Small Steps, Big Changes

James Churchill was nearing the end of a 10-year prison term for armed robbery last year when he struck an unusual bargain with an unlikely partner. If Churchill, a career criminal at age 34, could stay out of trouble during his first months of freedom, police Lt. Ralph Mason pledged to help find him a job, begins an article in USA Today.

The program, known as the Michigan Prisoner Re-entry Initiative (MPRI), is based on intensive intervention that begins before release and encompasses all aspects of life for offenders who state officials believe pose the highest risk of committing new crimes and returning to prison.

Although Churchill admits he was “shocked” by Mason’s help, the officer’s intervention is a sample of the untraditional methods Michigan officials are using to help ex-offenders re-enter society and slash troubling rates of those who return to prison.

Four years into the project, the program is producing some promising results: Statewide, the rates of ex-offenders sent back to prison have dropped from 55 percent to 38 percent since the program started, says John Cordell of the state Department of Corrections.

Today, 11 months after his release, Churchill is earning $21 an hour at an industrial plumbing company and saving for a new car. He is also actively rebuilding his relationship with his 11-year-old daughter.

“Everything is coming in small steps,” he says. “I figure the harder I work, the more things will come. I just have to take it slow.”

To read the article, click here.

For more information on successful reentry programs, visit Justice Fellowship’s Prisoner Reentry resource page.