Prisons in the United State release nearly 650,000 people every year, and most of them end up back in prison. The volunteers of the California Re-entry Program (CRP) aim to help all those released from San Quentin find the resources they need to succeed on parole.
“There are various things that they can help you with that can help you succeed when you get out of here,” said Derek Carter, a coordinator for the California Re-entry Program, who is serving time at San Quentin.
“They say info is power, so I took that and ran with it. I got everything I needed for the board, then they got me info on truck drivers school, how to start my own business, Obamacare, SSI and getting my driver’s license.”
California’s latest budget reflects the growing need for re-entry services. California budgeted $32.1 million to continue a community re-entry program and to double the bed space from 340 to 680 in 2016-17, according to California 2016 Full Budget Summary.
In a 2003 The Re-entry Policy Council report, the late David Lewis, said, “When people get out of prison, they have so many strikes against them, they feel doomed to failure. The re-entry report details the kinds of service … that can keep people from returning to prison, help them to take care of their families, and allow them to become productive members of society.”
The California Re-entry Program at San Quentin is a nonprofit that works with men before they’re released. CRP helps incarcerated citizens with pre-release planning including enrollment in community college, preparing for work, health and mental health needs in the community and — importantly – the provision of “dress outs”: clothing to wear out of prison that is functional and supports easier re-entry.
“Re-entry is the last piece of all the things you can do inside San Quentin, and we refer you to places on the outside to continue doing programs,” said founder Allyson West.
West says she stumbled into re-entry work while looking for meaning in her life. She went from being a banker to studying Tibetan Buddhism in India, then learning Urdu in Pakistan, before being recruited to work with Jody Lewen in a San Quentin college program.
The incarcerated men she met steered West into starting the re-entry program.
“Rodney Medley changed my life,” said West. “He told me ‘I’m the first one in my family to go to prison and the first one to graduate from college. I don’t know how to get into college on the outside.’ I helped him get into college and more and more guys started coming for help. I went to the principal and said I need to start a re-entry program … that was in September 2003.”
When West isn’t volunteering inside San Quentin, she’s a coordinator with two other programs: Community Justice Center and Veterans Justice Court. They work with two San Francisco criminal courts, West explained.
Three times a week, West leads about a dozen volunteers into prison to help incarcerated men prepare for life on the outside.
Volunteer Eric Faulks said he does it because, “I find that working with this population, that doesn’t have what we have in society, is a definite need. To help, you help yourself.”
Kevin Lundquist said, “I like to help people. It’s rewarding to see people progress and get out of here.”
Lundquist said he got involved with criminal justice through a female friend serving a life without parole sentence. He met West, who put him on the re-entry board, and now his son, Josh, does re-entry work too.
“I kind of learned not to take things for granted,” said Josh. “I met a guy who had been in 40 years and had never worked a computer.”
Ashley Randolph volunteered for almost a year before her last day on July 26.
“I’m really sad about it,” said Randolph. “A lot of people think of helping school kids or the elderly but forget incarcerated people. My favorite part is seeing my clients’ progress.”
Carlee Rasmussen, who says she works with youth in the rough parts of San Francisco, said, “I hope to be able to help individuals who didn’t have that opportunity through school to make the right choices, to help them reset and re-enter society and be positive and productive.”
Judith Tata, from Europe, notes, “Where I come from, it’s not a penal system, it’s restorative. We rehabilitate; it’s the main purpose. Even though you have so many programs, it is not enough, and I’ve been to places that ain’t SQ, and they don’t have a fraction of the programs.”
“I think Re-entry Programs are important,” said N.T. “I watched so many people get out of prison – and recidivism rates don’t lie, it’s programs like this setting up inmates with a plan so when they are released they can be successful. Other prisons don’t have these services and the parolees aren’t as successful.”
The San Quentin Re-entry Program is by appointment on Tuesdays in Education from 6:30-8 p.m., Fridays in the Arc with Alliance for Change from 3-5 p.m. and open call on Thursday evening in H-Unit.
