Re-entry mission keeps felons on course

[g33_un1t]

Who will wrote:

I feel unsafe because felons get too rights and too many chances to OFFEND AGAIN AND AGAIN!! Ww should have the strike 3 rules here in this state. I have not broken the law nor ever tempted to break the law so try another cheap shot to get your point across. No pity for felons - FREE WILL CHOICE!! Now if you are mentally ill then that of course is a different story...but then again that excuse has already been warn out.
<quoted text>

HERE WE GO AGAIN!! Reading Comprehension 101. Can YOU read?? This isn't about "making excuses for felons commiting crimes"!! I was saying... If you're "qualified" for a job and have the "ability" to do it. You shouldn't be over-looked because you have a record. THERE ARE EXCEPTIONS DEPENDING ON THE NATURE OF THE CRIME!! I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT REPEATING OFFENDERS EITHER!! But ALOT of employers see someones record and automatically disqualify them. Even when their crime has NO bearing on the position they're applying for. EVERYONE is not a criminal just because they got in trouble in their past. SOME people DO change their lifestyles and become productive members of the society. What world are YOU living in?? It happens everyday.

[Who will]

I like my world - I do not committ crimes. I CHOOSE TO NOT BREAK THE LAW. That is MY WORLD. WHY DON'T YOU AND THE REST JOIN ME THEN THIS ISSUE WOULD BE SOLVED!

g33_un1t wrote:

<quoted text>
HERE WE GO AGAIN!! Reading Comprehension 101. Can YOU read?? This isn't about "making excuses for felons commiting crimes"!! I was saying... If you're "qualified" for a job and have the "ability" to do it. You shouldn't be over-looked because you have a record. THERE ARE EXCEPTIONS DEPENDING ON THE NATURE OF THE CRIME!! I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT REPEATING OFFENDERS EITHER!! But ALOT of employers see someones record and automatically disqualify them. Even when their crime has NO bearing on the position they're applying for. EVERYONE is not a criminal just because they got in trouble in their past. SOME people DO change their lifestyles and become productive members of the society. What world are YOU living in?? It happens everyday.

[second chance]

Responding to Miss J.Fye, I am new to this site and originally from Detroit which is like one the highest crime cities in America. I literally grew to hate living there because of the crime and the coast of living and I could go on and on about that city. My best friend lives hear in Fort Wayne and offered me to come hear to start over and I did. Iv been hear only 3 months But it seams that its worse hear trying to find work because this town is so conservative, the people hear don't want to give some one like me a chance to show them what I can do as a good worker. And I have skills and I'm educated but because I do have the felony on my record its like I have the plague or some thing. I am still looking for work and would like to know are there any companies out there who will give me a chance at a good job in my field of expertise witch is Floor Sanding, installation, Customer Service, and an experienced Cook. Any suggestions will be very helpful.

[second chance]

If any one can help please drop me an email at [e-mail].
God bless all of you

[carlene]

goodwill can help and some of the temp service can help also please take the time out and go throught your phone book and you will find a few good people to help out like home depot
and hardees restuant they will hire felones we must crawl before we walk we show sue the people whom discrimate if you have the skills you should be able to use them and how will these people support their families. are themselves that why we have so much crime.
wont the crime to slow down hire some of these people.

[Anne]

Maybe some of these questions have been answered in the previous comments. It sounds as if some of you have done some of the leg work regarding housing, employment, etc. for ex-offenders. I know someone who is going to be released in the next few months (like it or not he has paid his dues) and I cannot get anyone from the Indiana Dept. of Corrections to help me with information regarding these "so called" programs that Indiana has received grants to operate. I guess a big question I have is: Do these programs even exist? Or was that just a "feel good" article for the State to cover up where the money is really going? I understand that society owes this person absolutely nothing BUT like so many others that WILL be released very soon I would rather see them working a min. wage job picking up trash along the highways (which I might add is NEEDED). Can someone give me some ideas on how to help this individual? Someone who had better luck with getting answers from the Indiana Dept. of Corrections?Also, what offenses are not permitted to be a part of these re-entry programs? Thank you to anyone that can help.

[Anne]

Joyce wrote:

I have a newphew who is currently at the PREF facility. I have been told by most of the "residents" that there is nothing to do, no programs have been started and they are getting restless. Approximately 100 of the residents recently in the past week wrote Mr. Donahue to complain that programs promised have not come to truition. What is the problem?

