Spring 2009 Issue of NewsNotes

IN THIS ISSUE Ignoma Foundation reaches out to those left behind Baltimore City residents share experience and wisdom on criminal justice Drug Policy Alliance fighting ban on Salvia in Maryland Freedom Advocates Celebrating Ex-offenders: Helping formerly incarcerated individuals reach their future potential Reforming parole and probation in Maryland could save the state milliions, says new research. PARTNERS AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF MARYLAND AMERICANS FOR SAFE ACCESS CAMPAIGN FOR CLEAN AIR AND POLITICS CRIMINAL JUSTICE POLICY FOUNDATION DRUG POLICY ALLIANCE DRUG REFORM COALITION NETWORK INTERFAITH DRUG POLICY INITIATIVE JUSTICE MARYLAND JUSTICE POLICY INSTITUTE LAW ENFORCEMENT AGAINST PROHIBITION MARYLAND NOW NATIONAL AFRICAN AMERICAN DRUG POLICY COALITION NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYERS NATIONAL COUNCIL ON ALCOHOLISM AND DRUG DEPENDENCE OF MARYLAND POWER INSIDE STUDENTS FOR SENSIBLE DRUG POLICY-UMD newsQUOTABLES "When I finally got caught, I told the probation officer, 'I'm not a criminal, I'm an addict and I need some help! I don't believe me going to prison is going to solve my problem. If I go to prison, when I come out I will have even more reason to get high and never get help for my addictions." -Marlo Hargrove, in Bearing Witness. NewsNotes Issue VI: Spring 2009 Welcome to NewsNotes, the quarterly newsletter of The Partnership for Treatment Not Incarceration. This issue contains the latest information involving sentencing reform, public health and harm reduction, including actions you can take to support legislation and programs that promote alternatives to incarceration in Maryland. We welcome your input, stories and opinions. If you would like to contribute to this newsletter, please contact NewsNotes Editor LaWanda Johnson at [email protected] Sincerely, The Partnership for Treatment Not Incarceration Ignoma Foundation reaches out to those left behind As the economy struggles, unemployment increases, and many people take jobs that hardly pay a living wage, a new organization in Baltimore is reaching out to individuals whose experiences make it especially difficult for them to find a job. The Ignoma Foundation focuses its resources on people who have a particulary difficult time obtaining employment. Through intense training and leadership, Ignoma allows people who have experienced hardships that may create barriers to employment to be able to re-enter the job market with positions that lead to careers and opportunities for advancement and not dead ends. "Our target is to introduce jobs that demand a skill base," said Paulo Harris, director of the Ignoma Foundation. "We're focusing on arts-related employment--things that are produced and created-and positions with a career ladder instead of a minimum wage with no opportunity for development." In order to prepare people for skilled employment, the Foundation has developed an eight-week, multi-faceted program that helps participants assess their personal strengths. Ignoma then uses an "asset-based approach" where each person is encouraged to take inventory of their lives, including personal relationships, the challenges they face, their attitudes and the skills they feel they need to enhance. As their skills development, groups of at least three participants are placed at workshop sites. Harris believes the group dynamics encourage employers to develop ways to engage the participants and hone in on their unique skill sets. "When you're in poverty, you have to develop a whole set of strategies for survival that you don't have to develop if you're not a poor person," explained Harris. "Ancillary skills that you get from the drug trade are business skills, but they don't follow traditional patterns--they have a more creative, problem-solving approach." While the Ignoma Foundation primarily focuses on individual professional growth, Harris feels that the program will add to community sustainability as well. "We look at poor communities in isolation of the society as a whole, and that creates an unsustainable community. If you go into [these neighborhoods], there are no locally-owned businesses [or structures] for, say, retail, in those environments," said Harris."Once we've completed the apprenticeship program and built a core group of individuals in manufacturing jobs, we hope to build a plant in East Baltimore and get people to work there, reversing the disappearance of resources and putting them back in the community." To develop job training and employment programs, the Ignoma Foundation has established partnerships with other organizations in the area, such as Genesis Jobs, which is part of Goodwill Industries, and STRIVE Baltimore. The foundation is also looking to identify other opportunities to expand their work program through similar partnerships with small businesses and creative industries. For more information about the Ignoma Foundation contact Paulo Harris at [email protected]. Baltimore City residents share experience and wisdom on criminal justice Teens spending their free time comforting parents who have lost their own children to violence; a woman fighting to break the cycle of addiction while trying to keep her family together; a man struggling to keep his job while trying to comply with parole reporting requirements; a formerly incarcerated single mother making her daughter proud by getting her degree; and a woman grappling with the murder of her son and forgiving his assailant. These are some of the people who share their experiences in a new report, "Bearing Witness: Baltimore City's residents give voice to what's needed to fix the criminal justice system," supported by the Open Society Institute. Bearing Witness lays bare the facts around crime and punishment in Maryland's largest city, while shining a light on the hope and resiliency of those most affected by decades of failed policies. Compared to the rest of Maryland, Baltimore City faces a concentrated impact of the criminal justice system. Although home to roughly 600,000 people, in 2006 the Baltimore Central Booking and