Some of the recommendations from the Special Council on Criminal Justice Reform would also shift the cost burden of incarceration to local communities by raising the thresholds on what constitutes a felony theft or deposit account fraud charge. Report by The Citizen.

Fayette County District Attorney Scott Ballard said last month that he favors improving the justice system, but he is wary of limiting judges’ tools to sentence offenders.

“It’s kind of like trying to play golf with just one club in the bag,” Ballard said. “You need tools suited for each individual circumstance.”

While Georgia’s laws have resulted in non-violent habitual shoplifters being sent to prison, the catch is if they remain in the community, everyone pays increased prices at stores due to the harm they commit, Ballard said.

Ballard said that he thinks drug courts such as the one here in Fayette County “can be remarkably effective” to get people off of drugs. And he also likes the idea of lifting the felony thresholds for theft offenses.

But he’s going to want some proof before getting behind the idea that probation is a more effective punishment for prison in a number of other circumstances.

“If somebody can show me the approach that puts more people on probation keeps everybody safer than what we’re doing, I’ll be willing to listen,” Ballard said. “But I haven’t seen a single suggestion about caring how safe the citizens are: it’s all about money.”

The various recommendations came from the council, a dozen state leaders including six legislators who proposed a variety of changes to Georgia laws. Those recommendations are based in large part on statistics which show that drug and property offenders represent almost 60 percent of all admissions to the state prison system.

The prison system costs taxpayers $1 billion a year, and if current policies and statutes remain in place, prison population growth is projected to grow 8 percent in five years, according to the council’s report.

The council contends that the state can spend the same amount of money and improve the recidivism rate by implementing a variety of changes, including the adoption of accountability courts such as drug courts, which offer specialized treatment with the goal of ridding an individual’s dependency on drugs.

But in some cases, the costs would be pushed onto local communities like Fayette County. For example, the council has recommended raising the thresholds on what constitutes a felony theft. By increasing the limit from $500 to $1,500 as recommended, that would push all cases under $1,500 to either Fayette County State Court or the municipal courts in Fayetteville, Peachtree City or Tyrone.

The felony threshold for deposit account fraud, also known as passing a bad check, would also be raised from $500 to $1,500, which also would push even more cases to local courts because offenses under $1,500 would be considered misdemeanors.

Those increases in thresholds would also mean that local communities would be responsible for paying jail costs for those convicted instead of the state.

The council also is recommending an increase on the theft by shoplifting threshold from $300 to $750.

Another significant change would come to Georgia’s burglary laws, with the crime being split into two degrees: burglary in the second degree being that which takes place in unoccupied structures such as sheds, barns and the like. Burglary in the first degree would be applied when a dwelling is entered, regardless of whether it is occupied or unoccupied. The council recommends that the sentencing range correspond to the degree of the offense, with a longer sentence “for serious offenses that involve residential homes.”

The council also suggests instead of imprisoning persons for drug possession charges to have them put on probation instead, but if that happens, courts and probation officers must have improved and expanded options. As such, the council is recommending additional day reporting centers, residential treatment centers and accountability courts.

Some 3,200 offenders are admitted to prison each year for a drug possession conviction, without being convicted of drug sales or trafficking, according to the council’s report. About two-thirds of those offenders are assessed as having a lower risk to re-offend, the council noted.

The council is also recommending expanded funding for the prevalence and effectiveness of probationers’ drug testing and an increase in the use of “GPS monitoring for appropriate offenders.”

Currently, probation and parole agencies don’t have the resources required to supervise offenders adequately, the council concluded in its report.

The council’s report also suggests that persons convicted of “low level” drug sale offenses also be considered for probation, but only if the offender shows the conduct was done to support his drug addiction.

The council’s work was authorized by the legislature last year, and it consists of 12 members including six legislators.

The biggest obstacle in reducing sex crimes is the lack of communication. At least 60 percent of sexual assaults against children, women and men go unreported. Most cases are reported long after the incident. Many offenders are victims themselves. Report by FerderalWayMirror.com.

Since 1990, Washington has required public registration and notification of convicted sex offenders. Along with supervision as required by law, sex offenders need a supportive environment that steers them away from bad behavior. Churches are often behind-the-scenes heroes in this process.

