Faith-Based Restoration Homes For Ex-Convicts

A Proposal to the State of Colorado

An initiative designed to get thousands of convicts off the public dole and onto private enterprise payrolls, through aggressive and proven Community Restoration Processes.

Shekinah has made a proposal to members of the Colorado legislature regarding a consortium of Colorado ministries concerned with the social issues surrounding America's growing problem of lawlessness.

We believe the following document provides abundant evidence of the fact that our current rehabilitative justice systems are broken. Our jails, prisons and juvenile detention facilities have become little more than warehouses into which we are packing increasingly larger numbers of men, women and children.

The concept of rehabilitation is largely dead, not only in Colorado but across America. Recidivism nationally is said to be about 60-65%. We believe this claim is understated, because such data is maintained only through the ex-con's parole. Former felons have a greater propensity to behave while on parole; and it is our contention that over 80% of them return to crime sometime after release from parole.

Our beliefs in this matter are buttressed by the hard fact that over 80% of the people in prison are repeat offenders. If traditional, sociological- and psychological-based rehabilitative programs were working, our inmate populations would consist primarily of 'freshmen' (first-time offenders).

What Works?
What does work are certain faith-based programs, having up to 30-years experience with turning hearts away from crime. These programs are described in more detail within the report. But a quick look at one local rehabilitation program is instructive:

The Denver-based Emmanuel Houses have been accepting parolees into their programs for some eight years. During that time, nearly 90 men have gone through the program, and just four of them have returned to prison. This success rate of over 90% should have raised some eyebrows among state officials, but Emmanuel House suffers from the fact that it is Christian-based and, as such, "cannot be considered for public funding."

Fortunately, this kind of thinking is changing under the leadership of President Bush (and Governor Owens), and there is reason for hope that Colorado lawmakers and officials will take advantage of a large, experienced volunteer base ready to take on the problem of repeat criminality.

If nothing else, we ask our readers to remember this one salient fact: "Crime is not just a church problem; it impacts all of society in a horrendous manner, and all of society should be involved in funding programs that work - irrespective of whether or not they are 'God-based'."

Any group that has fresh, new solutions to the problem should be widely supported. The alternative is to build a never-ending supply of new warehouses for criminals; continually recycling them through the system as they are released, repeat their crimes, and return once again to jail/prison.

Proposed Legislation:

Given that the Department of Corrections general fund appropriation has grown to some $438 million in F/Y 2002-03, and given that the Colorado inmate population has grown at an annual average rate of 7.9% in the past decade; we can extrapolate an ongoing Corrections budget approaching some $1 billion annually by Year 2013.

In addition, the projected need for an additional 10,000+ high security beds by Y/E 2013 presumes a further allocation of $1.2 billion for new prison construction and/or expansion ($115,000 per bed) over the same 10-year period; adding another $120 million annually to State capital expenditures.

Further, because of the shrinking percentage of discretionary funds ($1.4 billion) available to the State (a shortfall driven by constitutional provisions and federal mandates), and the limitations of the TABOR Act, the State will inevitably face an unacceptable dilemma of either having to drain all funds from other discretionary -programs, or raising taxes proportionate to the growing costs of the State justice system (6 to 8 percent annually).

In other words, within 10 years, the DOC budget will be $1 billion, leaving only $400 million for all other discretionary spending (highways, etc.).

Among the many potential means for reducing or curtailing the highly-undesirable growth rate in Corrections expenditures, the most promising and straightforward approach is to reduce the State's recidivism rate.

Published statistics on recidivism range from a low of 66% to a high of over 80%. The figures vary according to when the measurements are taken (i.e. at the end of parole, or over the lifetime of the ex-offender). Either way, the recidivism rate is a national disgrace as well as a disgrace to the State of Colorado. Conventional rehabilitation practices of the past 50 years or so have failed.

The incarceration of a man, woman or child presents a perfect opportunity to work with them intensely, one-on-one, to ensure that they do not violate parole or commit new crimes when released. The State has been ineffective at doing this; and our justice system, in effect, has resorted largely to simply warehousing and recycling the criminal elements of society.

Recidivism Rates Can Be Reduced
Therefore, the Department of Corrections is instructed to aggressively exploit alternatives to traditional rehabilitation efforts and parole practices, by diverting, each year, at least 4% (roughly $7 million) of its total annual appropriation to a "Rehabilitation Fund" that will encourage and support faith-based and community charitable rehabilitation and restoration initiatives. For the current fiscal year 2002-2003, the Department of Corrections must make available a minimum of $5 million for such projects (in addition to Federal funds supplied to DOC for such purposes). Beginning fiscal year 2003-2004, the full 4% share of appropriation must be diverted to such purposes.

Over 100 such private charitable organizations have been identified in the State of Colorado; and some have attained remarkable success in reducing recidivism rates (results range from a reported low of 5% to a high of 13%).

The Department of Corrections is further instructed to provide funds, through grants and contracts, to faith-based and community charitable organizations as needed to establish pilot programs providing housing, mentoring, life-skills training and jobs to inmates upon release.

The pilot programs must serve as models for long-term growth and proliferation, and must be tracked closely to ensure they meet objectives (recidivism rates of no more than 30%, at minimum).

The Department of Corrections must strive to identify the most successful programs and divert funds to those successful projects as needed to achieve an annual statewide goal of 100+ new beds per year, beginning Year 2004. Occupancy must grow at a rate that will ensure a minimum of 1,000 total new beds by Y/E 2012.

Because faith-based and community charitable programs are volunteer-based, they operate more efficiently than can the State's traditional incarceration programs.

Savings of Proposed Pilot Program
Would Amount to $$$Tens of Millions
Projected annual savings to the State of each 1,000 beds established under this legislation would be approximately $18 million[1] (based on studies of existing faith-based after-care programs), plus another $24 million annual savings in cumulative cost-avoidance resulting from the accompanying drop in recidivism rates (under the proposed programs, no more than 130 of 1,000 paroles would return to crime in their lifetimes - worst case).

This legislative mandate will begin immediately upon enactment, because an office of faith-based and community charitable initiatives has already been established within the Department of Corrections and is fully operational. Requests for grant applications must be made in varied public forums shortly after enactment.

Several hundred inmates in Colorado penal institutions are currently eligible for release pending the establishment of adequate, approved re-integration facilities and programs. Rapid implementation of these directives is necessary to quickly end the unnecessary and expensive incarceration of individuals qualified for conditional release.

-----------------------
[1] The State's official ongoing annual operating costs equal $27,250 per bed. We dispute this figure, because it does not include pro rata costs of construction, nor does it include a proportionate ratio of overhead costs incurred by Statewide Administrative Executive Offices. Our contention is a cost of near $35k per bed.