Why this is Important

Currently, incarceration is the primary and most common form of punishment in the United States. In 2022, there are two million people in prisons and jails throughout the United States, with an over representation of African Americans. To put it into perspective, the population of the United States consists of only 5% of the world's population; however, 20% of the world’s prisoners are in the United States. Maryland has an incarceration rate of 531 per 100,000 people (including prisons, jails, immigration detention, and juvenile justice facilities), meaning that it locks up a higher percentage of its people than almost any democracy on earth. Thirty-six thousand Maryland residents are locked up in various facilities.

Returning citizens are often confronted with one pressing re-entry challenge after another, everything from finding a place to live and arranging substance abuse treatment to getting a job. They often find themselves facing the exact same pressures and temptations that landed them in prison in the first place. A setback in any one of these areas can easily lead to relapse and a return to prison, what public policy analysts call "recidivism," measured by looking at the criminal acts that returning citizens commit in the three years after prison release. The latest statistics in Maryland reveal a 41% recidivism rate.

Reentry refers to the transition of an incarcerated individual from prison or jail back into the community. Reentry programs in correctional facilities are not created equal, with some institutions committed to preparing individuals for their return home, while others provide little to no reentry services or programs.

As a former educator in the Maryland Criminal Justice system, primarily at the Maryland Correctional Institute for Women, I learned a few things about the system. I started the journey with preconceived notions that the system was one of rehabilitation but realized that prison is our most closed system and thus we don’t know what we can’t see. Our criminal justice system is a very broken system. Despite downward trends, the U.S. has still has the highest incarceration rate in the world. Although number one in incarceration, we are failing at rehabilitation and preparation.

Ninety-Five percent of incarcerated individuals return to a community. What we do to them (trauma inflicted by overly zealous security officers and other incarcerated individuals) and don’t do for them (lack of preparation to return home, lack of access to mental health services) will come back with them to their community.

For a moment, I want you to step into the life of a returning citizen:

• You return home with no savings ---because you work but make less than minimum wage.

• There was no opportunity to mend broken relationships, so you are staying in a shelter right now.

• You were failed by the school system, so you went in with limited education, limited skills and a spotty or non-existent work history and you return the same way.

• You must apply for a job online but were unable to use the internet while incarcerated and you lack computer skills.

• You don’t have a phone on which a potential employer can reach you.

• Someone offers you a low paying job but public transportation is limited so you can’t get to work on time.

My experience teaching incarcerated individuals and running a nonprofit that provides reentry services post incarceration has shown me that returning citizens are ill-equipped to return home and be successful. Preparation for reentry is not beginning soon enough. That is why last year, I created a reentry workbook that focuses on soft skills, which one carries throughout life. Soft skills include personal attributes, personality traits, and communication abilities needed for success in life and on the job. Soft skills characterize how a person interacts in relationships with others, including communication, time management, problem-solving, and conflict resolution. The workbook has modules on financial literacy, goal setting, career readiness, entrepreneurship, and character development. I created the workbook because I believe that reentry should begin the day after an individual enters the correctional facility to serve a sentence. While I believe, our correctional institutions need to do a better job preparing individuals to return home, I don’t advise individuals to wait on that because, as are most things in life, we are ultimately responsible for our own success. It is the goal of this workbook to provide individuals with some strategies and resources to prepare for returning home, creating their own path to success.

The workbook, entitled, Create Your Life Plan Now: Your Road Map to Reentry when followed will help change the trajectory of an incarcerated individuals life. You can purchase one workbook, several or create a recurring montthly donation for reentry workbooks. We will deliver or ship them to correctional institutions on your behalf. A portion of the money for the book which costs, $35.00, goes back into Maryland Reentry Resource Center so that we can continue to provide services to individuals when they return home.

Help an Incarcerated Individual Create Their Successful Reentry

By Maryland Reentry Resource Center

Help an Incarcerated Individual Create Their Successful Reentry

Buy One Reentry Workbook for One Incarcerated Individual