13 WTHR - Indianapolis News |Federal help for former prisoners

Federal help for former prisoners

Alex Sanz/Eyewitness News

Indianapolis, Oct. 28 - U.S. Attorney Susan Brooks' announced that Indiana joins six states in the federal prisoner re-entry coordinator program.

It's a move designed by the U.S. Department of Justice to centralize help for ex-prisoners and cut back on the number of people who leave jail, commit crimes and end up back behind bars.

"The Department of Corrections has indicated that 40 percent of the offenders released from the Department of Corrections return to the Indianapolis area," says Brooks. "They do deserve a second chance. They have paid their debt to society."

As part of the effort to keep neighborhoods safe across the state, Indiana's re-entry coordinator will pull together federal, state and local law enforcement to plan and discuss the coordination of inmate releases.

It's not the easiest task. According to the department's Bureau of Justice Statistics, more than 600,000 criminal offenders are released from prison every year and returned to neighborhoods across the country.

Two-thirds of them are rearrested within three years, many for committing violent crimes.

The program already has support.

"There is hope. Although we all make mistakes, you can change your life around by making better choices and getting better consequences." As director of the Christamore House, Olgen Williams knows. He's had his own troubles and he's turned his life around.

The hope is that this new coordinator will help others do the same.

The state hopes to fill the position of prisoner re-entry coordinator by the end of November. Since it's a federal position, the salary is paid by the Department of Justice.