TRENTON - A New Jersey lawmaker believes the state can save money and reduce recidivism among former prisoners by implementing a series of administrative and legislative changes.
Assembly Majority Leader Bonnie Watson Coleman (D., Mercer) has staged a series of "second chance" hearings designed to look at all facets of incarceration. She plans to introduce a six-bill legislative package to implement changes.
Watson Coleman, whose two sons have served state prison terms for robbery, says the measures would not make life easier for inmates, but rather mandate that they take part in educational and job-skills programs to improve their chances for success once they are freed.
"The pervasive cycle of arrest, release, and rearrest is a failed system that wastes lives and costs taxpayers dearly," Watson Coleman said.
Studies show about 14,000 adult inmates and 1,600 juvenile offenders are released from correctional facilities in New Jersey each year. As many as 65 percent of the adults will be rearrested within five years, while 37 percent of juveniles will return to correctional facilities within two years.
It costs the state about $35,000 a year to keep an inmate incarcerated, more than twice the average of nearly $13,000 it cost to educate a child in the state last year.
"Those who violate our laws will still serve their time. That will not change" under the proposals, Watson Coleman said. "But the way they serve that time would change, [and] when their time has been served, they would reenter society ready to be productive citizens. That would save lives and taxpayer dollars."
Watson Coleman's proposals include:
Creating a commission to find ways to boost ties between inmates and their children, an effort aimed at strengthening women and families.
Making it easier for released inmates to obtain jobs by creating a restricted driver's license and removing restrictions that prevent felons from working for, among other employers, limousine services and places that serve alcohol. Employers also would be barred from discriminating against job applicants on the basis of a criminal record.
Mandating new training for correction officers and issuing a uniform identification card for visiting attorneys.
Fighting recidivism by establishing a faith-based programs coordinator within the state Corrections Department, creating courts specifically designed to handle mental-health issues, and allowing 90-day grace periods for outstanding fines.
Reviewing vocational programs to ensure they meet job-demand skills and standards, requiring inmates to reach 12th-grade literacy, and allowing inmates to enter into agreements for education and job training to decrease parole terms.
Giving judges the discretion to reduce fines and penalties and expand access to expungement.