Petition in Support of a Corrections Policy to Reduce Recidivism Rate of Crime in Portage County
We the undersigned hereby make it known that we believe more needs to be done in Portage County to reduce the number of times the same individuals are arrested and convicted for violating our laws. For example, it has been reported that in a survey of inmates (Mark Goldman and Associates, 2006) conducted on July 13, 2005, the average number of previous incarcerations for them was five.
Furthermore, the vast majority of Portage County Jail inmates are also Portage County residents (about 90%). They live among us when they return to our neighborhoods at the end of their time in jail. We want them to be contributing members of our community. Consequently, we have a stake in each other’s futures.
Therefore, we urge the County’s leaders to approve sufficient resources to provide an appropriate service environment and qualified personnel to offer cost-effective services that strive to aggressively reduce the rate of re-offending (i.e. recidivism). Examples of such programs might include:
- dedicated programming/counseling space in the jail;
- the use of programmatic cell blocks for classification of inmates in the jail;
- community-based transitional living opportunities to provide the bridge between jail life and the maintenance of a crime-free social environment post-incarceration; and
- sentencing practices that offer the offender the opportunity to gain sentencing privileges in exchange for monitored, long term, post-sentence programming with residential opportunities.
These are simply examples of programming that the County should consider. Evidence based practices should be used for the actual selection of programming and implementation of appropriate policies.
This petition is not a recommendation for or against the construction of a new justice center in Portage County. Regardless of the decision the community reaches, we urge the County’s leaders to assure that the County provides ample space and resources in which to provide services that strive to aggressively reduce the rate of re-offending.
To Sign our Petition:
- Call or write Justiceworks, Ltd. 1547 Strongs Avenue, Stevens Point, WI 54481. (715)344-3677
- Email petition@justiceworksltd.org, or
- (online petition sign-ups will be available soon)