Going Home

Tuesday is release day. Inmates may get released on other days of the week, but are usually released on Tuesdays. Most inmates will be going home. That is, most inmates will be released from prison to return to the community they came from. I assist inmates with obtaining their identity documents prior to their release. They often express their concerns about the address that will be put on their ID cards or driver licenses. Many are releasing to half way houses, as they are not able to stay with family members. Many have gotten divorced during their incarcerations. Many of their parents have died. Many inmates struggle with going home to the same neighborhoods where they got into trouble in the first place. Going home to neighborhoods where drugs are being openly sold and consumed, where guns are readily available and sex is for sale. Going home to neighborhoods where jobs are not available, where most people don’t vote and literacy is not promoted. Some are going home to neighborhoods they do not recognize, where the schools and churches they remember no longer exist, where the factories have closed, where the homes they grew up in are now parking lots or shopping malls. Most inmates have taken advantage of the pre-release programs that have been offered. The State has put a great deal of effort into the Reentry program and curriculum. But inmates still have concerns. And they are not unfounded concerns. They are being realistic about their chances for success. Many have expressed their concern about the fact that they have no job lined up, and no money to tide them over till they get one. In the days before release they stop by my office to get their release paperwork signed. Most of them take the opportunity to thank me for having done a good job and it is nice to know that they have observed my strong work ethic and that they have an appreciation for my hard work. I always wish them the best of luck, always encourage their success and discourage them from returning to prison. You know it’s not even that much fun working there and I sometimes mention that it’s not much fun to live there either. Every year 500-600 inmates are released from the institution where I work. Tomorrow the bus will bring some more. And so today was just another day on the hill.