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I have to say that I am fairly proud of the State of Ohio’s Department of Rehabilitation and Correction in many ways. This may seem odd for someone who spends a great deal of time criticizing our nation’s legal system as punitive and draconian in nature, but some things have started to change. Ohio is far ahead of much of the nation in moving closer to a more reasonable justice system. Currently, we restore the right to vote to anyone not in prison. That is not the case in many states. In fact, some states remove the right to vote permanently after a felony conviction. Our Governor, John Kasich, is a Christian man who believes in second chances and redemption. He is a big supporter of reentry projects. He has appointed a man named Gary Mohr to head the DRC, and some changes are starting to occur.
While Ohio may not be as progressive as some states, Mr. Mohr seems to be open to making changes that make sense. Our reintegration centers are starting to prepare inmates for returning to society. Faith dorms are one example of this theory. This is not done out of some misplaced faith in religion, but rather on demonstrable fact. Several studies have shown that those who participate in faith based programming on a regular basis are far less likely to recidivate. It is in these dorms that much of the most progressive programming is being tested. Inmates are permitted to learn to use computers and computer skills. While they are not granted access to the internet, they are given tutorials in typing, Microsoft Office, and Quick Books. These skills are essential to finding a decent job in today’s society. Many prisoners have never used a computer in their life if they have been locked up for any significant period of time.
States like California go even further. They permit the teaching of computer programming skills through coding bootcamps. This is not easy when they have no internet access, so a system had to be created on an intranet. There is such a demand for these skills right now, that many software companies do not care about someone’s criminal record but only about how well they can code. These are high paying jobs that can give a returning citizen a real chance at a normal life. There is no reason that this could not be done here in Ohio. I would like to see this tested in the faith dorms here to see if it works out. The same model could be used for other skills, as well. The trades are desperate for new apprentices, so why couldn’t a local union set up an apprenticeship program inside the walls too? These are also high paying jobs that typically do not care about a person’s criminal background. For some reason, probably budgetary, prisons have moved away from training inmates for employment, but if we are serious about reentry programs being successful, we need to institute programs that will enable prisoner to have an employable skillset. One example that would be simple to introduce would be to reopen prison farms. Farming is in desperate need of new trained farmers. The prison farms could teach these skills while supplying many of the prisons with the food they grow. This would actually reduce costs to the prison system while teaching a valuable and in-demand skill. These common sense changes could reduce recidivism, which would also reduce costs in the long run.
Hopefully, Comprehensive Reentry can be a catalyst to help the Ohio DRC to adopt some common sense changes. In addition to this project, we would like to help facilitate a coding program in a local prison reintegration center’s faith dorm. We would track the graduates in scientific way to determine whether they return to prison or successfully find employment and actually reintegrate. If this model proves successful, we would like to extend it to other prisons across the state.
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