Having nice clothes, or any at all for that matter, isn't such a big deal for the uniform-clad inmates of Connecticut's prisons-until it's time for parole.

Then, clothes become a big issue, according to Mike Roeder, the coordinator of transitional services for Unified School District 1 of the Connecticut Department of Corrections.

"Twenty-five percent of the inmates we deal with in the school district don't have any clothes when they're released," Roeder said.

This can be a real stumbling block as they attempt to find housing or a job.

The state's new Transition Services Program, being piloted by three correctional facilities, aims to address this issue and confront other obstacles that inmates may face upon release.

The four-day program, which is available to prisoners who are less than six months away from release, provides resources and information on four to five topics, including clothing, education, voting rights, identification documents, health services and adult probation.

Reentry Counselors Ease Transition

Launched in January at the York, Willard-Cybulski and Corrigan-Radgowski Correctional Institutions, the program offers inmates the chance to meet with reentry counselors who individually assess their needs and create personalized transition plans.

The plans, which guide inmates through the process of obtaining employment, housing, food, clothing and transportation, have decreased the recidivism rates for participating inmates to 25 percent, said Roeder. In 2001, 70 percent of inmates and 58 percent of probationers were rearrested within three years of release from incarceration, according to Connecticut General Assembly statistics.

Susan Kirwin, the primary counselor at York, said prisoner response to the new transitional services has been "phenomenal."

"The need for services is really great," Kirwin said. "The majority of inmates surprised me because, generally speaking, they don't seek help until they're being discharged in the next week."

When the program first started, Kirwin directed informational sessions much more frequently because of the rapid influx of participants. Now, with the assistance of two secondary counselors, Kirwin runs sessions every other week at York and Willard-Cybulksi.

Expanding an Existing Program

Before counselors began offering the program to inmates prison-wide, similar transition services were only available through the DOC school system and its apprenticeship program, which provides education and training to 4,000 out of the 18,000 state prisoners, already offered participants transitional services.

However, Roeder said the DOC wanted to expand these services to inmates who were not involved in the school system.

"We've always been very proactive on the school side of the house, but it hasn't gotten into the custodial side," Roeder said.

In order to reach the 14,000 inmates outside of the school system, Roeder headed a panel of transition experts, including teachers and guidance counselors, that spent three months developing an agenda to launch the parallel program available to all prisoners.

However, unlike the federally funded school program, the expenses of a prison-wide program had to be primarily absorbed by the state.

With state approval, the panel spent seven months discussing its plans with private transition service providers from all over Connecticut. Together, they developed a 157-page workbook and videos that cover 14 topics, ranging from child support services to clothing resources.

Thomas O'Connor, coordinator of the DOC Job Center Program and a counselor supervisor, helped the panel incorporate employment, a key component, into the new transition program.

"Employment became a major extension of the transitional program, because if you don't have a job, you can't afford to live," he said.

O'Connor said the panel's main objectives while developing the program were to reduce recidivism rates and promote public safety. By destroying the initial barriers to reentry, officials hoped to decrease the chance of inmates re-offending, he said.

"If an inmate has too many barriers put in front of them, and they can't figure how to remove these barriers and reenter successfully, history tells us that these folks are going to fall back on what they know," O'Connor said. "And what they know is committing crime."

Helping Inmates To Help Themselves

But even though the program removes obstacles, Kirwin said it is only helpful to prisoners who are "responsible for their own success."

"The program provides each inmate with the opportunity to participate and help themselves," Kirwin said.

Similarly, O'Connor said the DOC Job Center can only go as far as convincing employers that ex-offenders have made mistakes, but deserve a second chance in the community. 

"Ultimately, it is up to the ex-offenders to give back to the community and take the second chance, instead of going astray," O'Connor said.

In fact, prisoners who would like to participate in the program have to be thinking ahead and must register themselves for sessions six months before their release.

Going Statewide

When the panel met recently to evaluate the program's success at the three piloting facilities, panel members unanimously agreed that it was time to launch the program statewide. 

With an expected release date of September, a revised version of the program will be offered in an estimated 15 more prisons and three more correctional centers, said Roeder.

In the updated version, Roeder said the program's workbook will include an expanded section dedicated to the conditions of probation and parole. The videotapes will also be revised to shorten the time dedicated to educational resources because inmates felt the section was too long.

"What the DOC will be giving them is hope," Kirwin said. "It allows them to see that there will be something out there waiting for them once they're released."

Resources:

To learn more about the transition services at the Connecticut Department of Corrections, visit: www.ct.gov/doc.