Intake Center processed nearly 100,000 arrests and detained 44,825 individuals. In 2008, 61 percent of newly-incarcerated people in Maryland prisons were from Baltimore City. This intense involvement has taken its toll over the years on people, families, and neighborhoods. Drug Policy Alliance fighting ban on Salvia in Maryland The Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) is fighting to prevent Maryland Senate Bill 9 from becoming a reality. The bill looks to classify Salvia divinorum, a hallucinogenic herb currently legal in Maryland, as a Schedule I substance, imposing misdemeanor and felony penalties including prison terms up to 20 years for selling the herb. Recent studies indicate that Salvia may be useful in treating addiction, chronic pain, Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. However, many policymakers and law enforcement officers are concerned by the ease with which recreational users can get Salvia, describing a trend of young people buying the herb on the boardwalk in Ocean City and then coming into contact with law enforcement while under the influence. DPA warns that banning Salvia will not prevent these young people from using it, and has the potential to drive usage underground. Currently, according to the Maryland Department of Legislative Services, Senate Bill 9 has not moved out of committee, and its counterpart, House Bill 8 has received an unfavorable report and is unlikely to be voted on before the legislature adjourns on April 13. Freedom Advocates Celebrating Ex-offenders: Helping formerly incarcerated individuals reach their fullest potential Individuals that have been touched by the criminal justice system often need a support system upon their re-entry into society. Freedom Advocates Celebrating Ex-offenders (FACE) recognizes this need and is committed to improving the circumstances of formerly incarcerated men and women. Through faith-based support, re-entry prison ministries, treatment and employment training referrals, FACE provides both the setting and the tools to help people who are about to be released. "We're discovering that a lot of people are coming out [of prison] and they're discouraged, because the barriers are already set up," said Marlo Hargrove, co-founder and president of FACE. "The goal of FACE is to help people who were previously incarcerated restore, redirect and replenish their lives by referring them to reliable resources." The organization has two major goals for 2009; to develop an Offenders Anonymous group to provide a forum to discuss experiences while incarcerated and how these experiences make it difficult for individuals to re-integrate into society, and to open a structured center within the West Baltimore community. The center will be a one-stop resource center that will help people with things like transitional housing and make it easier to access a variety of other resources. Many of those involved with FACE have previously struggled with substance abuse. They hold weekly meetings to coordinate their efforts and direct those who need treatment, job training, mental health care, or help reconnecting with their families. The meetings are open to anyone who wishes to join. For more information about FACE, contact Marlo Hargrove at (410) 523-3223. Reforming parole and probation in Maryland could save the state millions, new research says A new report released this month by the Justice Policy Institute indicates that Maryland could save millions of dollars by releasing many low risk individuals onto parole--like some of the oldest members of the prison population--and by expanding parole eligibility and improving supervision. The report, The Release Valve: Parole in Maryland, notes that in 2007 the state spent approximately $1,422 per person on parole or probation, and $33,310 per person in prison. Just by paroling an additional 100 people, the report concludes, the state could potentially save approximately $3 million over the course of one year while maintaining public safety. According to Release Valve, the state has made real progress in its efforts to increase drug treatment and change some parole practices. Maryland already uses effective programs like diminution or "good-time" credits to allow people in prison to earn earlier parole, and has a policy for medical parole, but these and other proven initiatives are not being used to the fullest extent possible. However, research shows that since most people "age out" of crime, moving older people who pose little risk from prison to parole could safely result in significant savings. For example, by placing even half of the roughly 465 people in Maryland's prisons that are over the age of 60 on parole, the state could save over $13 million in the first year. The report also found that programs which focus on support and services instead of the strict supervision modality are more effective and decrease the chances a participant will return to prison. Maryland's Proactive Community Supervision project (PCS), in particular, provides tailored supervision to those in the program and participants have had fewer rearrests or drug test failures than those not in the program. Research indicates that PCS is significantly more likely to keep people out of prison than people who are released under traditional parole terms; however, to date, the state has only used PCS on a limited basis. Bringing PCS to scale would reduce the number of people returning to prison from parole, resulting in a potential savings of approximately $19 million, which includes the cost of enrolling everyone on probation or parole in PCS. The Partnership for Treatment Not Incarceration of Maryland is a state-based campaign to promote public health approaches and effective public safety strategies for nonviolent drug offenders. The Partnership supports efforts that reduce Maryland's over-reliance on incarceration by diverting nonviolent offenders from prison. Funds currently used for incarceration can then be used for community-based treatment services that have proven to be more effective at changing criminal behavior and reducing recidivism.