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| Recidivism still a problem for Northampton County Prison, but programs could help, officials say |
| By lehighvalleylive.com - Jeff Sistrunk |
| Published: 07/22/2012 |
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Pennsylvania -- Lawrence Gaines was out of prison for less than a week when he was arrested in Easton for allegedly killing William Thompson. The 44-year-old was released from Northampton County Prison on June 27 after serving time for a parole violation but found himself back behind bars on the Fourth of July. He’s been in and out of prison multiple times in the last 12 years. He’s one of many criminal offenders arrested again a short time after being released. Local criminal justice professionals and social service workers agree that recidivism remains a pressing, complex problem that can only be addressed through treatment and educational programs. "It's a difficult issue," said Phil Lauer, a local attorney. "I think there are a lot of programs out there that are working, and a lot of forces trying to change things, but the degree to which we don't rehabilitate (offenders) as a whole is scary." A recent, in-house survey at Northampton County Prison of 148 male inmates revealed that 84 percent of them were incarcerated at least once before, and 58 percent of those were jailed in the county, according to county Director of Corrections Arnold Matos. Among a sample of 84 female inmates, 73 percent said were incarcerated before, and of those, 58 percent had been jailed in the county, according to Matos. The county prison houses about 600 men and 100 women. The recidivism rate for people on county parole or probation who are being supervised by the Northampton County Adult Probation Office is below the state average for similar institutions. Chief Adult Probation Officer Marie Bartosh attributed the county's rate to what she described as a "treatment-based" mentality ingrained in the local court system. "The judges encourage us to take every approach until we've exhausted our options," Bartosh said. Last year, of the county office's 2,692 clients, 279 of them -- a little more than 10 percent, below the state average of 15 percent -- had their parole or probation revoked, according to Bartosh. Of those, only 89 had new charges filed against them, according to Bartosh, while the others committed technical violations. For offenders who serve sentences in state prisons, the recidivism rate within three years after release is 46 percent, according to statistics compiled by the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections. The statewide rate has hovered around that number for much of the past decade. Read More. |
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