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Stop the Cycle: Three factors that contribute to recidivism in Arkansas

The state of Arkansas is focusing on reducing repeat offenses as a way to reduce the prison population.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) — For years we have told you about efforts to reduce Arkansas's growing prison population. Around 18,000 Arkansans are currently behind bars.

On the state level, leadership has tried many things, but all roads lead back to recidivism or the likelihood that someone will re-offend.

In Arkansas, ex-cons have a 52 percent chance of re-offending within the first three years. Arkansas Community Correction, the agency tasked with getting those men and women reintegrated into society, cites a number of reasons someone is likely to re-offend and find themselves back behind bars. We are referring to it as the "wheel of recidivism." If any spokes, representing needs, aren't met, the person will likely re-offend.

In part one, we explore three spokes of the wheel; lack of housing, jobs and transportation.

HOUSING

"That was probably one of the major concerns I've seen that I was faced with," said former inmate Hank Wedgeworth. "Who wants to rent to a felon or lease to a felon?”

Wedgeworth got contempt of court charge at a divorce hearing, but it was bringing a cell phone into his jail cell that got him 15 years at the Arkansas Department of Correction.

He served a little more than two years of that sentence before being accepted into Arkansas Community Correction Re-entry, which is a six-month program for those most likely to re-offend.

He graduated from the program in October, but learned his fight to get right had only just begun.

"When you put down you're a felon, you're automatically moved to the bottom of a list on something,” he said.

"I see a big struggle there,” said BJ Brady, a re-entry director at the Quapaw House.

Through Quapaw House, Brady works at Hidden Creek, a re-entry facility for non-violent offenders in Little Rock.

"They make $9-10 an hour," she explained. "Their housing is going to be $400 to $450 a month, [which is] affordable. And it is going to be back in those places that aren't very good neighborhoods. A lot of drug activity, violence or what have you."

When it comes to the wheel of recidivism, housing makes up a pretty big chunk. Landlords may not be willing to lease to ex-cons, but the streets are always leasing. The streets are always hiring.

"You better have your gloves on and get ready to go to war when you walk out,” Wedgeworth said.

JOBS

Timothy Jones, a current resident at Hidden Creek, said he hasn't been hired from a lot of jobs because he said he was a felon on the application.

He has spent his life in and out of prison. In total, serving about two years for commercial and residential burglary, theft of property, robbery, and possession of a firearm.

After he got out of prison the first time, he had a hard time getting a job.

"That just leads you back to the streets," Jones said.

On the streets, Jones said the cash is quick but dirty if you want.

Now, Jones is set to graduate from the re-entry program. It was something he didn't have before and is hoping this time his outcome is different.

"I don’t have any trades. So when I get out there, hopefully, I will find somebody who will put their trust in me to work, because I am a hard worker,” he said.

Jones has landed a job he likes while in ACC custody and hopes he will be taken on full-time when he graduates.

"If you don't have somewhere to go and you don't want to go back to the same things, what do you do? What are your options at that point?” Wedgeworth said.

Wedgeworth is a licensed plumber, which mean he didn't have as hard of a time getting a job as others. But it still took someone going out on a limb for him.

"They gave me the opportunity to prove myself, and that's hard," he said. "A lot of people don't get that."

Without a job, bills can't be paid and neither can child support or fees owed to the courts. These unpaid costs could put a lot of people back behind bars.

TRANSPORTATION

"I wanted to get a license,” Jones said. “It was going to cost me $1,500 to get that. I wasn't fixing to work to get $1,500 just for a card in my wallet that says I'm legal to drive."

He wasn't able to get a license until he paid off fees he owed to the courts. Hidden Creek helped him get that cost down through volunteer work. When Jones goes back home to an area with no mass transit he'll now be able to get himself to work thanks to re-entry programs.

"I am legal. I am legal," Jones said. "And I'm happy about that."

For others, it's a matter of not having enough money to get a car.

"You are gone for a period of time, your credit has probably taken some kind of hit," Wedgeworth said. "You're faced with a lot of issues that are not easily handled."

Hidden Creek and other re-entry facilities around Arkansas work overtime to make sure these needs of former inmates are met before their release. Only 700 out of 11,000 inmates released each year are given that chance. The others are expected to reintegrate into society with little to no guidance.

"Are you still loyal to the game?” we asked Jones, in reference to his arm tattoo.

"Yes, I'm loyal to the 'being a better son, being a better father, being a better man game,'” he said.

Unless each one of the spokes on this wheel is addressed, the offenders are highly likely to end up back where they started. But Arkansas Community Correction can only help so many people each year with the funding they currently have. It's going to take community partners, landlords, employers, and more to help turn around the recidivism numbers in Arkansas.

In part two, we explain how substance abuse and mental health play into the wheel of recidivism and why those pieces specifically aren't being met.

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