Simon Says (2)

Each morning, Monday through Friday at 7:15, the men of building 3B trudge across the compound to sit in a large circle in the visitation room.  There, under the direction of “specially trained” staff and officers, these 96 men engage in the daily ritual of preparing for release.  They are all within four to eight months of their release date and live together and participate in group programs under the auspices of Governor Bob McDonnell’s “Offender Re-entry Initiative” (he’ll regularly promote his “initiative” in the press).  And what do these men do to prepare for “the real world”?  They play “Simon Says”.

Yes, Virginia, your Governor’s re-entry plan has inmates within months of release playing Simon Says.  Not to be outdone, they also play “red light, green light” and have volunteers stand up and give “testimonials” about how “today I decided not to steal my neighbor’s radio”.  This is Governor McDonnell’s answer to the billion dollar embarrassment that is Virginia DOC. And ironically, the officers and teachers will tell you it’s the same failed program 20 year employees have seen three times before.  Oh, it may have a new name and different bells and whistles, but it’s the same failed concept that every Governor, every “tough on crime” politician has supported to break Virginia’s high incarceration rate, stagnant recidivism level and increasingly cost prohibitive system, while continuing to justify no early release incentives for the vast majority of incarcerated offenders. Bob McDonnell, I have concluded, is just another in a long line of snake oil salesmen who lack either the guts or the intellect to speak the truth and do what needs to be done with Virginia’s bloated, failed prison system.

I’m not the brightest guy in the world (my status as a member of Virginia’s inmate population confirms that) but just one day in prison was enough to convince me society’s approach to corrections was misdirected and doomed to failure.  It doesn’t take a genius to realize the following:

1)    The abolishment of parole has done nothing to either decrease the cost of incarcerating or the rate of recidivism amongst released offenders.  Instead it has created the largest department bureaucracy in Virginia government (13,000 DOC employees) and seen the inmate population swell from 9,600 (in 1995) to almost 40,000 (year-end 2010), a 400% increase in less than 15 years with one of every eight state budget dollars now going to corrections.

2)    The vast majority of inmates currently languishing in Virginia’s prisons are either nonviolent offenders or, due to the number of years held, have had their security levels reduced to low custody.  The majority of Virginia’s prisons are low to medium security facilities with dorm-style housing and a majority of the officer corps being females.

You want a meaningful re-entry initiative?  Focus – and resources – should be directed as follows:

1)    Real drug and alcohol treatment. A significant number of the incarcerated suffer from drug and alcohol abuse issues.   DOC treatment plans call for those inmates to attend treatment, however, those programs are group meetings, short duration (ten to fifteen weeks) that use a cookie-cutter “here are the stats” approach.  Meaningful treatment is needed, not boring, earn your certificate classes.

2)    Job/life skills training. I am in the minority in here for a number of reasons but one significant reason is I actually held a real job requiring regular hours.  Prisons have all sorts of vocational programs to teach a person how to be an electrician but there is nothing about paying taxes, running a business, buying a house, signing a lease, keeping a checking account.  The vast majority of inmates committed crimes because they were incapable of successfully navigating day to day life.

3)    Education.  The single most important determining factor in recidivism is a college education, yet funding for prison college programs has been repeatedly cut.  The vast majority of inmates in Virginia’s prisons lack basic skills and don’t even have their high school diplomas.  An un or under-educated offender is the primary driving force behind recidivism.

4)    Meaningful Mental Health treatment.  A significant number of offenders suffer from mental health disorders.  At this compound alone at least 200 of the 1200 incarcerated are on some sort of psychological meds.  Depression, anxiety, guilt, collapse of relationships, all flow freely around the compound like an open sewage ditch.  Yet, psychological counseling is a triage system.  Suicidal?  Drop a note, go to the hole, get antidepressants and a visit with the psychologist.  There is no individual counseling. And the guys on Prozac and all the rest?  Once a quarter they participate in a “video conference” with the department psychiatrist.  He asks three questions:  1. Any problems?  2.  Taking your meds?  3.  Any side effects?  Meds are used to temper behavior, but the underlying causes are left untreated.

Governor McDonnell will tell anyone what a giant step forward his re-entry program is for corrections.  It isn’t.  He is either a bold-faced liar or living in wonderland.  His re-entry program is no different than all the programs run in prison since parole was abolished which have failed miserably.

That much of the prison reform movement is not being driven by conservatives should come as no surprise.  The cost benefit analysis of incarceration proves what one day behind bars teaches.  Prisons fail.

 In a few short weeks the Virginia General Assembly will meet to consider the Commonwealth’s biannual budget.  No matter how much the politicians tell you Virginia has weathered the recession, be skeptical.  Virginia has a tremendous IOU in its state retirement plan.  State employees have again been denied raises.  Governor McDonnell could show leadership, real leadership, and introduce legislation to restore parole or, at the very least, restructure sentences so that offenders could earn significantly more good time.  A real re-entry program could be created.  An offender like me could be released and brought back in to continue the work I do.

The cost to house an inmate in Virginia at even a low level is $25,000 per year.  That’s $68.50 per day.  The cost to monitor that same inmate through “community corrections” (i.e. probation) is $8.00 per day.  Under the current system 60% of the incarcerated will recommit within three years of release.  Prison, simply put, is a sinking hole of quick sand.

I have repeatedly urged the Governor in this blog to put his faith and intellect into action and build a real prison reform agenda.  The time for demagoguery and false promises is over.  Virginia needs real prison reform.  Simon says “now”.