'Ready for Life' prison inmate reentry program provides crucial support to break the cycle
OAKLAND -- Every year, 30,000 people are released from jails and prisons in California. More than half of them will end up back behind bars. But a new program in Oakland aims to break that cycle, using the experience of those who were once on the inside.
"This is one of the bedrooms," said Lamar Simms as he proudly toured the brand-new building he will soon call home. He got his release from prison after more than 30 years, but was accepted into an innovative program because of the hard work he put in to change his life while behind bars.
"So now that I'm out here and I'm part of this program," he said, "I feel that everything I did, I succeeded in it."
The opening of the new facility in Oakland also signals a new approach to dealing with those being released from jail. The Ready for Life reentry program is operated by a non-profit called Creating Restorative Opportunities and Programs (CROP) and will feature psychological counseling, job training and placement, a $1,000 per month stipend and - perhaps most important of all - 12 months of housing at the complex.
CROP Director Terah Lawyer-Harper understands the weakness of the current system because she was once incarcerated herself.
"Many laws in California are written in black and white, and look great on paper," she said. "But what's actually happening in practice is something you have to experience. And if you don't experience it, you're going to think what's in black and white is perfect. No one's going to correct it. Well, we're here to correct it."
The new facility can support more than 200 formerly incarcerated individuals. The program also includes a partnership with SAP to provide job training and placement within the tech community. The nearly $30 million in funding came from philanthropic and workforce development organizations under the ReWork the Bay initiative, but the program itself is being designed and operated by formerly incarcerated people like Brianna Rogers, Initiative Director for ReWork the Bay.
"The thing is, with organizations like CROP, it gives you an opportunity and the space to rewrite yourself into history," said Rogers. "It gives you the supportive services that are needed as a formerly incarcerated person to come back into society with power, feeling empowered, right?"
Luis-Miguel Bermudez is a graduate of the Ready for Life program and said all ex-cons face the same tough question.
"It's either, do I keep doing the same stuff that I've been doing my whole life, or do I completely change every aspect of my being and operate in a different way?" said Bermudez.
Simms said he's ready to make that change and, as one of the first to use the new facility, feels a sense of responsibility to make it happen.
"I'm going to determine the success of this program," said Simms. "And so, this program has the ability and the power to change the narrative on how we rehabilitate people coming out of prison. Hell, yeah, I want to be a part of that! I'd be foolish not to!"
The old way of dropping ex-cons off on the street and expecting them to change has proven to be a failure. Success may require that the system changes as well--and begins listening to those who have been down that path before.
