[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 59 (Thursday, April 12, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4430-S4431]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               RECIDIVISM REDUCTION AND SECOND CHANCE ACT

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, for far too long the criminal justice 
system has failed to adequately address recidivism, and that failure 
has imposed a large financial and social cost on the Nation. Even the 
best-intentioned prisoners face debilitating challenges when they 
rejoin their communities, yet the current system leaves them ill-
prepared to face those challenges.
  Our existing policies of mass incarceration and release are not 
working. Large prison populations and high recidivism rates place heavy 
burdens on prisons, communities, and taxpayers. Of the 2.2 million 
persons housed in prisons today--an average annual increase of 3 
percent in the past decade--97 percent will be released into the 
community. Overcrowding continues to plague the system. State prisons 
are operating at full capacity and sometimes as much as 14 percent 
above capacity, and Federal prisons are 34 percent above capacity. In 
2005, prison populations in 14 States rose at least 5 percent. 
Recidivism and inadequate reentry programs add to the problem. Over 
600,000 prisoners are released each year, but two-thirds of them are 
arrested again within 3 years.
  The social cost of recidivism is devastating to communities, and it 
also imposes a financial burden. States spend an average of 
approximately $22,000 annually to house a prisoner. Taxpayers spend 
more than $60 billion annually on corrections, more than six times the 
$9 billion spent 25 years ago. Yet the current system still fails to 
adequately support the essential programs for health, housing, 
substance abuse, education, and employment that ex-offenders need to 
reintegrate into their communities. Even community and local law 
enforcement programs that are effective in helping ex-offenders often 
lack adequate resources and guidance.
  Future generations will bear the burden created by today's high 
recidivism rates. In 2006, the Department of Health and Human Services 
reported that 2 million children nationwide have an incarcerated 
parent. Studies suggest that these children are seven times more likely 
to end up in prison themselves. One study found that as many as 1 in 10 
will have been incarcerated before reaching adulthood. Of the 
approximately 100,000 juveniles who are currently incarcerated, many 
will become recidivists because of a lack of effective reentry 
programs.
  This increasingly serious failure demands a comprehensive solution 
that takes into account both the challenges that ex-offenders face and 
the role of law enforcement and community and family-based programs in 
successful reentry. That is why I am pleased to join my colleagues in 
support of the Second Chance Act. This legislation provides an 
opportunity for law enforcement, communities, and families to give 
former offenders a helping hand that the vast majority of them will use 
to become productive members of society.
  The Second Chance Act provides financial support, research, and 
guidance for proven and cost-effective solutions to the health, 
housing, substance abuse, education, and employment challenges that 
former offenders face in reintegrating into their communities. It funds 
mentoring grants, demonstration grants, drug treatment, and family-
based treatment. It authorizes the National Institute of Justice to 
conduct research on offender reentry and on the need for a national 
resource center for State, local, and community service providers to 
collect and disseminate best practices. The bill also creates an 
interagency taskforce to review and report to Congress on the Federal 
barriers that so many ex-offenders face.
  A second chance starts with a place to live. This bill will promote 
programs that help recently released inmates overcome the first major 
hurdle they face--finding safe, adequate, and affordable housing. 15 to 
27 percent of prisoners expect to go to homeless shelters upon release. 
Figures published by the Volunteers of America in 2004 indicated that 
two-thirds of former prisoners who lacked adequate housing had 
committed crimes within 1 year of their release, compared to only one-
quarter of those who had housing. Another recent study released by the 
National Criminal Justice Reference Service showed that 30-50 percent 
of parolees in urban areas such as Los Angeles and San Francisco are 
homeless, which compounds the profound hardship that re-integration 
already places on urban communities. The Second Chance Act supports our 
communities and local law enforcement by supporting housing programs 
for ex-offenders, so that they can take the first steps towards getting 
back on their feet and rejoining the community.
  The Second Chance Act also supports mental health care and substance 
abuse treatment programs that are vital to many ex-offenders as they 
struggle to reintegrate. Nearly a quarter of State prisoners and jail 
inmates with a mental health problem had served three or more prior 
incarcerations, yet two-thirds of State prisoners do not receive mental 
health treatment. In substance abuse treatment, more than two-thirds of 
State prisoners have been regular drug users at some point during their 
lives, and one-third had committed the crime for which they were 
imprisoned while under the influence of drugs.

[[Page S4431]]

