Re-entry Efforts
The Butler County Prison typically houses around 250 inmates.
When their jail sentence is over, the system usually cuts all ties with former inmates, leaving them to return to the same setting that led them to jail in the first place.
“Taking classes in jail is one thing, but once you get out, that's when the rubber hits the road,” said Deputy Warden Jennifer Passarelli. “Some of them just can't do life. Once they leave here, they are out in the world.”
Prison officials have spent more than six years developing programs aimed at changing that dynamic and helping inmates make the transition back to civilian life. A small number of selected inmates are enrolled in the program.
“The neat thing about the re-entry program is that it takes all the resources in the jail, like anger management, counseling, etc., and bundles them into one program and makes them available to inmates on a regular basis,” said Sarah Kuehn, a criminal justice professor at Slippery Rock University.
Kuehn was hired by Warden Joe DeMore in 2015 along with another professor to work as consultants on the local program.
Re-entry programs are not a common element in most jails across the country, according to Janeen Buck Wilson, a senior-level researcher with the nonprofit public policy organization Urban Institute. Wilson worked with the Allegheny County Jail to develop re-entry programs based on research.As of 2016, the number of incarcerated Americans was 612,000 according to the nonpartisan think tank Prison Policy Initiative. According to statistics gathered by the group, more than half of that population has not been convicted of a crime, but rather are being held in jail pretrial. Officials were unable to provide an official number of pretrial inmates being held in the county jail.While the inmate population hovers around 250, the county jail can house up to 527 inmates. As a rule, individuals are sent to state prison if they are sentenced to more than two years of incarceration. Wilson is a firm supporter of re-entry programs. She considers them not only beneficial, but necessary, for an inmate's successful transition back to society.“Re-entry programs are meant to be holistic. People have multiple needs when they get out of jail — a safe place to live, a stable place to live,” Wilson said. “They need a job. Basic identification that you need to have to get a job. And the longer they're away, the more difficult transition will be.”
Local jail officials established the community reintegration program in June 2012 under then-Warden Rick Shaffer.When Passarelli was hired in 2016, her previous work with Allegheny County Jail's re-entry service was touted by DeMore, who took over as warden in July 2015.He said at the time that he wanted to focus on enhancing treatment for inmates. The jail enlisted Kuehn's help in its effort to design better programming aimed at reducing repeat offenders.“We were seeing really high recidivism rates here, which isn't particular to the county,” Kuehn said. “We were seeing the same people coming in and out. So, we wanted to design something that would keep people out.”Part of Kuehn's charge was helping jail officials determine if existing programs were based on evidence-based practices. Along with assessing the jail's program, Kuehn was hired to determine if the program was effective in lowering the number of inmates returning to jail after being released.She was also instrumental in helping the jail create a five-year strategic plan, adding that the jail's officials have been pushing for such programs. She points out that DeMore and his team strongly believe in evidence-based practices.“We wanted to measure what was actually working or not working for reducing reoffending,” Kuehn said, noting that the jail is still in the process of collecting data. “(DeMore) has always been very open. They're following best practices based on our research.”About 10 percent of the jail's inmate population is part of the program, according to Kuehn. She said the selected inmates are also part of a work release program aimed at ensuring their employability as they prepare for their release.
The effort has resulted in dozens of additional programs and re-entry services, including ones tackling specific problems. These include anger management classes and the Back on Track program, which helps inmates alter the way they think about the world and how they can earn a living. The jail hopes to reach all inmates regardless of their circumstances with its variety of programs.Many programs are in addition to — and work in tandem with — the jail's Community Reintegration Program, according to Passarelli, who heads up the jail's treatment programs. The jail bundles various specific resources together for inmates approved to participate in the reintegration program.“A lot of these classes have the same theme, constant reinforcement on changing their thinking patterns,” she said.Passarelli's efforts to create effective programs led her to allow former inmate Jason Beckwith to enter the jail twice a week to take part in informal talking sessions with groups of up to 45 prisoners.It's no secret that a significant number of inmates in Butler's jail have some combination of drug habits, according to Ashley Adams, the jail's director of nursing. Facing that reality, Beckwith developed a program specifically targeting inmates at the end of their sentences that will help them step back out into the world.“Everybody brings something different. We're casting that wide net,” Passarelli said.