“Faith communities have always played a key role in helping offenders reintegrate,” said Alisa Klein, public policy consultant for the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers. She said faith communities offer a place for offenders to get their spiritual needs met. They also foster a sense of community, and sometimes assist offenders in finding jobs or housing. Offenders who lack stability in these areas are more likely to regress into criminal behavior.

King County Sexual Assault Resource Center (KCSARC) sponsored an interfaith symposium on Jan. 25 in Federal Way. Representatives from local faith communities, prison ministries, the Department of Corrections and victim advocacy organizations examined the keys to public safety in regards to sex offenders.

KCSARC emphasizes the need to raise awareness and “end the silence” that accompanies this often taboo topic.

In the past 20 years of sex offender registration, Washington has seen a significant reduction (60 percent) in such crimes, said Dana Hufford, community corrections risk specialist.

“It’s a real cultural shift,” said Hufford, who works with the Department of Corrections. She credits the increased accountability of offenders, coupled with community partnerships, for this reduction. Overall, she said 13 percent of sex offenders who have gone through the judicial process will re-offend, treated or not.

“A sex offender needs social structure in the community in order to not re-offend,” Hufford said. “He needs positive relationships that hold him accountable.”

The U.S. Justice Department cites a study that says registration laws have made little difference as to whether a perpetrator re-offends. Other studies suggests that offenders are more likely to relapse because of a pre-existing relationship with the victim, regardless of the offender’s residence. The majority of sex crimes are committed by someone the victim knows — either a family member or acquaintance.

The Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ATSA) advocates for specialized treatment and correct assessments of an offender’s level of risk for re-offending.

In Washington, convicted sex offenders have access to treatment and counseling during incarceration as well as one year after their release. Counselors like Mark Hudson specialize in treating high-risk offenders, some of whom are homeless upon re-entering society. If the offender wants to attend church, for example, Hudson talks with the pastors and church leadership to work on a safety plan. He would also be present to ensure proper disclosure of the offender’s crimes.

“My role is to make sure this doesn’t happen again,” said Hudson, who works for the state Department of Corrections.

Proposed cuts to the state Department of Corrections budget of $1.6 billion will mean less supervision of convicted felons and sex offenders. With that in mind, the symposium stressed the need for stronger community partnerships to pick up the slack.

Controversial state and federal laws

The Community Protection Act of 1990 was created on the heels of two violent sex crimes in the Puget Sound region.

The controversial program allows for indefinite incarceration of the most dangerous sex offenders who still pose a risk at the end of their sentences. More than 300 “sexually violent predators” have been committed under this law, according to the King County Prosecutor’s Office. A 2010 State Supreme Court decision made it easier for offenders to challenge their confinement once a year. In December 2011, a proposal called for transferring responsibility of these particular cases in order to reduce the state’s related legal costs.

The Seattle Times recently published a comprehensive special report titled “Price of protection: State wastes millions helping sex predators avoid lockup.” The report notes that Washington spends nearly $12 million a year in legal bills related to the program, which is “plagued by runaway legal costs, a lack of financial oversight and layers of secrecy.”

Passed in 2006, the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act is considered the most significant federal legislation. The law calls for more comprehensive registration and monitoring of sex offenders. It was named after Adam Walsh, a 6-year-old boy who as kidnapped in 1981 from a Florida mall and later found murdered.

However, only seven states have met the law’s requirements. Washington has yet to comply. According to a June 2011 report in the Washington (D.C.) Examiner, the cost of implementing the unfunded mandate has slowed states’ progress.

Federal Way connection

In Federal Way, there are 217 registered sex offenders. According to Federal Way police, 21 active registered sex offenders are homeless, 19 have inactive registration (no longer required to report or register), and nine have died.

Every year, Federal Way police check that all of the city’s registered sex offenders are in the right place.

Since 2008, the additional money needed for this operation has come from a King County grant. The funding for the 2011 sex offender check-in was secured with a grant for $34,956.88.

There are three classification levels for sex offenders. Level one indicates the least likely to reoffend, and therefore the least dangerous of these individuals. Level three is considered the most likely to reoffend and the most dangerous to the community. The city checks on level one offenders once a year, level two offenders twice a year and level three offenders every three months.

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.”

