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| Calif. Program Tries to Help Parolees Remain Out of Jail |
| By Riverside Press-Enterprise |
| Published: 03/18/2003 |
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A state program that blends practical advice with a dose of tough love to dissuade ex-convicts from re-offending has landed in southwestern Riverside County. Since late January, discharged state prison inmates who live in the Lake Elsinore area have been required to attend a two-hour meeting at the Lake Elsinore sheriff's station where they get advice on everything from jobs to drug counseling to getting back into school. 'The message is you're going to do right or go back to jail,' said John Houston, a parole agent in Moreno Valley and coordinator of the Parole and Corrections Team (P.A.C.T.) meetings in southwest Riverside County. Officials with the California Department of Corrections' Parole and Community Services Division, which sponsors the meetings, believe this kinder, gentler approach to dealing with parolees may be the answer to reducing the rate of recidivism. According to the state's most recent statistics, of the roughly 59,000 parolees released from state prison for the first time in 1999, nearly 57 percent of them landed in jail again within two years. The program started in Oakland in 1999 and has since spread to other areas, including Sacramento, Stockton, Vallejo, Richmond, Woodland, San Francisco, and San Bernardino and Riverside counties. In January, Lake Elsinore became the first city in southwest Riverside County to begin hosting meetings. Houston said the sheriff's station in Temecula is interested in doing the same. 'Where it has existed it has managed to have a tremendous impact,' said Russ Heimerich, a Department of Corrections spokesman. A 2001 department report said that the percentage of Sacramento parolees who found their way back behind bars had fallen from 76 percent to 46 percent because of the program. Improved cooperation between police and corrections officials had also helped to reduce the number of parolees-at-large in Oakland by 36 percent in just six months, the report said. The state had hoped to work with the University of California, Irvine, campus to conduct a long-term study tracking parolees who go through P.A.C.T. But the program was discontinued due to budget constraints, said Margot Bach, a Department of Corrections spokeswoman. At a meeting last month inside the Lake Elsinore sheriff's station, 17 parolees -- 15 men and two women -- listened attentively as parole agents looked on. At one point, Houston flipped open a red, hardcover dictionary and, resting it on the palms of his hands like the Bible, he began to read aloud the definition of the word 'commitment.' 'Make the pledge, the loyalty,' Houston said. 'Devote yourself to being successful.' The message from each speaker was the same: Set clear goals for yourself and make the right choices. Trish Polson, of the California Employment Development Department, told the parolees that there was no excuse for not finding work after three months. Don't have a car? Then ride a bike, she said. The parolees nodded their heads. 'How many of you don't want to go back to jail?' she continued. All hands shot up into the air. Believe it or not, the police are here to help you if you need it, said senior Deputy Gene McKinney. But he also warned of the consequences parolees would face if they returned to their old habits. Don't even think of trying to pull a disappearing act, he said. 'There's a team -- 10 of us -- all we do is track people. . . . We go and hunt one by one by one. We'll be there on a regular basis until we hunt you.' Many of the parolees at the meeting said they got the message. 'I'm going to do everything I can to be a solid citizen,' said Mike Magro, 46, of Wildomar, who served two years in state prison for drug manufacturing. 'I don't want to go back. I'm going to do everything in my power not to go back.' Carl Cash, 38, of Lake Elsinore, who served a 10-month prison term for petty theft with a prison prior for stealing a sheriff's vehicle, said he wished the program had existed earlier. 'It was encouraging,' he said. Charles Smith, 44, who served 14 months for assault and battery, said he planned to get training to be an auto mechanic. 'Like the guy said, some people are happy with a six-pack and a welfare check,' Smith said. 'I want more than that.' |
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