  According to a recent Bureau of Justice Statistics report, of the 
approximately 50 percent of prisoners who met the criteria for drug 
dependence or abuse, less than half participated in drug treatment 
programs since their admission to prison. To address these issues, the 
Second Chance Act reauthorizes mental health care and substance abuse 
treatment demonstration projects and provides resources and best 
practices research to comprehensive community-based and family-based 
substance abuse programs. The programs supported by this legislation 
give ex-offenders the care and treatment they need to remain drug free 
and out of prison.
  We also cannot expect ex-offenders to become productive members of 
the community if they don't have the education and vocational training 
they need to find jobs. The Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that 
only 46 percent of incarcerated individuals have a high school diploma 
or its equivalent. The limited availability of education and vocational 
training programs exacerbates the problem. Only 5 percent of jail 
jurisdictions offer vocational training, and 33 percent of 
jurisdictions offer no educational or vocational training at all.
  Research shows what a profound effect such programs have on 
decreasing recidivism rates. Recidivism for inmates who participate in 
prison education, vocation, and work programs have been found to be 20 
to 60 percent lower than for nonparticipants. The Federal Bureau of 
Prisons found a 33- percent drop in recidivism among Federal prisoners 
who participated in vocational training.
  The Safer Foundation in Chicago found a recidivism rate of 8 percent 
for participants in its vocational program, compared with 46 percent 
for a comparison group. The Second Chance Act supports community 
education and vocational training programs that have proven their 
effectiveness, and offers the tools and resources to study best 
practices on job training and placement. It also supports collaboration 
among community corrections, technical schools, community colleges, and 
the workforce development and employment service sectors to help ex-
offenders overcome the many barriers they face in finding employment.
  In addition to addressing adult ex-offender reentry programs, the 
Second Chance Act also supports juvenile ex-offender reentry programs 
that put juvenile ex-offenders on the path to being productive adults 
and good citizens. The nearly 100,000 children who make up the juvenile 
prison population are among the most vulnerable and defenseless group 
in our criminal justice system. Too often, we fail to protect them. 
Many juvenile ex-offenders have learning disabilities and need 
substance abuse and mental health treatment. Many are incarcerated in 
overcrowded facilities. All need an education and the support of 
community-based programs to reintegrate them after incarceration. To 
help give juvenile ex-offenders the second chance they need to become 
positive forces in their communities, this bill reauthorizes the 
Juvenile Offender Reentry Demonstration Projects, creates a resource 
center to collect data and provide guidance concerning best practices 
for juvenile reentry, offers grants to improve educational methods in 
juvenile facilities, and supports community and family-based juvenile 
aftercare programs.
  In Massachusetts, programs like those that the Second Chance Act 
would authorize have already been nationally recognized for their 
success. In Hampden County, Sheriff Michael Ashe and the Hampden County 
Sheriff's Department have shown that law enforcement and community-
based reentry programs that focus on education, employment and 
treatment are the most effective way to reduce recidivism and improve 
community safety. States such as Massachusetts have been creating 
innovative and effective reentry programs, and it is time for the 
Federal Government to do its part. Supporting such programs is the 
surest way to ensure that when ex-offenders leave prison, they go with 
the skills, guidance, and support they need to succeed.
  I am especially pleased that the Second Chance Act will support the 
Elderly Nonviolent Offender Pilot Program, which focuses on 
reintegrating nonviolent elderly offenders over the age of 60. The 
current strategy of incarcerating elderly inmates who are no longer a 
threat to their community is a waste of government resources and a 
humanitarian failure, and the problem is only getting bigger as the 
elderly prison population grows. A 2004 report by the National 
Institute of Corrections found that the number of State and Federal 
prisoners ages 50 or older rose 172 percent between 1992 and 2001, and 
some estimates suggest that the elderly inmate population has grown by 
as much as 750 percent over the last two decades. Even conservative 
estimates suggest that the population of elderly inmates will represent 
33 percent of the total prison population by 2010. The average cost of 
housing the increasing number of elderly inmates is reported to be 
about $67,000, three times the average cost of housing younger inmates. 
As the age of the inmate population grows over the next decade, the 
total spent on corrections will increase dramatically, even though 
nonviolent elderly offenders pose little risk to the community. And 
according to a Department of Justice report, they have a recidivism 
rate of only 1.4 percent, much lower than the rate for younger inmates.
  Housing elderly inmates also raises humanitarian concerns. Often they 
require treatment for chronic and fatal diseases, protection from 
younger prisoners, and alterations to accommodate walkers, canes, and 
geriatric chairs. According to the National Institute of Corrections:

       [T]he lack of personal protection for elderly inmates, 
     which may be frail and therefore vulnerable to the threats of 
     assault by younger predatory inmates, contributes to the 
     emotional stress and physical deterioration they routinely 
     experience, especially among those who may be already 
     vulnerable owing to chronic illness.

  Housing nonviolent elderly offenders is not just a financial issue. 
It is also a humanitarian problem for which we must find new solutions.
  Forty-one states already offer some kind of early limited release 
program for elderly inmates. The American Bar Association has recently 
endorsed a proposed amendment to the sentencing guidelines to allow 
more lenient sentencing for nonviolent elderly offenders. By supporting 
the Elderly Nonviolent Offender Pilot Program, Congress takes an 
important step towards addressing the humanitarian and financial 
challenges of housing an aging prison population. The Federal Bureau of 
Prisons estimates that 378 nonviolent elderly offenders, and an average 
of 53 nonviolent elderly offenders a year over the next decade, will be 
eligible for the program. It offers an opportunity to demonstrate the 
effectiveness of alternatives to housing elderly inmates, and I hope 
its success will lead to a more comprehensive solution to one of the 
important challenges facing the prison system.
  When ex-offenders return to prison, all Americans pay a price, both 
social and financial. The Second Chance Act supports a comprehensive 
solution to the recidivism problem in America--a problem that we cannot 
afford to ignore. It is a solution that allows local law enforcement, 
communities, and families to offer ex-offenders the programs and 
support they need to get back on their feet and become positive, 
productive members of their communities.

                          ____________________