An Open Letter to Governor Malloy, State of Connecticut Legislators, and Members of the Connecticut Criminal Justice Community:
The
Hippocratic Oath compels those in the medical profession to make
certain that they first do no harm. A just and ethical principle to
which all professionals should pay heed. History, as well as
Connecticut’s recent experience, shows that rescissions to cost
effective programs has far reaching detrimental collateral and economic
implications. Once cut, restoration simply does not happen. These vital
and proven programs will likely vanish.
It
costs about $34,687 per year to incarcerate an individual versus less
than $5,000 per year to provide services to that same individual in the
community. Too often, economic downturns compel funding cuts to
social services, cuts that are both inhumane and end up driving up costs
to our state in the long run. Many services have already been reduced
to the bare bones over the past several years as a result of the last
recession. The current series of proposed cuts to community-based
prevention, intervention, diversion and reentry criminal justice
programs – as well as to including and mental health and addiction
services – will lead to more people unduly suffering, costing the state
(and the taxpayers) significantly more money in the end than it would to
help provide for their basic needs.
People returning from prison are among society’s most vulnerable – as are their families. After
having served their sentence they are now trying to rebuild their lives
with the stigma of a felony conviction that functions as a scarlet
letter. Many of these individuals live in the poorest, most crime-ridden
neighborhoods in our state, with limited opportunities – which is in
part why they became susceptible to crime in the first place. Many or
most also suffer from mental health issues and addiction problems.
Without
public policies that promote social cohesion and well-being
for individuals who have been in prison, research shows that they will
soon return to the criminal behavior that landed them in prison in the
first place.
Nonprofits already do the job with very little funding and resources.
Research,
for which Connecticut has been at the forefront, categorically
demonstrates that good community criminal justice programs (crime
prevention, reentry, mental health, substance abuse treatment, diversion
programs) reduce recidivism and incarceration rates thereby saving the
state (and taxpayers) money (Fagan & Buchanan, 2016); a lot of money
in both the short and long term. These programs have a positive return
on our investment by eliminating the costs of returning these
individuals back to prison or the court system, and helping individuals
become productive, tax-paying citizens. Long-term benefit-cost ratios
for some community reentry programs in CT are as high as $405.23 for
every dollar invested (see “Results First Benefit-Cost Analyses of Adult
Criminal and Juvenile Justice Evidence-Based Programs”).
Connecticut can be the nation’s leader in criminal justice reform.
We
propose that that the state and the nonprofit sector jointly adopt a
motto of “First Do No Harm.” While we recognize the challenges and
competing priorities within social service programs, let’s not rush to
reduce spending on or cut critical interventions that have been built
over thirty years of thoughtful planning supported by research and
measurable outcomes. Instead, let’s create a re-envisioned
public-private-nonprofit partnership that is committed to enlightened
policy decisions in our state by investing today in programs that work
to help reduce recidivism and provide health coverage and addiction
services to those in need, so as to help ensure our future prosperity as
a state and a country.
We urge the legislature’s passing of the mini-budget this Thursday as an important next step!
We at Family ReEntry welcome all thoughts and comments.
My contact information is below.
Respectfully and gratefully submitted,
Jeff Grant, JD, M Div, Executive Director
Family ReEntry, Inc.
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