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By S. Rosen

Recidivism in Connecticut averages 50%. That is approximately 2,000 people a year in Connecticut who aren’t contributing to the economy, and are instead costing the taxpayers money—around $50,000 annually per person.

And that’s just the numbers.

When going to prison isn’t sufficient to reform a person‘s bad behavior, everyone pays. This is one of the reasons why prison reform programs like the Hospice and Palliative Care Program get bipartisan support.

On Thursday, a group of former inmates who were graduates of this program came together as part of a documentary. Filmmaker Barbara Slaine was following men who had gone through this program and assisted other prison inmates in their process of dying.

The program is entirely voluntary and prisoners must meet specific criteria in order to be included. Nor does the hospice program count toward early release. Despite these restrictions, the program, started in 2000, has a zero recidivism rate for participants.

In speaking of their experiences in the program, the men displayed a profound humility. Each expressed a desire to continue offering service to their communities in whatever form that took. It was clear that helping the dying had given meaning to their lives.

Some spoke of their past and the crimes they had committed. One man reported that he had spent over a decade in prison as had his father before him. He said that he would move a mountain before he allowed that to happen to his son. Another sought to share a story from his past he had written. Overwhelmed with emotions the audience called out support. Present for the event was his lifelong friend who had spent time in prison with him as well: fully pardoned candidate for Congress in the fifth district, Jonathan DeBarros. DeBarros stepped forward and shared his friend’s tragic story on his behalf. While DeBarros was not part of the program, he was welcomed among the men as a brother, as someone who had walked in the same darkness and understood.

But among those who have been in prison, what stories would not be tragic? The purpose of rehabilitation is to restore meaning and dignity to people’s lives and help them be productive members of society.

Slaine invited DeBarros to speak first and to sit among her subjects as they filmed. DeBarros’ story focused on his post-incarceration accomplishments, and the helping hand that President Trump wished to offer people like the men next to him.

To quote the president, “To realize America’s full potential, we need to unlock the talents of every single citizen.”

The benefits offered by the Trump administration include:

• The opportunity for people who were given higher sentences for crack cocaine than were given to those with powder cocaine to petition to have their sentences reduced.
• Keeping inmates confined as close to their families as possible.
• Allowing judges more leeway in sentencing.
• The ability for people with certain crimes to get their record wiped clean after a certain period of time, although Connecticut already has this legislation.
• Pell grants for education while still incarcerated.

Unemployment for former inmates is five times higher than the national average. The administration has the ambitious goal of taking that percentage down to the single digits within five years. The Federal Bureau of Prisons will be working with employers to get qualified inmates jobs upon release and the Department of Labor is underwriting a bond program to encourage employers to hire former inmates. The Department of Energy is including former inmates in their hiring programs. Still in process is the ability to get loans for housing and government jobs, something not previously available.

Connecticut leadership may tout how wonderful life in our state is, but for the people in the inner cites, this is far from true. The men in that room in Bridgeport had grown up all over the state and all spent their formative years behind walls. We should bless the people who offer the thoughtful training that allowed them to learn how to be honest and open. But how much better for everyone would Connecticut be if we had more stable families and the option of a real education?

To support these reformed men, Connecticut needs s booming economy where employers need workers. That’s not going to happen when the state is the biggest employer in Connecticut. For decades, the state has kept people in the cities uneducated, while claiming that Connecticut has some of the best public schools in the country. The state has handed out aid while driving good jobs to other states with business crushing policies, leaving people dependent on that aid.

This is a path to recidivism and despair.

The men in that room would be assets to any employer. Some already were. We need more of that.

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