Re-Imagining Corrections and Justice Reinvestment
Remarks by Secretary Carolyn J. Scruggs, Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS)
The Secretary expressed appreciation for this opportunity to share the department’s ideas on how to “leave no one behind” because of unnecessary incarceration. She encouraged everyone to explore the department’s website.
Every community in Maryland has someone in prison returning to that community. DPSCS knows each of these individuals and is able to offer them critical reentry services. Creating conditions under which returning citizens can be productive is a high priority, and DPSCS needs everyone’s help in ensuring that partners and employers stand ready to give people a second chance. Secretary Scruggs wants to open the doors of opportunity to memberships, certifications, and job opportunities.
Education is one of the keys to success. DPSCS has been in partnership with Goucher College since 2012 and has recently graduated seven individuals. It continues to enroll 130 individuals annually. The Department is currently in dialogue with the Board of Regents at the University of Maryland to bring additional opportunities to prisoners. In the next few months, it will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to offer Second Chance Pell Grants. In February, a degree in sociology will be available through Bowie State University. Through Georgetown University, 25 men and women at Patuxent Institution are enrolled each year in degree programs.
The University of Baltimore, a true champion in education, is offering a degree in human
resource administration, and many prisoners are taking advantage of this opportunity. At Eastern Correctional Institution (ECI), Warwick Community College offers Associates’ degrees in hospitality and helps prisoners who want to be self-employed prepare to be successful entrepreneurs. The college is also working to include incarcerated men in a program leading to a commercial driver’s license. Prince George’s County couples education with housing and transportation services to help with prisoners’ transition home. Another bright light is a program through which prisoners train dogs to serve veterans with disabilities.
College is not for everyone. DPSCS also partners with Maryland’s Department of Labor to
identify certificates consistent with industry standards that may be helpful for some prisoners, and they have identified 26 such opportunities. However, most prisoners have no Graduate Equivalency Degree (GED). Recently, the legislature passed a bill that allows every incarcerated man and woman 240 hours of classroom education. If prisoners enter without a GED, it is now mandatory that they get one. (See Maryland Code, Labor & Employment, sec. 11-902.)
The Department is challenged to find ways to help people who struggle with addiction. Through the Goucher College Prison Education Partnership (GREP), it has been able to graduate 25 individuals as Peer Recovery Specialists, and another 130 will be sitting for the test. These individuals are justifiably proud of their achievement and their ability to
help and mentor others. DPSCS has also identified a vendor to offer substance abuse services for prisons and pretrial facilities. It plans to create substance abuse treatment centers and ensure that people receive the level of care they need to support recovery.
Secretary Scruggs is excited about the potential offered by a new Re-Entry Council in which 25 formerly incarcerated men and women who have returned successfully to their communities will participate. They will advise the Department on what individuals need to transition and what the Department could do to better support them. The Council also will work with DPSCS to help it change policies and procedures so that more returning citizens can experience success and avoid returning to prison.
DPSCS sees promise in a pilot program to create a Reentry Passport that contains the prisoner’s birth certificate, identification, Social Security number, and other key documents. The passport would allow one central repository for critical documents essential in transition. These documents could be retrieved from a phone or laptop with a password and shown to others, such as prospective employers. With programs like this, DPSCS is committed to creating pathways for success.
Questions:
I recently attended a press conference by a new Office for Re-Entry in Baltimore. Please
provide more information about what the office will do?
Reynard Brooks, Assistant Secretary for DPSCS, said that the new administration has created this office to connect people with opportunity. He is a little disappointed it was the first time this happened. DPSCS will be working with the new administration to “get back to where we should have been” (Maryland Department of Labor, nd).
An attendee from Prince George’s County expressed concern about the need for transitional housing.
Mr. Brooks said that DPSCS has been able to get 250 housing vouchers from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). These are available to people who receive at least one year of case management. Not everyone is ready to receive these services, and people can lose them if they use illegal substances or engage in other illegal behavior.
What programs are available to help people who are released with little or no income?
If people are released with a disability, caseworkers can help them apply for Social Security
Income (SSI). There are a few programs that can help, and people need to learn where they are and how to access them. DPSCS should be connecting people to resources before they leave prison and providing them with the necessary contact information, including hours of operation and what identity documents they need to provide to access the services available to them.
