March 2007

I’m working with a young dad named Jason*.  This month is his one-year anniversary for getting out of jail.  As an “ex-offender,” he’s not what most people probably imagine . . . he has two jobs, he successfully got his kids back from foster care, and he’s rebuilding both his credit and his driving privileges.  Jason is determined to make it.  And SLF is proud to walk alongside him.  But here’s what we’ve learned:  the “system” and “society” put so many barriers in front of folks like Jason, it’s an absolute miracle they make it.  For example, the DMV wouldn’t take one SLF check for four fees, they had to have four separate checks.  Not easy for a guy who can’t have a checking account (yet—we’re working on that with our neighborhood bank.)  The SR-22 insurance companies wanted to charge twice what my insurance-agent friend is charging Jason to get reinsured. 

Thankfully, Jason had a good job before he went to jail, and that employer was willing to re-hire him.  But imagine how hard it is for most folks when most employers won’t hire “ex-offenders.”  Same with housing.  Not to mention the shortage of drug treatment and recovery options.  Statistics show that two-thirds of those who come home from prison return within three years.  That’s shameful.  In working with Jason and others, I know most of those prison-returnees are not hard-core criminals who love the life of crime.  Most of them just couldn’t make it on the outside . . . not because they didn’t want to.  It’s because we put too many barriers in their path.  Worse, none of us wants to be their neighbors, their mentors, or their friends.  In the coming months, Marion County Home for Good and the Marion County Children and Families Commission will have a lot more to say about helping people in what I call “re-entry and recovery.”  SLF will have a lot to say, as well.  Meantime, I need to go learn more from my new friend Jason.
*Not his real name