By Jessica Wray
Evansville Courier & Press
EVANSVILLE, Ind. — An Evansville man incarcerated for 4-1/2 years after conviction on drug charges spoke to a group of mostly Center City residents Tuesday night about the importance of education and employment to stay drug free and out of prison.
Stan Young, who has been sober 23 years, said it was crucial for him to have help and employment support after he was released. That was the topic of conversation Tuesday night at the Potter’s Wheel Ministries, where community organizations and the Indiana Department of Correction sponsored an informational session on offender re-entry.
Bruce Lemmon, the Department of Correction commissioner, said substance abuse treatment and educational programs are essential to assisting offenders in re-entering society. He said 90 percent of parole violators who are readmitted to correctional facilities were unemployed, and 85 percent of those incarcerated have a significant substance abuse problem.
“Education is critical,” said Jerry Vance, the Department of Correction program director. “We want to give them the education and the certificates that will help them get a job.”
Event sponsors included Carver Community Organization, Evansville Commission on the Social Status of African Males and the Evansville-Vanderburgh County Human Relations Commission.
David Wagner, executive director of Carver, said he wanted to support the meeting because there is a lack of readily available and thorough information about the corrections process.
“We want to hear firsthand what exists. There have been changes in the past few years, and we want to hear what changes exist,” Wagner said. “We want to utilize this opportunity to solve some issues that members of our community have experienced, that they have.”
He said the Carver Community Organization works at the opposite end of the spectrum — on prevention. But said education and strengthening the family unit are crucial to preventing youth and adults from entering the system, and wanted to use the informational session to see what the community can do provide help.
“We can have them a support system in place,” he said. “Get them re-engaged with their family.”
State Sen. Jim Tomes, R-Wadesville, was asked to arrange the session with representatives of the Department of Correction. Tomes, who serves on the General Assembly’s corrections and criminal law committee, and has worked with a faith and character-based program used in state corrections facilities.
“I think it’s interesting for the people to understand what is being done in the prisons now, what a change it is from years back and all these programs they offer,” Tomes said. “I think that people are interested in hearing about these programs and seeing the results. “
He said he and his wife visited the Rockville women’s facility early this year, and had the opportunity to meet with prisoners close to their release dates. He said it was interesting to see the women who had acquired skills and training that related directly to jobs they could take once they were released.
There are currently 30,000 men and women in the Indiana prison system now, Lemmon said, with nearly 10,000 on parole. The vast majority of offenders are adult men — fewer than 3,000 are women and fewer than 500 are juveniles.
Young said he took advantage of the educational opportunities he had while in prison, and used those skills to attain a job when released.
“A person can get a job if they take steps, if they go about it,” Young said.