If at First You Don't Succeed...

Michael tried really hard for 18 months.  He worked his way from day laborer to Union worker with a full time job and benefits.  He went from walking as his major form of transportation to owning his own truck.  He reconnected with a good many of his family members and was integrated back into the life of the family. But then he relasped.  Why?  Well, not because he didn't get good advice from church members who wanted to see him succeed, and not because he re-offended.  Michael just got over confident.  Like many ex-felons, Michael had no concept of money, at least not the idea of saving any of it for a rainy day.  So he bought a truck from a car lot that preys on those less savvy to the finance world, and he moved in with people whom he believed were his new friends.  Those friends drove his truck while he bought the gas, cashed his paycheck and skimmed some dollars off the top, and all in the name of friendship.  But Michael didn't understand that these actions were not those of friends.  How was he supposed to know what true friendship looks like?  Michael has spent most of his adult life in prison.  So Michael stopped going to his court ordered therapy group at the urging of his "friends," and that violated his probation and put him back in jail for another 100 days.  Michael is out on the streets again now.  He's served out his last sentence and is no longer on probation.  What will be different this time?  What sort of "friends" will find and use Michael next?  Until society takes responsibility for teaching, training, and assisting with re-entry, prison for Michael and others like him, is just a revolving door.

Art Connects Inmates with Humanity

During the month of September, the Hite Art Institute at the University of Louisville will offer a unique opportunity to view an exhibition of art created by inmates who are incarcerated at prisons across the Commonwealth.  BARS TO WALLS:  INMATE ART EXPRESSIONS opens August 16 and runs through September 25 at the institute on 2301 S. Third St.  The exhibit offers more than 100 works by 69 inmates from 9 state-run facilities.  From paintings to sculptures, fiber art to wood carvings, visitors will be amazed at how much art can be created out of the limited materials available to these artists behind bars.

"Art provides an outlet and a way to connect with my humanity beyond these bars," said Hal Cobb, 54, who is serving time for murder.  Cobb and others use whatever materials they can find: popsickle sticks, dryer lint, paper, etc. to create works that evolk a strong emotional response.  While other corrections departments in other states have allowed inmates to exhibit their work, the opportunity to do so here in Kentucky is a huge leap forward in the restorative justice concept.  It wasn't that long ago that prison officials denied an inmates right to profit from his/her own creative endeavors. 

So,  I commend LaDonna Thompson, Commissioner of the State of Kentucky Department of Corrections for not only allowing this exhibit, but also for allowing the inmate-artists to receive the proceeds from the sale of their work.  Ms. Thompson has taken a strong, and in some quarters an unpopular, stance here.  Good for her!

If you go:  Admission is free.  More Information:  502.852.4483

More about the Second Chance Act

During mark-up, committee members accepted several amendments. These amendments support a study of duplicative programs to ensure that federal dollars are spent in a cost effective manner; promote enhanced accountability measures for grantees by requiring periodic audits; require that nonprofit grantees do not hide money in offshore accounts; and promote transparency around compensation for nonprofit executives.

 
Said Senator Leahy, "I believe strongly in securing tough and appropriate prison sentences for people who break our laws. But it is also important that we do everything we can to ensure that when these people get out of prison, they reenter our communities as productive members of society."
Committee approval is only the first step in the legislative process. The Second Chance Reauthorization Act now moves to the full Senate for consideration.
The Council of State Governments Justice Center is a national nonprofit organization that serves policymakers at the local, state, and federal levels from all branches of government. The Justice Center provides practical, nonpartisan advice and consensus-driven strategies, informed by available evidence, to increase public safety and strengthen communities.

Senate Judiciary Committee Approves Second Chance Act Funding

Yesterday the Senate Judiciary Committee approved S.1231, the Second Chance Reauthorization Act of 2011, authored by Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Rob Portman (R-Oh).  The bill provides resources to state and local governments as well as community-based organizations, to improve the success rates for people released from prison and jail.  The committee reported out the bill on a 10 to 8 party line vote.  The bill extends the original grant program authorized by the Second Chance Act for an additional five years while also improving and consolidating certain provisions.  S.1231 provides planning and implementation support for key reentry grantees; creates an incentive for federal inmates to participate in recidivism reduction programming; and repeals several programs that have not been funded or implemented.  There are currently more than 2M people in jail or prison in the US, and more than 13M people spend some time in jail or prison each year.  The Second Chance Act recognizes that most of these people will at some point return to our communities. 

This is excellent news! 

A Story to Tell

This is the story of Michael, an ex-offender.  At least that would have been the label I gave him 2-years ago.  Today, I can celebrate with Michael his new title, Productive Citizen! 

