‘It’s all about second chances’: Jacksonville to reintroduce re-entry program

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. (WITN) - The Jacksonville Department of Public Safety and community leaders are trying to help former prisoners adjust to life once they’re free.

The state Department of Public Safety says more than 20,000 people return to their home communities after being released from North Carolina state prisons every year. About 95% of people in prison will eventually return to their home communities.

The City of Jacksonville hopes to provide more opportunities for former prisoners once they finish serving their sentences.

“If you’re not serious about it, please don’t get started. And if you know somebody serious about it, stay out of their way,” Malcolm Batts, pastor at Servants Tabernacle Ministries and a former inmate said.

Batts shared his story with community leaders about the challenges to get back on his feet after serving his time in prison.

“I’m just about ten years removed from prison,” Batts explained. “I got a ministry that covers five counties. I got all this going on for me, but when I came out of prison, I couldn’t get a job. I had to buy a lawnmower and a weed eater.”

State DPS officials explained their reasoning for pushing to reinstate the program in Jacksonville.

“It’s all about second chances. Folks commit a crime, they’ve gone and they’ve done their time. We need to give them the opportunity to be to be productive or producing citizens in their communities,” Monica Artis, DPS reentry program manager said. “Their needs are just the same as individuals who have not committed a crime or who are not justice-involved.”

Artis says there are 17 state re-entry programs in North Carolina servicing 19 counties.

The Craven-Pamlico Reentry Council has been in operation for almost five years and has some unique success stories.

“We can even find an entrepreneur, Frances, I had a young man who was a carpenter... he said I would love to do subcontract work,” program director Angela Wilson said. “I gave him an outline, he filled out the outline, wrote the business plan, and I was able to buy him enough tools to get him started in subcontract work.”

In addition to entrepreneurship, Wilson explained recidivism and the amount of inmates that end up back in prison. For Wilson, that number decreased approximately 15% since the reentry program started in 2017.

Some of the Craven-Pamlico Inmate Reentry Council’s resources include housing assistance, basic needs assistance, education, mental health and substance abuse referrals and mentorship, and more.

Copyright 2022 WITN. All rights reserved.