Jurik has 12-year-old twins, a boy and a girl. They live in Louisiana, and she hasn’t seen them since they were 3.

A few weeks ago, their father unexpectedly emailed her a link to a Facebook page he had created. She opened it up and saw pictures of her twins, happy and doing well. She hopes she will get to see them again.

“It’s just one little step,” Jurik said. “Now I’m being reunited with my children slowly. It’s just a lot of good things.”

Tammy Community Programs, Female Inmates, Inmate Education, Kansas, Re-Entry, Recidivism

OK Program Helps Felons Meet Child Support Obligation

December 12th, 2011
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After waiting about two hours to appear before a Tulsa County special judge on his child support case, Jemal Rawlings spent less than 30 seconds at the bench.

“He’s in compliance,” said an attorney with the Oklahoma Department of Human Services. Report by Tulsa World.

Rawlings smiled in relief as he headed back to his new job.

“The less time you’re in there, the better things are going,” he said.

Rawlings spent two years in prison on a drug trafficking conviction, was released in 2009 and is completing his parole this month.

Even though he swore off drugs and his once wild lifestyle, he was at risk of more incarceration because he was not paying child support.

“When you come out of prison, you are facing a lot of issues like housing and transportation,” he said. “Plus, you’re a felon, and it’s hard to find work. And you’ve got to pay child support and the court fees you owe.”

Rawlings found minimum-wage work at labor jobs but kept falling behind and missing payments. He has four children with different mothers.

“It’s hard, but it’s the bed we made so we’re lying in it,” he said. “It felt bad when I didn’t have a job and couldn’t provide for them. It was really bad.”

After spending a weekend in jail in January 2010 for contempt, the judge referred Rawlings to a DHS court liaison. Rawlings owes thousands in back support.

DHS started adding court liaisons to its child support enforcement divisions about four years ago to help clients with community resources for landing a job. The liaison can also review the case for possible modification recommendations. There are 17 liaisons statewide.

Tulsa County’s liaison also serves as the case manager for the Prison Re-entry Initiative, which is offered to inmates who are being released in the county. The federal grant is $100,000 a year for three years, set to expire next year.

In Tulsa County, 14 former inmates are participating in the prison re-entry program.

Rawlings qualified for the re-entry initiative and completed a job training program with Goodwill Industries. He went from earning about $8 an hour to $12 an hour in a billing department for a law firm.

“It’s the best job I’ve ever had,” he said. “Without this program, without a doubt I’d be in jail for not paying child support. I always felt like DHS was about taking anything we get. But with the court liaison, I feel like I have a friend in the courtroom. I like knowing there is someone on the inside who is helping me out.”

DHS managing attorney John M. Sharp said child support has undergone a transformation in the past few years, moving to a customer service model and creating partnerships with judges and other state agencies.

“This is not your grandfather’s child support,” Sharp said. “The approach and attitude has changed to help the parties. We don’t represent the custodial or noncustodial parent. We represent the child.”

An emphasis on child support collections began in the mid-1990s as part of welfare reform – more collections means less reliance on government benefits. Until 2009, the state steadily increased collections, setting a record each year.

With a slight dip in fiscal year 2010, collections hit an all-time high last fiscal year, which ended in June, with $318 million – up from $96 million in 1998.

Oklahoma ranks third in the nation in child-support collections growth in the past decade.

But with this stepped-up enforcement came some fear and push-back from people owing support.

Robyn Tollefson, Tulsa County’s court liaison, said noncustodial parents are skeptical when they first hear of the prisoner re-entry and court liaison programs.

“So many think it’s a trap, and we have to explain we really are here to help,” Tollefson said.

The DHS role is to arrange for the establishment of paternity, find parents who owe support and serve as a clearinghouse for payments, which provides a record. The agency can revoke state licenses and intercept money from sources such as income tax refunds and worker’s compensation.

Judges issue orders setting the amounts and can order jail time.

By adding more social work, noncustodial parents can find resources at DHS when they fall on hard economic times.

“We don’t want to put anyone in jail or use the enforcement tools at our disposal,” Sharp said.

By taking care of the money disagreements, more focus can be placed on building parent-child relationships.

“I’d love to see more reunification with kids,” Sharp said. “We have too many kids out there without a father and mother in their lives. We want them to re-establish contact with their children.”

Rawlings said he was close to his family, went into the military after graduating from high school and attended nearly two years of college on the GI bill.

But, at age 33, he had his first child and got into the party life.

“I had some wild years there,” he said. “But this is my responsibility, I understand that. ”

He is looking at buying a house through a military assistance program and is planning to start his own business.

Rawlings said money has been a wedge in relationships with his former girlfriends.

“Child support can be bad on relationships. It’s not about having issues with the children, it’s about having issues with the mothers,” he said. “We all love our children, that’s why we show up to court. And when I look at my paycheck now, I think ‘Hey, it’s done. The payment’s made.’ I love that.”

He wants his children to learn from the lessons he is living.

“My kids are young, but I’ll be open and honest with them and be an example,” he said. “Some things I did great, and some things I did wrong. But I want them understand there are repercussions and consequences behind our actions.”

Even though child support takes about 60 percent of his paycheck, Rawlings said it’s worth it.

“My life is less stressful because there is a way to help get a better job,” he said. “There might not be much left after I get paid, but I’m taking care of my kids now. I feel good about being able to do that.”

Tammy Community Programs, Oklahoma, Re-Entry