Making the transition back into the community is difficult for many offenders who have spent some time behind bars.  If they can rely on their families for support, though, the tough journey can be made a little bit easier.

For this reason, community corrections agencies are focusing on getting offenders' loved ones involved in their care and custody plans.  

In light of this week's NIC webcast on offender transition, The Corrections Connection Network News talked with Barbara Broderick, Chief Probation Officer in Maricopa County, Arizona, about the importance of engaging families in the offender supervision process.  She shared with us some of her thoughts on the issue, as well as some of her experiences in Maricopa County.

Q: What do offenders need in order to be successful after release?

Broderick: I think, [for] a Department of Corrections or a jail, the minute they get an offender, [they] should be thinking [that] this person is [eventually] getting out, [so] what does this person need while they are locked up?  If it's a jail setting, you usually have six to eight months [before they are released, so it] would be great to have people looking at what are the [inmates'] skills around employment and education, what are their problem areas around mental and physical health, what does their family need and, more importantly, if they have a victim, what does that victim need?  There should be some type of treatment plan [addressing] all those areas.  Housing becomes a number one [concern].  I believe that no inmate should be released to the community to a shelter system.  Unfortunately, in our state, a lot of people after being locked up for three to five years just get transitioned to a shelter system.  Housing should be our number one [priority].

Q: What elements should be a part of a transition plan for offenders?

Broderick: Housing, [and] depending on whether or not the person has skills, either workforce development [or] actual job stuff.  Any of the problem areas [an offender has] need to be addressed.  If they have substance abuse problems and are doing well in a residential setting or outpatient, what is the follow-up?  What is the aftercare plan for that person so that they don't relapse?

[You need to make sure there is] no drop-off on medication when [offenders] move to the outside.  Unfortunately, when someone has Hepatitis, tuberculosis or HIV, somehow we need to afford them that ability without any loss of services or benefits. Sometimes, they have responsibilities coming right out.  Their families want to give [them their] kids back immediately.  [But] maybe that person isn't ready to take the kids on as fast as the family wants to get relief.  [It is important to] work with the family and the children so that there's an adequate plan in place so that the [offender] doesn't get hit with a million responsibilities [all at once].

Somehow, when we look at our plan, we need to do this control and care, but it needs to be realistic.  Sometimes when we do this transition plan, we need to build in the supervision strategies so it's care and control.

Q: How important is it for families and community agencies and members to be involved in offender transition?

Broderick: I think most people leaving jail are returning communities with high concentrations [of ex-offenders]. What we in government and in non-profit and faith-based [professions] should do [is help those communities].  They bear the responsibility of having more people return [there].  Somehow, we need to have the resources there to assist [ex-offenders] in getting back with their families and their children.  Agencies need to come up with a plan [and] to be prepared for individuals returning [to the community].

Families need to be realistic of what they can expect from individuals depending on how long they have been [incarcerated] and how difficult [it is] to assimilate back into the family.  [The offender is a] different person if [he or she] went in at [age] 21 and [is] coming out at 31.  Somehow the families need to be engaged, particularly in the supervision, so they understand why their mom or dad or sibling or kid is being seen [by a community corrections officer].  For too long, a lot of the criminal justice agencies haven't figured out how to engage families the way they need to.  Our colleagues in the juvenile courts have actually done much better than [we have in] the adult court.  It's like we have forgotten that these men, [and I say men because we mostly deal with them here], are fathers [and] brothers.  We forgot that even the single male usually has a family.

I think sometimes we are so fast to stigmatize people as felons or perpetrator, rather than thinking [that] these guys and gals are somebody's loved ones who made terrible mistakes - and sometimes just stupid ones. 

If you don't care anything about adult felons, you should because, by and large, they are parents and we can stop some generational [crime] from continuing.

Q: Can you give examples of programs in your jurisdiction that assist offenders with transition?

Broderick: We have what we call "Reach Out" and this may be for an individual who has gotten an initial sentence to a county jail of six months or more up to a year.  What we do is we look to the community.  If we can find appropriate placement, we will go back to the court and ask them to change the sentence so that the person may be able to do short-term residential placement or if we come up with some viable outpatient program.  [We use this program for people with] substance abuse [problems], co-occurring disorders [and for] compassionate releases, when someone is dying.  We try to move people faster into a more appropriate level of care and control.