On the outside: Lynchburg loses program for ex-cons

Each year, some 90 felons finish serving time in state prisons and are sent back home — to Lynchburg.

They spend their final six weeks at the local jail, attending classes that range from interview skills to parenting. Local volunteers lead the sessions and become a friendly face on the outside, a connection that helps the ex-cons build a new life once they are released.

The effort isn’t entirely altruistic — if the program can keep even a third from committing another felony, that’s more than $720,000 saved annually in prison costs.

Lynchburg’s program is based on creating community connections for ex-cons. As recently as last summer, the program was a pilot for possible statewide expansion.

But it will be scrapped this month, organizers have learned, along with 13 similar programs at local jails, as part of the state’s efforts to revamp re-entry services.

Organizers and volunteers in Lynchburg worry that the change — which will put the nearest program at the state prison in Dillwyn, about 50 miles away — will sacrifice one-on-one connections between released felons and those who can help them find a job, a home, clothing and food.


“When they get out, regardless of what they were incarcerated for, they face a lot of obstacles,” said Cheri Almond, offender transition coordinator at the Blue Ridge Regional Jail.

“It’s essential that they have a support system. Otherwise, the opportunities for them to slip back into a life of crime are great.”

Larry Traylor, spokesman for the state Department of Corrections, said that while the 14 jail-based programs put soon-to-be-released offenders close to home, they served a relatively low number.

Under the new model for reentry, Traylor said more ex-offenders will receive services because they will be offered on site at state prisons before inmates are released. The goal is to serve some 7,500 offenders each year, compared to the approximately 1,400 served per year at the local jails, though no additional funding has been allocated.


Orville Peterson, an educator with Virginia CARES, which provides community assistance to ex-offenders, said he hopes the state will re-examine the decision to close the local programs.

“Our goal is to protect them from their past becoming their future,” Peterson said. “One iron we had in the fire has been taken out, but it’s not the end of the fire. It’s not the end of our sources and resources to reach these people.”

With some 650,000 people nationwide released from state and federal prisons each year, prisoner-reentry reform has been drawing more attention at the federal and state level.

The concern is twofold.

Prisons nationwide are overcrowded and cost taxpayers more than $24,000 per prisoner per year. According to the state Department of Corrections, Virginia spent just over $1 billion on corrections in 2009.

There’s also the matter of public safety. Without resources to help them with everything from applying for jobs online to problem solving and communication skills, ex-cons are at high risk for re-offending. And that creates more victims, disrupting community safety and further burdening the prison system.

“They will be someone’s neighbor,” said Elton Blackstock, administrator of the Blue Ridge Regional Jail Authority.

Almond worries about the impact of the loss of the program on the ex-cons with whom she has worked.

These men had bonded in classrooms and, once released, over monthly dinners organized by volunteers.

Marcus Oliver said the cut is just another strike against ex-convicts like him.

“We’re felons,” said Oliver, who was released from prison in August. “No one cares about us. I didn’t know what to do or who to see. Mrs. Almond and Mr. Peterson showed us love and guidance.

“I feel sorry for those coming out of the pen who don’t know how to get help.”

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Most offenders aren’t prepared for life outside. They lack education, job skills and self-control, or have mental or medical issues that limit their ability to function, according to a report by the Virginia Serious and Violent Offender Re-entry Initiative.

The program Almond spearheads at the Blue Ridge Regional Jail began in October 2006. The offenders are taught by community agencies and nonprofits such as Virginia CARES, the Lynchburg Health Department and the Virginia Legal Aid Society.

The final six weeks before an inmate’s release consist of classes about problem-solving, budgeting, applying for and keeping jobs, substance abuse and child-support requirements, among others.

The teachers are the same people these men can turn to for assistance after they are released.

In 2009, 92 inmates participated in the reentry program in Lynchburg. During its four-year tenure, more than 350 inmates graduated.

In 2011, reentry programs will be held at 10 state prisons and will provide more offenders with classes similar to what has been offered in Lynchburg. In most cases, prisoners then would be released into the supervision of a local probation officer.

The change has stemmed in part from an executive order signed by Gov. Bob McDonnell in May. It called for the development of an integrated system of transitional and re-entry services using state, local and nonprofit groups. McDonnell appointed Banci Tewolde as the state’s first prisoner reentry coordinator.

More specific plans for re-entry are expected to be presented to the governor by the end of the year. Tewolde hopes to use some of the community partnerships already established to assist ex-cons.

“We understand that there is a lot of community participation,” Tewolde said. “We were absolutely surprised and excited about efforts we’ve found in various communities. … We hope to build on our community partnerships.”

As the Lynchburg program winds down –- its last inmate will be released Dec. 13 — Almond and many of the community volunteers hope to maintain those partnerships. Still, she is worried about losing familiarity with the offenders in her new role as a probation officer.

“The dynamic between a probation officer and client is different,” Almond said. “When you are in a classroom for six to eight hours a week with these guys, they open up about their families and where they came from and what they know.

“You see firsthand. Their obstacles are vast. You hear people say all day long, ‘they did the crime they must buck up,’ and that’s true, but there are obstacles that even the most together person can’t overcome without assistance.”

Without a support system, she said, the opportunities to slip back into a life of crime are great.

A report filed in 2007 on Virginia’s Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Program shows that 29 percent of offenders released without reentry services are likely to return to a state prison within three years. For those who do receive the services, that rate drops to 15 percent.

The Reentry Policy Council, a group that recommends best practices to lawmakers for prisoner reentry services, calculates recividism rates differently. The council’s studies show that two out of three people will be rearrested — anywhere and for any reason — within three years of release.

 Prisoners released away from their homes may be at even higher risk for reoffending, the council contends, since they may feel particularly disconnected from their  communities. Moving them closer to home before release may help them connect with their families and area service providers.

In the Lynchburg area, the dozen or so community volunteers have experienced that impact firsthand. They worry about losing the momentum built over the past few years.

Peterson, with Virginia CARES, said returning to prison can be a temptation for those who have no support system.

“Our goal is to protect them from their past becoming their future,” Peterson said. “Once you’ve been in a cage, people think you are a wild animal.”

Peterson teaches several classes in the reentry program, including talking to offenders about respect, values and communication skills. He said the organization tries to provide the support that someone with a strong family would receive.

“We are a small family to people who don’t have a family,” he said. “These are our children, fathers, uncles, brothers of Lynchburg as a whole. Unless Lynchburg embraces them with our support, we will find them slipping through the cracks.”

Jeremy White, of the Virginia Legal Aid Society, a non-profit that offers civil legal services without cost, uses his classes to do a little bit of prevention.

“If I can get in on the front end with these individuals, I can accomplish in one and a half hours what it would take several weeks to accomplish in a court case,” he said.

White had been working with Almond to set up a way to help ex-offenders get their driving privileges reinstated. Though being able to drive is key to getting and keeping many jobs, he’s not sure that effort will continue now that the program has been eliminated.

“The challenges they face are huge hurdles for some of these guys,” White said. “It’s unfortunate this will be cut.

“It seemed to be gaining momentum, impact. Now it’s coming to a screeching halt.”