While at school, Sylvia was told that her mother, Laulensia Nyinabazungu, had been accused of murder and picked up by the police. “On reaching home, I discovered that my mother had been arrested and taken to Kamengo Police Station,” she says. Report by AllAfrica.com.

Feeling helpless, Sylvia’s elder sister went off to Rwanda, leaving the little girl under the care of an old man, who was not a relative. Sylvia’s mother insisted that she would rather stay with her daughter in Luzira Prison than let her live with a stranger. Prisons staff brought the girl to her.

Nyinabazungu was sentenced to 50 years in jail after the High Court sitting in Mpigi found her guilty of murder, making her the first woman in Uganda to receive such a sentence.

New home

Today, Sylvia is one of the 43 children accommodated at the Luzira-based Family of Africa, a home that accommodates children detained with their mothers.

In its 21 women detention facilities countrywide, the Uganda Prisons Service currently has 161 children detained alongside their mothers. With 43 children, Luzira Women’s Prison has the biggest number.

Angella Akwia, the in-charge of Family of Africa project, argues that children should not be left to languish because of crimes committed by their mothers, yet often, detention of a single mother leaves her children helpless.

For many of them [detained women], the events leading to imprisonment rip apart their marriages. As a result, they are abandoned by their husbands.

Even after detention, newly-released mothers usually have no source of livelihood. As a result, some of them stealthily walk out of prison on release, leaving their children behind.

Currently, the Family of Africa is looking after three children who were abandoned by their mothers after release.

Born in prison

An ex-prisoner who preferred anonymity says she was sent locked up behind bars for murder while pregnant. Shortly after, she delivered and for almost ten years, she was in prison with her child because there was no one to take care of her. Even relatives abandoned her when she was convicted.

Upon release, she did not know where to go with her child. “Despite the fact that I was happy about being freed from jail, it was a trying moment since I was homeless. Being homeless and unemployed, I could not take care of the child. I made the toughest and most painful decision of my life of leaving my daughter behind.”

That day, she cried as she walked out of prison. “I said bye to my daughter as I left and promised the authorities that I would come for her as soon as I got a job and accommodation,” she narrates.

Fortunately, Mission After Custody, a non-government organisation, accommodated her until she found a job as a housemaid. She hopes one day she will make enough money to rent a room and get her daughter out of Luzira.

During a conference last year, the executive director of Mission After Custody, Morris Kizito explained that jobless, homeless ex-prisoners were partly responsible for the increasing crime rates.

According to research conducted five years ago, the Uganda Prison Service had a re-offending rate of 40%, implying that out of every 100 inmates released, 40 would be back in prison within a year.

The prison’s publicist, Frank Baine says the service is seeking funds to cater for children who are innocent, but find themselves victims of circumstance.

e observes: “Much as the current prison budget caters for children who are detained with their mothers, specific consideration for kids is sometimes not put in place.”

Children require more frequent and specialized medical attention, which the prisons department is not prepared for. Besides, life in prison traumatizes the children, which increases their likelihood of committing crimes when they grow up.

Yet, like Sylvia, 161 children are trapped in that situation. Authorities at the Family of Africa home say despite the challenges the young girl has been facing, she will soon be transferred to a home that accommodates older children to enable her access education since the present one is meant for children below three years.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A study from Rhode Island Hospital has found that collaborative behavioral management may be effective in reducing substance abuse among convicted marijuana users who are paroled. The findings have important implications for the management of a substantial proportion of the U.S. community correctional population. The study is published in Addiction and is available online in advance of print. Report by Eurek Alert.

In the U.S., over 700,000 inmates leave prisons each year and over two-thirds of those inmates have a drug problem. The return of these inmates to the community is a critical issue for public health and safety. Relapse following release contributes to the re-arrest of more than two-thirds of parolees and re-incarceration of over half of inmates in the three years after release. While treatment can reduce relapse, drug-involved ex-inmates give limited priority to addiction treatment. Surveillance with the threat of sanction by parole officers is the traditional method of following parolees, yet many ex-offenders fall into the same pattern and are arrested again.

