[0]The United States now incarcerates over 2.2 million people, more than any other country in the world. This means that one out of every 136 people in the U.S. is currently in jail or prison. The astronomical growth of incarceration in the U.S. over the past 25 years has created a wide range of social challenges, not least of which is how to respond to formerly incarcerated people upon their re-entry into the community.
In 2005, Partnership for Safety and Justice (then know as Western Prison Project) began an intentional exploration of the range of civil barriers formerly incarcerated people face. We realized that not nearly enough attention is being paid to this critical set of issues. After a lengthy process of interviews, focus groups, and research, we have produced Access Denied in Oregon, a 12-page report on barriers faced by people with a past felony conviction.
Access Denied in Oregon is by no means a comprehensive overview of the roadblocks to re-entry after prison. Rather, this report is designed to share some of the information we have collected with an emphasis on the key barriers identified by our survey and focus group participants.
Access Denied in Oregon includes:
- Summary findings
- Information about barriers to employment
- Information about barriers to housing
- Problems with licenses, identification, court fees and fines
- Problems with release practices
- Policy Recommendations
From the Introduction of Access Denied in Oregon:
The United States now incarcerates over 2.2 million people, more than any other country in the world. This means that one out of every 136 people in the U.S. is currently in jail or prison. The astronomical growth of incarceration in the U.S. over the past 25 years has created a wide range of social challenges, not least of which is how to respond to formerly incarcerated people upon their re-entry into the community. More than 650,000 people are released from state and federal prisons every year, and millions more leave local jails. The transition back into the community is far from welcoming for most returning prisoners. Formerly incarcerated people are stigmatized and stereotyped, and face a range of laws and policies that undermine their ability to become active and productive citizens.
Is it society’s responsibility to mitigate the challenges experienced by former prisoners when they transition back into society? Although some people may quickly answer no, the cost of not developing better systems of support is far too great, both in terms of the human toll and the cost to the public when people fail and then return to prison. Supporting the successful re-entry of formerly incarcerated people reduces recidivism [0], increases public safety, and helps lower the skyrocketing cost of incarceration.
Successful re-entry is difficult, in part, because of a wide range of civil barriers that reduce opportunities for people with a past felony conviction. Unless you are a formerly incarcerated person, or a family member or friend of a former prisoner, the real struggles associated with transitioning back into the community from prison are probably quite unfamiliar.
Download and read a printable version of the report [0] (The report is 1.2 MB and may require up to two minutes to download. Requires Acrobat Reader [1] software.)