Screwing up on recidivism again

Though it’s easy to mince words on the rationales for punishment, and it’s fairly clear that rehabilitation is not really something people believe in any more, it’s also a fact that when people recommit they go back to prison and cost more money. And though whether you can actually rehabilitate someone is unclear (I suppose people will always insist that an ex-con always has that malice in their heart), there are things you can do to keep them from recommitting. One big thing is making sure ex-cons can get jobs. Of course this is difficult since employers run background checks, and prefer those without criminal histories, particularly with the economy the way it is.

So one way the government encourages this is by funding back to work programs for those released from prison. The DOC also tries to help folks learn skills that will help them on reentry. Of course these incredibly useful programs are the ones that are the first to get slashed:

“Our education department took a $33 million cut last year,” says Katherine Sanguinetti, Colorado Department of Corrections spokeswoman. “Right now, we’re trying to recruit volunteers to teach.”

Contrast these aggressive funding cuts to the extremely tepid reviews of Colorado’s ad-seg policy, and the pretty total lack of legislative action on the extremely long prison sentence and the conclusion is fairly easy to make: prison policy here is incredibly myopic and focused on saving a few bucks in the short run rather than actually solving any problems. Meanwhile programs that are proven to work are sliced and diced, as prisons begin to look more an more like simple segregationary holding pens.

The lack of clear and long term thinking here is stunning. It’s not a holistic plan. Rather it’s a series of random and apparently populist policies adding up to a situation and a trend that helps nobody.