Knowing that contingency management can be an effective treatment for drug abuse and addiction, researchers at Rhode Island Hospital and nationwide, led by Peter D. Friedmann, M.D., performed a clinical trial called “Step ‘n Out” to determine whether collaborative behavioral management would be effective in reducing substance abuse, crime and re-arrest among drug-involved parolees. This study was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.

Friedmann, a physician and an addiction health services researcher at Rhode Island Hospital, explains, “Because of the so-called War on Drugs, an unprecedented number of people have been put in prison for drug use and the great majority of them return to the community. Community reentry is a difficult period – having a criminal record makes it hard to get a job and you usually return to the same environment you came from with the same people and temptations. Thus, a large proportion of drug-involved ex-offenders return to drugs and crime.”

Addiction treatment during the transition period can reduce relapse, but competing priorities such as the need for housing and finding work often limit ex-offenders willingness to participate in treatment. Parole and probation are supposed to encourage treatment and prevent a return drugs and crime, but they are poorly designed to do so. Probation and parole are based on supervision and punishment for bad behavior. For example, if a parolee tests positive for drugs, he/she might be returned to jail.

Behavioral theory holds that effective reinforcers or punishments must be both immediate (close in time to the behavior) and reliable (happen every time the behavior happens). “Any parent knows that punishment alone is not the optimal way to motivate behavior – it is best to have both carrots and sticks,” Friedmann says. “The problem is that punishment is neither immediate nor reliable — in part because of due process, but also because surveillance is imperfect and offenders have a disincentive to get caught. Conversely, drug use produces both immediate and reliable reinforcement, where a user gets a good feeling with every use.”

Friedmann explains, “The everyday reinforcers of daily life such as a good job and good family life can’t compete – they are delayed and not guaranteed.” Thus, behavioral theory explains what we see – the reentry period is extremely challenging and many ex-offenders end up returning to drugs and crime.”

Through the Step’n Out study, the researchers developed a system of “bridge reinforcement” to provide incentives for good behavior. Weekly over 12 weeks, officers, treatment counselors and clients worked together to agree on a behavioral contract in which there were three target behaviors. If the client met the behaviors then they were rewarded through a system of points that led to positive social reinforcers or material reinforcers like gift cards. A computer program helped track and manage the points and reinforcers. The motto of the study was “Catching People Doing Things Right” because the clients now had a reason to report their successes and the parole officers to recognize them. This intervention was studied in a randomized clinical trial in six parole offices in five states.

The Step ‘n Out trial reported that collaborative behavioral management worked to reduce primary drug use among “non-hard drug” users, primarily marijuana. Since marijuana users comprise a large proportion of individuals arrested for drug use, this study suggests that this behavioral approach to community corrections might reduce drug use and ultimately reincarceration. The findings, however, could not demonstrate benefit among parolees who preferred stimulants or opiates.

Friedmann notes, “Since the majority of drug violation arrests in the U.S. are for marijuana, these findings have important implications for the management of a substantial proportion of parolees. The study shows that an intervention grounded in behavioral science is feasible and effective in real-world correctional settings.”

###

Friedmann’s principal affiliation is Rhode Island Hospital, a member hospital of the Lifespan health system in Rhode Island. He also has an academic appointment at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. He is also a physician with University Medicine Foundation http://www.umfmed.org/ and the Providence Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Other researchers involved in the study with Friedmann include Traci C. Green, Faye S. Taxman, Magdalena Harrington, Anne G. Rhodes, Elizabeth Katz, Daniel O’Connell, Steven S. Martin, Linda K. Frisman, Mark Litt, William Burdon, Jennifer G. Clarke and Bennett W. Fletcher for the Step ‘n Out Research Group of the Criminal Justice Drug Abuse Treatment Studies (CJ-DATS).

CJ-DATS is funded through a cooperative agreement from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health (NIDA/NIH), with support from the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; the National Institution on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (all part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) and from the Bureau of Justice Assistance of the U.S. Department of Justice.

A statewide sweep to crack down on parole violators has begun.

The Michigan Department of Corrections is on a mission to get high-risk parole violators off the streets. Monday, teams from the DOC and Michigan State Police hit the streets in Jackson to do just that. Report by WLNS.

Up before the sun, police hit the road Monday morning not sure what the day would bring.

“We’re trying to target those high risk cases that we think are a threat to the public,” said Dan Heyns, DOC director.