Michael went to prison not once, but twice in his first 40 years.  The first time for credit card fraud and the second time on a sex offense because his "girlfriend" was underage and he was emotionally immature.  Michael was released on a 2-year probation in 2009 but this time he was determined to do something different that would keep him from going back to jail.  The problem was, what?  how?  who?

Now here comes the good part of the story.  Michael had been attending Luther Luckett Christian Church, the only fully recognized congregation inside the walls  of a prison in Kentucky.  Luther Luckett Christian Church was developed on the Prison Congregations of America model and is associated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) demonination.  Rev. Dean Bucalos, an ordained Disciples minister presides over worship services every Friday evening at the church in the prison where Michael became a member while serving his time.  Michael also attended Life Skills classes put on by the church and learned that there was much he didn't know about how to live in the "free world."  Luckily for Michael and the other men at Luther Luckett Correctional Complex, the church also allows men to make application to participate in a Nurturing, Support and Accountability Group (NSAG) upon release.  Those men who are accepted into the program meet weekly after their release with a NSAG where they set goals and are held accountable for those goals.  Michael qualified for a NSAG and was matched with a group of 8 trained volunteers, among them an attorney, a business woman, a banker, a teacher, a physical therapist, and a mom.  Volunteers from all walks of life coming together to make a difference in one man's life. 

For Michael, the journey from prison to productivity was full of pitfalls and he stumbled a time or two.  But the NSAG was there to pick him up, dust him off, and set him right back on the road through mentoring, helping Michael own up to his failings and learn to overcome them.  Michael still lives in a half-way house, but he now has a good Union job where he was recently promoted to Section Leader.  He owns his own car and sometime this winter he'll make the final car payment.  As soon as the car is paid off Michael hopes to be able to move out of his temporary living arrangement into an apartment of his own.  Michael also looks forward to the end of his second year of freedom and the end of his official probation, but he plans to stay in touch with his NSAG friends and in fact would like to serve as a volunteer on a NSAG once his probation is over.  Michael would like to pay it forward.  Now, that's a story to tell! 

Where would you be?

I had the privilege of attending worship last night at Luther Luckett Christian Church, inside the wall of Luther Luckett Correctional Complex in LaGrange Kentucky, and as always it was an inspiring experience as I sat side by side with inmate members of the congregation and other outside visitors. Last night a guest pastor from St. Johns UCC brought the message as our own pastor was on his way to the Disciples of Christ General Assembly in Nashville. Her text was the parable of sower, you know, some fell on rocky ground, some on thorny ground and some in fertile soil. Her question then, "which kind of soil are you?," was not as "in your face" as you may be thinking. This young black pastor, just out of seminary and excited about her impending ordination, reminded us that God just keeps tilling and fertilizing until we become that fertile soil where faith blooms. As I sit here writing this blog, all my muscles are screaming in protest of the garden work I inflicted on them this morning.  Made me wonder how God could possibly have the energy, not to mention the patience, to keep working in God's garden. I don't know about you, but my soil didn't start out all that good. There were quite a few times when God must have thought those rocks and thorns would never clear get cleared out.  But God's been working on me all these many years so that today my garden usually grows some healthy veggies and pretty flowers. Then I remembered the take-home message in last night's sermon. "Where would you be if God gave up on you?" If God won't give up, neither should we. Love your neighbor, visit those in prison, forgive your enemy, fertilize, fertilize, fertilize .... Niki

Book Suggestion

When I talk to people about prison ministry, recidivism rates and the like, I find that many have a T.V. opinion of what prisons are like and what it's like to be an inmate.  While it's true that a great number of incarcerated individuals have mental and/or emotional deficits, there are also a surprising number of folks behind bars who are just as ordinary as you or I.  Ordinary, in the sense that, while they have made a big mistake in their lives, (maybe several mistakes), they have families that they love and look forward to being with again when their sentence is fulfilled. 

T.V. programs need ratings, so they sensationalize the prison experience and show only the worst of it, riots, fights, etc.  And of course that sort of stuff goes on from time to time inside the razor wire.  But by in large, prison is a community of its own making.  Men go to work at prison jobs, eat in the cafeteria, sleep in bunks in a quad or barracks, enjoy some free time outside smoking or playing ball.  They often attend worship services that the prison is required to offer them, and many of them go to school to get a GED or an advanced degree. 

This week I found one of the best books I've ever read about prison life.  Autobiography of an Execution, by David Dow.  Mr. Dow is an attorney specializing in death row cases.  His work is all pro-bono and his clients seldom win their appeals, yet he continues.  Why?  Let me encourage you to read Dow's book.  It may forever change how you think about the death sentence and about prison life.