By David Muller
The Grand Rapids Press
HOLLAND, Mich. — Inmates’ transitions back into society can be rough.
“When somebody goes to prison, they pay their price,” said Dennis Schrantz, deputy director of the Michigan Department of Corrections. “But, when somebody comes out, they have so many barriers.”
So, a range of groups tries to ease the process, to limit the trips back to cells.
A conference Tuesday and Wednesday at Ridge Point Community Church in Holland titled “Closing the Revolving Door: Succeeding on the Outside” will look at ways of making ex-offenders’ re-entry easier.
The conference is part of an effort by a group of private, public and nonprofit organizations known as the Ottawa County Re-Entry Collaborative. It is co-sponsoring the conference with 70 x 7 Life Recovery, a Holland-based nonprofit that helps ease ex-convicts back into the community.
Schrantz is among the community and agency leaders scheduled to speak. Keynote speakers include M. Kay Harris and Margaret di Zerega, nationally recognized experts in prison and jail re-integration.
Jeanette Hoyer, of Pathways Ministries, said she hopes attendees will come away with “solid ideas” for giving ex-offenders the tools to reenter their communities.
Hoyer, who will lead a session on family reunification, said she also wants to get a wider community of people involved in the issue -- particularly employers.
“It’s very difficult for people with felonies to find employment, especially in Michigan,” she said.
But anyone can play a role, she added. “Everyone can be a mentor.”
Like Hoyer, Douglas Cupery also hopes the event will help build the Ottawa County Re-Entry Collaborative.
Cupery, the director of community re-entry for 70 x 7, also stressed that the Ottawa County Re-Entry Collaborative aims to address a full range of needs, including transportation, health care, housing and substance abuse support.
The event originally focused on Muskegon, Ottawa and Oceana counties, but then drew interest from Allegan County and state bureaus such as the Michigan Department of Corrections.
As of Oct. 1, 51,637 people were in state prisons, 18,323 on parole and nearly 55,000 on probation, according to data from Michigan Prisoner Re-entry Initiative, an organization led by the Department of Corrections.
In 2007, it cost the state more than $1.9 billion to operate prisons.
At the Ottawa County jail, which in 2006 had a daily population of 352 inmates, the price of locking up inmates is about $40 per person per day.
Copyright 2008 Grand Rapids Press