“These fugitive sweeps are dangerous. Our staff takes this very seriously. We could face a variety of things. These could be situations where people become hostile with us, and become combative,” said John Cordell, DOC Public Information Officer.

These parolees are already avoiding police, so if they’re even home, it’s hard to predict whether they’ll be cooperative or not.

“They could be engaging in criminal activity again, and if that’s the case we need to get them off the streets and keep society safe. But there are other reasons. They could be sick of reporting to someone. After years in prison and on parole, they’re just tired of reporting to an authority figure,” said Cordell.

The first house police visiting Monday was a hit. Police walked him right back to jail.

At the next house the team found two people with parole violation warrants. At some other stops there wasn’t as much luck.

Overall, DOC leaders say Monday’s sweep was a success.

“We’re excited to be able to get those people off the streets, and either get them back on track on parole if they can be put back on parole, or put them back in prison if they’re dangerous enough that they need to be there,” said Cordell.

In all, 24 people were taken back to jail Monday. The sweep will continue in other parts of the state throughout the rest of the week and throughout the year as necessary.

The House of Delegates Judiciary Subcommittee A approved two pieces of draft legislation Jan. 9 aimed at increasing personal protection and decreasing the number of offenders currently in state’s corrections system.

The Public Safety and Offender Accountability Act “is an omnibus revision of the criminal justice system,” according to the bill’s abstract. “The primary objective of the bill is to maintain public safety and hold offenders accountable while reducing recidivism and improving outcomes for offenders.” Report by The State Journal.

The West Virginia Legislature has been looking at the issue of jail and prison overcrowding for some time. Jim Rubenstein, commissioner of the West Virginia Department of Corrections, and Larry Parsons, executive director of the West Virginia Regional Jail Authority, have testified before a variety of legislative interim committees on the issue. In previous testimony, both have said nearly 1,800 inmates have created a strain on already-strapped resources. Problems within the system include double-bunking, an increase in assaults and an inability to separate inmates based on classifications, among other problems.

But the Public Safety and Offender Accountability Act aims to strengthen probation and parole. For example, the bill would require courts and corrections authorities to incorporate risk and needs assessment information into the decision-making process, including for pre-trial supervision, at sentencing, in evaluating parole suitability and setting terms for parole and throughout the period of probation and parole supervision. The bill also authorizes the Department of Corrections to allow offenders to complete required programming in the community while under GPS monitoring.

Rubenstein said at the Jan. 9 meeting that the Department of Corrections does have a number of substance abuse treatment beds at Mount Olive as well as beds in the Beckley facility.

“We provide education, treatment and extended treatment,” he told the committee.

Rubenstein said the Department of Corrections is working to streamline how it determines an offender’s needs. He said the department will begin using LS/CMI, or Level of Service/Case Management Inventory, to determine if an inmate has a critical need, no need or is somewhere in between. He went on to say that some inmates are waiting for space to open up before they can be treated for their substance abuse addictions, though he couldn’t pinpoint how many.

“I imagine that would change from facility to facility,” he said.

The committee also approved a draft of a bill that would increase personal safety. Currently, the only type of restraining order a person can take out is against family or same-household members. However, the bill proposed a more general restraining order that can be issued in cases of stalking, trespassing and destruction of property, among other offenses.

Proceedings regarding the general restraining order would be heard in magistrate court as opposed to family court.

Although organizations associated with domestic violence pushed for this bill, it has not been vetted by law enforcement or the courts, according to counsel. Adults can take out this order for themselves, for minors or incapacitated adults. Petitioners must prove the acts against them as well as a reasonable apprehension that the acts would continue unless the order is issued.

“The idea is this will be, for a lot of folks, an opportunity to protect themselves in ways they can’t now,” counsel told the committee.

Both drafts will now go to the House Judiciary Committee for its consideration.

“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.”

Ears perked up recently when the state Department of Corrections said it would be reviving its inmate labor program and that about 40 inmates at the going rate of about $2 a day would soon be available for landscaping and cleanup tasks. Report by Tulas World.

Jenks, Glenpool, Collinsville, Owasso and Tulsa have expressed an interest in the program.

Jenks and Glenpool have already approved DOC contracts.

