For someone recently released from prison, re-entering society can be a daunting and self-defeating process.
No job. No clothes for a job interview. No money or transportation.
For many parolees, just six months in the free world is enough to send them into a downward spiral that lands them back in prison.
But with the state Board of Corrections' support, the Arkansas Department of Community Correction is investing in an ambitious re-entry program on two fronts -- within the walls of the agency's minimum-security residential facilities and through an online portal that matches up parolees with the resources they need.
"Everybody wins if they don't come back to prison," Deputy Director Dina Tyler said.
Added Community Correction Director Sheila Sharp: "Some of this stuff is outside of the box."
Board members appeared alternately enthralled and baffled by a presentation of the proposed website.
Chairman Benny Magness, a self-admitted novice when it comes to computers, asked a lot of questions. Board member Buddy Chadwick blurted, "I think this could be a wonderful thing for our people."
Added board member Bobby Glover: "I've never seen a proposal like this. I'm really impressed."
"We really think this is the way to go," Sharp replied.
Right now, parolees and their officers must thumb through numerous books and make lots of phone calls to find resources. The website, on the other hand, will offer lists of carefully screened agencies that cater to those in need of housing, health care, jobs, food pantries, clothes closets and substance-abuse treatment, Tyler said.
Parolees also could post any skills or qualifications attained during their prison time that would translate into free-world employment. For example, an inmate who participated in the welding program could make potential employers aware of his abilities.
Employers, in turn, will be able to post job openings and browse for suitable candidates.
The system also will match up parolees and employers based on skills and job descriptions.
"This will be a statewide support-services directory," Tyler said.
The website -- called a "re-entry community portal" -- will be public and available to everyone. There are incentives for service providers, as well, Tyler said. They'll be able to publicize fundraisers, request money or volunteers, or even set up a minisite for blogs and stories.
Protech Solutions in Little Rock will develop the website for free, with the hope that other states will take notice. That possibly would allow Protech to charge for its services in the future.
"If we get this in Arkansas, we will be the first state to do something like this," Sharp explained.
In another effort to help with the re-entry process, the Department of Community Correction plans to provide space at its minimum-security centers for prison inmates who are four years or less from their parole-eligibility dates. Only nonviolent offenders with clean prison records would be admitted into the program.
Inmates would be administratively transferred to the centers, where they would spend at least 270 days taking classes, learning trades and preparing for release, Tyler said.
Once an inmate completes the program, his status would become "re-entry early release," which will remain in effect until he reaches his actual parole-eligibility date. If an offender needs to return to incarceration, the Department of Community Correction will conduct a hearing.
The planned process mirrors the release of the Community Correction Department's boot-camp inmates, Tyler said.
She estimated that the agency could accommodate at least a couple of hundred inmates , which would help ease prison overcrowding.
The board unanimously voted to allow the Department of Community Correction to further explore the logistics and will hear back from the agency in June or July.
Members also voted Tuesday to form two committees that will begin research on the construction of a 1,000-bed prison.
One committee will decide whether the unit will be a minimum, medium or maximum security facility. The other will begin looking for possible sites. At some point, the Department of Correction will notify cities and counties in legal notices and through the mail that it is looking for a site.
Correction Department Director Ray Hobbs and board Vice Chairman Mary Parker agreed that the prison needs to be equipped for violent offenders. That means no open barracks, Parker said, adding that she recommends two-man cells.
"And we can't put anything on the ground that's under 1,000 beds," she concluded.
The Legislature agreed to give the prison system $3 million to help fund an engineering and architectural planning phase for a prison that officials say is inevitable, given the state's rapidly increasing inmate population.
In other action, the board voted Tuesday to accept correctional officers' recommendation for renaming the old Diagnostic Unit. In the past, this facility housed new intakes and a hospital. It's now being renovated into a prison unit.
The majority of officers surveyed agreed that renaming the unit is an opportunity to honor Cpl. Barbara Ester, 47, who was fatally stabbed in 2012 while attempting to confiscate a pair of contraband shoes.
In accordance with the board's vote, the Diagnostic Unit will become the Ester Unit.
A Section on 03/19/2014