Picture this. On the day your friend is released from jail, he heads up that long curving lane that runs from the county jail up to the highway. He has a little plastic bag with his toothbrush and toothpaste, but no other possessions. He has burned bridges with his entire family and all his friends. No one came to pick him up. He has no driver’s license, a felony conviction that severely limits employment options, and no place to live. How likely is it that in the next few months or years he will commit another crime and end up heading back down that same road the other way, chauffeured by law enforcement?

Very likely. Despite the valiant efforts of our hardworking corrections staff and probation officers, there is very little support for former inmates to re-enter society as productive citizens.
The problem can be most challenging in our jails — where shorter sentences are served — versus our prisons, which have longer stays and have the opportunity for more formalized programs.

That’s expensive. It costs us, the taxpayers, as much as $50,000 per year to keep a single person in jail. At the same time, area employers are suffering from severe staffing shortages. How much could we save, how much could we help if we developed a plan and a system to help people get back on their feet, working and supporting their community and finding success in meaningful employment?

No one is perfect. Crimes are committed. They are sometimes unspeakable and unforgiveable. However, with the drug crisis, our jails are filled with people who have been arrested for simple drug possession or other nonviolent offenses. There is pressure within the legislature to raise the severity of offense for many drug related crimes, seeking a deterrent effect. Ironically it appears that in many cases this can be counterproductive. A higher penalty often does nothing to deter someone from re-offending. Another stint in jail does not necessarily help someone get better. And with relentless cuts to county jail funding, the only choice jails have is to cut in that critical area of pre-release programs that help people get back on their feet.

Over the next few months, as a member of the Maine State Legislature’s Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee, I will be working to convene businesses, legislators, nonprofits, and law enforcement leaders to work on this issue. I would welcome your outreach and viewpoint to help with the effort. There are good people working hard in this area. The challenge is to get us all working together. That’s what I hope to do to take on this critical problem. To be successful, I will be talking to employers, members of law enforcement, nonprofits, churches, legal professionals — everyone with an interest and a way to help. I’m calling the effort Get Out and Stay Out. It is based on a proven employment-based re-entry program developed at Riker’s Island Jail in New York. If they can do it there, we can do it here.

If we are successful, there is both a social benefit and a financial benefit. We can reduce property taxes, decrease stress on our overcrowded county jails, and get people back on their feet and supporting — rather than negatively impacting — our communities.

If this idea interests you, please contact me at martin.grohman@legislature.maine.gov.

— Rep. Martin Grohman of Biddeford is serving his second term in the Maine Legislature and is a member of the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee. Outside the Legislature, he is chair of the Biddeford Solid Waste Commission (note that Biddeford’s Household Hazardous Waste Day is Saturday Sept. 9). Marty also hosts a podcast for Maine entrepreneurs called “The Grow Maine Show,” available on Apple Podcasts. Sign up for legislative updates at growmaine.com or facebook.com/repgrohman.