Due to budget constraints, the DOC canceled its contract last year with Avalon Correctional Services, which housed the community-level beds for offenders on public work crews.

DOC spokesman Jerry Massie said those inmates are now being housed by Avalon at a halfway house at 302 W. Archer St.

Jenks Public Works Director Robert Carr said that Jenks started using nonviolent and non-sexual offenders to supplement its workforce in 2006. It was discontinued in June 2009.

“Since that time, we’ve really missed those people to support us,” he said. “There’s a lot of competition with other communities for this type program.”

Carr said they are hoping to get a seven-person crew for about $1,170 a month to help them with grounds and right-of-way maintenance, landscaping, weed eating and other jobs.

“The communities in Tulsa area have been hurt by not being able to have the program,” Carr said. “That labor pool was very helpful to us.”

Carr said they didn’t have significant negative issues with inmates in the past and that they had even ended up hiring some of them.

City Manager Mike Tinker said offenders like working in Jenks.

“These folks are convicts, but we treat them with respect,” he said.

The inmates do jobs that might not get done otherwise, Tinker said.

He said inmate crews will be useful in cleanup work and renovation projects at the former state Department of Public Safety building, which is planned as the future site for the Police Department.

Deputy Director Ann Domin of the Indian Nations Council of Governments has been in discussions on the issue with DOC Director Justin Jones.

“What this program does is it not only allows cities to have an inexpensive source of labor for maintenance and grounds keeping functions, but it also is really in the best interest of the public as well because it means that inmates are working, rather than sitting in prison cell all day long,” Domin said.

“They are being paid very nominal amount but that will help them when they are released, and it prepares them for an actual job when they are released.”

Owasso spokeswoman Chelsea Harkins said the city is a strong advocate of the program and will be discussing it in the coming weeks.

“Owasso was the first city in the metropolitan area to benefit from the program. It saved us thousands of dollars over the last 20 years,” she said.

Like many states, Florida is challenging itself to find ways to do more with less. The state’s Department of Corrections wanted to take advantage of water- and energy-saving technologies as it upgraded its correctional institutions, but it wanted to do so without compromising security, unnecessarily disrupting inmate populations or shutting facilities down for extended periods. Report by Correctional News.

Through a partnership between the Florida DC and FPL Services LLC (FPLS), 18 major and 25 smaller facilities, comprising approximately 6,000,000 square feet, will be upgraded through a multiphase project that began in 2002 and will reach completion in October 2011. Because the massive project was undertaken using a financing vehicle called an “energy savings performance contract,” no capital appropriations were required by the state.

Working together, FPLS and the Florida DC created an energy master plan that would stretch across all the phases of the project. This made it possible for FPLS to guarantee savings of more than $4.5 million a year over the term of the contract. Since 2002, the guarantee has been exceeded by an average of 8 percent annually, which will result in additional savings of more than $14 million for the state of Florida. In all, the savings that will result from renovations of approximately half of the state’s correctional facilities are expected to surpass $55 million.

Although construction activities covered by the current contract will end this year, annual savings are guaranteed through 2025.

“The significant upgrades to our facilities were made possible by the energy savings performance contract and the public-private relationship between the Florida DC and FPLS,” said Gretl Plessinger, director of public affairs for the Florida DC. “In terms of energy conservation and security, it’s a ‘win-win’ for the state, the DC and employees of the agency.“

Ensuring Savings and Security

Under a performance contract, the general contractor facilitates financing for a governmental or municipal project through a third party, with the energy and maintenance savings designed to more than pay for the capital costs of the improvements. One of the particular benefits of a performance contract is that it can create positive cash flow from day one. This requires a detailed analysis of current electricity, gas and water usage, comprehensive energy modeling to project future needs and rigorous benchmarking to ensure that all goals are being met at each phase. A performance contract stipulates that if projected savings are not delivered the contractor covers the shortfall. Teamwork among all parties has been so effective that FPLS, with 20 years of experience executing work covered by performance contracts, has never missed a savings target.

Comprehensive engineering design was only one key element in the Florida DOC performance contract project. In addition to the detailed planning of all physical construction and renovation work, the development of project-specific electric, gas and water rate structures helped to virtually eliminate financial risk to the agency.

