As Hillsborough County has nearly 3,000 inmates booked in county jails on any given day, once an inmate is released they face a number of obstacles on their path back to a normal life. I went through a Reentry Simulator, which helps employees and local officials in the criminal justice system better understand the roadblocks facing formerly convicted persons.
Imagine you just got out of jail. You have no money, no phone, and no identification.
“I have an accounting degree, and I still having a hard time getting where I need to go in life. Because I don’t have any money. I didn’t save any money before I went in.”
That’s Robert Kellems is with the Hillsborough County Public Defender’s office. He’s not the only one astounded by how far back the prison system can put people. Attorneys, judges, and other local officials went through a simulated reentry to help them understand how the current criminal justice system may not be best designed to help people turn their lives around after making a wrong turn.
Judge Giardina works in the 13th Judicial Circuit Hillsborough County, and tried the simulator.
“This is as close as we can come to the real experience. You know, probably the only other way you could experience it is to live it yourself.”
He put himself in the shoes of an ex-convict
“Now my paperwork says I’ve got a four year four year college degree and accounting, but did four years in federal prison for fraud.”
He had trouble getting a job, and found himself selling his own plasma to get by.
“So it’s not money. What it is, it’s a card? It’s a check. …Yeah, for $25. Now I gotta go wait in line.”
Debra Bellanti is the Director of Communications & Community Relations at the Hillsborough Tax Collector’s Office, and found herself struggling to stay afloat.
“I have to buy food. I’ve got to do the UA tests. And I have my AA meeting.”
So what happens if you don’t get it all done?
“At some point, I think I’m under probation, I might go to jail. So which I don’t wanna do that, although I will eat in jail.”
But she said the simulator gave her some ideas on how to improve life for inmates as they finish their sentences.
“Maybe come into the prisons with mobile units would be helpful, like maybe coming to them and providing ID for them at the mobile unit before they leave would be the ideal thing to do.”
The Reentry simulator was the first part of a Criminal Justice Summit hosted by Horizon Communities. The Summit continues all day tomorrow at Tampa Prep from 8-4 with panel discussions.
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