Butler resident Thomas Purcell was halfway through his jail sentence when he noticed a flier advertising a new program for inmates.He joined the program and learned that life didn't have to revolve around drug use and jail.“I learned a lot of good things from Jason Beckwith's class,” Purcell said about the former inmate's jail program. “I don't have to go to jail. Like, wow, that was some of the realest stuff I've heard.”Purcell's jail sentence in 2018 for receiving stolen property was only the latest in a long line of crimes stretching back to 2013. The 26-year-old Butler native freely admits his criminal cycle was directly tied to his drug addiction.“I started escaping reality at 19. That's what I was comfortable with,” Purcell reflected on his past. “It didn't matter what people said about me, I was out of reality.”Beckwith said inmates like Purcell can hear what he's saying.“I was a cell mate. It's easy to talk to someone who can relate,” Beckwith said. “I bring humor. I tell them about my life journeys. I'm not better than or less than anyone. I believe in everybody (who) comes back to the group.”Beckwith uses a therapeutic method with inmates that focuses on challenging and changing their negative, unhelpful thoughts and attitudes. The method, known as cognitive behavioral therapy, also helps people learn coping strategies that don't involve substance abuse. Beckwith pointed out that it is easier for inmates to relate to him because he's been where they are and lived the challenges they face.“Most people address inmates or people in a curriculum style, like a teacher-student authoritarian style. It's like the teacher from 'Peanuts.' They don't hear you,” Beckwith said. “It's my job as a facilitator to get people to hear you.”Beckwith meets with a group of about 25 to 40 inmates twice a week in the jail to help them with these challenges.“I can see the change in their thinking. Their perspective changes,” Beckwith said. “Instead of being loyal to the streets, they need to be loyal to their family.”
Passarelli emphasizes education and strengthening community partnerships as part of the jail's reintegration program. Her goal is to ensure former inmates can be directed to resources they need while trying to reacclimate to society.If inmates meet the requirements to live in a three-quarter house, a case manager with the jail will work with inmates to find permanent housing.Along with housing, case managers assist inmates in getting food stamps, linking them with medical assistance and helping with treatment appointments. They are contracted through Family Psychological and Center for Community Resources, which helps run the jail's re-entry program.“Case managers are integrated into the treatment plan/service plan fairly early in the inmate's sentence as to create a foundation,” Passarelli said. “Upon release, the inmate and the case manager have an established connection.”Case workers are assigned to inmates as their sentence ends. They help inmates transition out of jail by helping them find housing, among other necessities.For someone like Purcell, he has the option to live in transitional housing for six months to two years, according to Beckwith.The jail's case managers begin working with inmates before they're released to prepare them for their return to the community. Priorities include helping inmates with such things as getting photo identification, a driver's license, housing, and help with job readiness through training. Help also comes in the form of reconnecting inmates to the families they've often grown estranged from over the years.Wilson noted the kind of partnerships jail officials are forming with people like Beckwith and case workers are important for creating collaborative partnerships in the community that help inmates transition permanently out of the penal system.“Some people have a lot of baggage that they have to deal with. They have to get a job, they've got fines to pay. They have to abide by outpatient rules,” Beckwith said. “Legal obligations hinder their ability to work full time, so three-quarter housing gives them a safe environment to live in with relatively low rent.”These low rent arrangements range from $350 to $400 a month and include everything except food, Beckwith said. It costs the county $70 a day to house an inmate, according to prison data.In the end, Beckwith said, the efforts to keep inmates out of jail are a community concern.“Everybody is affected by recidivism. Taxpayers, the jail, the future victim,” Beckwith said. “We want to create productive members of society. We were the scourge of society and now we're leading the charge to bettering society. It's a phenomenal feeling.”