The physical modifications made across the state’s facilities included the installation of high-efficiency T8 fluorescent lighting; water fixture upgrades; water conservation and control measures; higher-efficiency HVAC systems; more accurate electrical distribution, load control and metering; and the replacement of aging steam systems used for laundry and cooking with natural gas or electric appliances. In addition, the project incorporated elements of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building certification system. It featured traditional and renewable technologies, including solar, with the opportunity to incorporate other alternative sources of energy, including biofuel, geothermal and wind, in the future.

The project covered areas for an inmate population as well as facilities housing agency staff. In the inmate-occupied areas, design and construction teams worked closely with DOC operations personnel to coordinate activities around regularly scheduled functions, such as meals and inspections.

All subcontractors were interviewed and prescreened by FPLS prior to undergoing full background checks conducted by the Florida DOC. This process helped to make sure that every subcontractor on the job was an appropriate fit and reduced turnover of staff and companies. The teams worked fewer, but longer, shifts in order to reduce the frequency of site access. A “one tool in, one tool out” inventory system, complete with carts fitted with a specific, marked place for every tool, ensured that nothing got left behind.

“Security is paramount when any outside contractors work within DOC facilities,“ said Plessinger. “We worked closely with FPLS at the agency level and with staff at specific facilities to minimize downtime and ensure security in all areas under renovation. In 10 years of construction, there were no security issues.”

The project also created nearly 400 jobs for local businesses, most of which were smaller, minority- or women-owned companies.

Major Savings from Conservation

Water conservation measures and the elimination of steam boilers and kettles produced some of the more significant savings.

With the introduction of low-flow, limited-flush toilets, flow restrictors on showerheads and sink diffusers and other water usage control systems, water conservation accounted for over 62 percent of the total savings for the program. One site, the Martin Correctional Institute, saved over 100,000 gallons of water per day. The combined water savings are projected to exceed 90 million gallons per year. Reducing water consumption, sometimes by as much as 50 percent, has made it possible for some facilities to accommodate a larger inmate population without making additional major modifications to on-site treatment facilities.

An additional benefit of the upgrades was the reduction of maintenance and repair costs.

Water control systems give facility staff control over the number of flushes per hour by inmates, making it nearly impossible to flush bed sheets, contraband or other items. Tamper-proof, timer-controlled lavatory and shower controls were also installed as part of the project.

New light controls, featuring a recessed touch-bolt instead of an external switch, are much less prone to intentional vandalism and accidental damage. The cost of a new, single-switch, vandal-proof light control unit is only about $15, compared to more than the older multi-switches, which cost $100 to install or replace.

By making water and electric fixtures easier for staff to control and more difficult to abuse, serious damage is prevented, and routine repairs are proving more infrequent and less costly.

The conversion from central steam generation to the use of more localized electric or natural-gas-fired water heaters, dryers and cooking appliances also produced significant savings. State and local budgets for repairs to the aging steam-generating systems, including leaking or deteriorated distribution piping, had been drastically reduced or eliminated in the past decade, making upkeep a difficult and sometimes dangerous proposition. The old systems needed annual state inspections and specially trained operators, limitations that the newer appliances do not have. The elimination of central steam boilers was responsible for about 20 percent of the overall savings generated by the project, but the reduced maintenance and operating costs are expected to help the Florida DOC capture even more savings over the life of the new systems.

Further savings came from a reuse/recycle program. Light fixtures, bulbs and other products were harvested by FPLS from facilities under renovation and sent to buildings that were not yet being upgraded. The lighting system reuse program alone is estimated to have saved over $250,000 in maintenance and supply costs, while reducing the amount of waste being sent to recycling centers or landfills.

Many of the nation’s correctional institutions are aging and less efficient than they could be. Energy savings performance contracting can be an effective way to save resources and insulate against ever-increasing operating, maintenance and energy costs, says Daniel Hedrick, management review specialist with Florida’s Department of Management Services. Hedrick oversees performance contract projects for the state.

“The multiple phases of energy savings performance contracting with FPLS have made it possible for the Florida Department of Corrections to make significant upgrades to their facilities without capital appropriations,” Hedrick said. “The Department of Corrections is one of the leading Florida state agencies in the application of this process and serves as a model that could work well for other state agencies.”