HILO — Nearly 70 percent of incarcerated U.S. adults are back behind bars within three years of their release, one Department of Justice report showed. In Hawaii County, some statistics show nearly half of felony probationers are re-arrested again within three years.
The Hawaii Island Going Home Consortium — a community-based group of more than 50 public and private entities — is coordinating the local arm of a national effort this week aimed at bringing awareness to the importance of successfully reintegrating offenders into the community.
It’s the first-ever National Reentry Week, designated by the Department of Justice as part of President Barack Obama’s push to improve the country’s criminal justice system. Local events began Sunday and wrap up Saturday.
“It’s a complex question (why people re-offend). I don’t think there’s any one thing,” said Les Estrella, interim head of the consortium’s Going Home nonprofit branch. “There’s lack of employment and income, and (lack of) meaningful, gainful activities in their life … there are housing and transportation (challenges) and substance abuse and mental illness … there are a lot of things that can really contribute, and we have challenges in our community with substance abuse and that really does contribute to recidivism and relapse. We’re hoping to change that.”
Michelle Kobayashi, a lifelong Big Island resident, knows those challenges firsthand. The 49-year-old was released from prison in 2013 after serving three years. Kobayashi said she grew up watching her father struggle with alcoholism, and for years, she struggled with substance abuse herself. By the time she was released, she wanted to get her life on track.
“I had a lot of support from my family,” said Kobayashi, who’s now a Hawaii Community College student and volunteers for community groups including Going Home, HOPE Services and New Hope Church’s “Celebrate Recovery” program. “But I noticed there were a lot of other people who don’t have support, their family turned them away because they kept doing the same thing. So … they tended to give up.”
Going Home oversees a collection of efforts on the Big Island aimed at helping former offenders. The group helps facilitate employment training programs, peer support programs, job fairs, family reunification programs and other services, according to its website. The consortium also leads several committees focused on different issues related to re-entry, such as housing and job readiness.
Going Home officials say successful re-entry benefits everyone because it helps reduce prison overcrowding.
Last year, the state’s four prisons and four jails contained about 4,100 inmates — more than 1,600 over capacity. And it costs about $125 a day to house each inmate.
“It’s very costly to incarcerate somebody,” Estrella said. “Compared to the price of someone being on the outside, (who is) successful, paying taxes and contributing to the community. It’s like night and day — you pay for them while they’re inside and eventually most people come out. We want to help them when they do return, so that they become successful.”
More information about Going Home can be found on its Facebook page, www.facebook.com/goinghomehawaii
Remaining National Reentry Week events are as follows:
• Today: Sign-waving from 3-6 p.m. at Walgreen’s in Hilo.
• Friday: Meet and Greet Employer event from 10:30 a.m.-noon at the Workforce Development Division’s Conference Room A.
• Saturday: On Na Leo public access channel 54 at 9 p.m., “Spirit and Flesh” program presents “Mentoring — Helping Ex-Offenders Re-enter Their Communities.”
Email Kirsten Johnson at kjohnson@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
