Workshop held on recidivism

On Wednesday, May 29 an audience-involved workshop was held on recidivism at the Cass County Peace Officers Training Center in Linden. Recidivism is a fancy name for someone who goes to jail or prison, receives punishment, and then reoffends again after they are released from incarceration. The workshop was presented by the Cass County Judge’s office and Communities Unlimited. Judge Travis Ransom and Deanna O’Malley from Communities Unlimited were the presenters/ organizers at the event. According to the National Institute of Justice, recidivism is “one of the most fundamental concepts in criminal justice. It refers to a person’s relapse into  criminal behavior, often after the person receives sanctions or undergoes intervention for a previous crime.”

This was demonstrated on Wednesday, as leaders and participants from the community each had a part to play in a demonstration on how recidivism happens. Also, what can be learned to help make sure those who break the law don’t return back to the courts. At the workshop, there were several tables lined up around the conference room, and each had a part to play in the demonstration. The tables line up, and would have papers identifying them as important parts of an offender’s process of getting acclimated back into a functional place in everyday society.

In the middle of the room, the participants represented someone recently freed from incarceration and were each given packets. In the folders were information about the role they would play, along with each individual’s resources and challenges.

The participant would be given a small amount of money and a limited amount of transportation resources. Then they were tasked with trying to use those limited resources to get back into everyday life. First, by doing things like getting their state ID, in order to get a job, a bank account, ways to pay for things, etc.

What people found was that with the limited number of resources and support systems, the criminal would go back to breaking the law in order to survive. The system almost seemed designed for the convict to fail and go back to jail.

It was an eye-opener for those who had never been put in that situation before. Several commented that someone showing kindness and helping them through the process made it easier for them to succeed.

MTC is a group that helps at-risk and undeserved men and women gain the education, job skills, and life skills needed to have a successful future explained through a packed the changes through the years in Texas in regards to recidivism.

“From the mid-1970s through 2007, Texas followed the national trend of a rising prison population.1 This trend was caused by a political climate that emphasized incarceration and punishment.2 In 2007, Texas had 152,661 people in prisons and jails. That year, the Legislative Budget Board of Texas estimated that prison populations would continue to grow. According to their estimates, if nothing changed, 17,000 new beds would need to be built at a cost of $2 billion, this led state legislators to propose reforms. Lawmakers agreed to make an initial investment of $241 million to improve treatment and rehabilitation for Texans and to expand diversion programs.

“The state added 2,700 substance abuse treatment beds for incarcerated individuals, 1,400 intermediate sanction beds for those who committed technical violations, and 300 halfwayhouse beds. Additional legislation in the proceeding years decriminalized truancy and lowered thresholds for property crimes. TDCJ also offered incarcerated individuals incentives such as good time credits to participate in programming, education, and treatment programs. The state expanded the use of alternatives to incarceration such as parole, probation, and community supervision. To help formerly incarcerated individuals reintegrate into society, the state removed barriers to employment often faced by those with criminal records.”

The trends here in Texas for positive change make it one of the top states for reduced recidivism rates sitting around 20% of criminals reoffending. However, around Texas in places like Arkansas recidivism is extremely high sitting over 50%. It’s the hope of workshops like the one recently presented that the community can continue to be a part of the process to help lower the trend of re-offenders.

One of the things brought up at the meeting was that it benefits us as a society to help with the transition. Ultimately housing criminals and creating an environment where criminals re-offend costs the community money through taxes, stolen items, and even higher insurance premiums.