I have been told the same thing by a inmate who is scheduled to be released soon. He said that it is all a bunch of bs and The Indiana Department of Corrections is doing absolutely nothing to help them before they are being released into society. Oh, wait a minute. He did say that they have to attend so many hours of drug/alcohol classes which is probably considered a "rehabilitation program". I wonder how much money the State gets to keep for those common sense classes. What a joke. I think that if any others are in the situation that we are discussing we should plan a rally at one of these so called "rehabilitation facilities". Any takers? Our State Government needs to "walk the walk" and not just "talk the talk". Like someone said, if the ex-offenders get the assistance that they are supposed to have available to them then that just lessens the chances of them offending again.

[Ann]

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/hireindian...

[FlyFox79]

People...you can be convicted of something and not even know it was a phelony, i.e....having a perscription from a dentist and not disclosing it to your family doctor...PHELONY
So, to the people that are saying that phelons should have that chance...RIGHT ON...because if they don't get that second chance, then they WILL most likely resort back to doing the same things that got them in trouble in the first place...Now, to pre-defend...there is a such thing as giving too many chances.

[Az Felon]

Who will wrote:

I like my world - I do not committ crimes. I CHOOSE TO NOT BREAK THE LAW. That is MY WORLD. WHY DON'T YOU AND THE REST JOIN ME THEN THIS ISSUE WOULD BE SOLVED!
<quoted text>

This is a common problem when concerning felons or those that have previously been apprehended for one reason or another. I know from first-hand experience what it's like to have your record tainted from the appearence of a felony. The real problem comes when you complete your probation as required by the judge who sentenced you.
You start out trying to do everything the right way, never wanting to end up in jail again. But soon people turn you down for jobs, or simply fire you because you have a felony on your record. Then you're left to wanted from establishment to establishment all because something you did in your past finds its way to the front page of your file history. Pretty soon jobs that you are overqualified for are turning you down, your bills mount even higher, and you have nothing left in your fridge to eat.
So you continue your search for work, but no one wants you. You are infected with the plague as one other blogger described it. So here's my question to you: what do you expect someone to do when there is not a single person in the world that is willing to help you? When you're hungry and you have no food? I'll give you the simple answer: you resort to crime again. Why condemn people for their mistakes when the people who made the laws broke many of them while in office?

[make or take a living]

Without an opportunity to earn an honest living, ex-offenders will commit again and again and again! Perhaps this time more violent than the last crime, perhaps your wife, mother, father, daughter, brother, sister.....will be the victim. Perhaps we should send them to your neighborhood "Fishers".

[never surprised]

So this is where all the ex-cons and their worthless families go to whine-nice post. The logic here is if you are poor and/or unemployed you are entitled to be a criminal-how lame. We have a lot of poor and uneducated people and the vast majority are not criminals. Crime is not driven by economics or education as the policy makers like you to believe-just think about it. And these feel good programs are just that, and the real issue is the character of the person. The ex-cons who want to change their lives do so, and there are plenty of faith based organizations in the community to assist them (oh, I forgot, God only exists in prison) and other social agencies. The ex-con may have paid his debt to society upon release-but he still has to earn the trust-one day at a time.

[Chrome]

Who will wrote:

I feel unsafe because felons get too rights and too many chances to OFFEND AGAIN AND AGAIN!! Ww should have the strike 3 rules here in this state. I have not broken the law nor ever tempted to break the law so try another cheap shot to get your point across. No pity for felons - FREE WILL CHOICE!! Now if you are mentally ill then that of course is a different story...but then again that excuse has already been warn out.
<quoted text>

So i guess you have never downloaded a song,ripped a cd to your PC,jaywaked,or broken the speed limit? While i doubt it very much,good for if not. The remains if a felon can't find gainful employment after the fact,what other CHOICE do they have but to offend again. Self proclaimed law-abiding people break the law every day, and then cry when they get a ticket,saying all i did was drive a little fast.

[totally amazed]

"So this is where all the ex-cons and their worthless families go to whine-nice post. The logic here is if you are poor and/or unemployed you are entitled to be a criminal-how lame. We have a lot of poor and uneducated people and the vast majority are not criminals. Crime is not driven by economics or education as the policy makers like you to believe-just think about it. And these feel good programs are just that, and the real issue is the character of the person. The ex-cons who want to change their lives do so, and there are plenty of faith based organizations in the community to assist them (oh, I forgot, God only exists in prison) and other social agencies. The ex-con may have paid his debt to society upon release-but he still has to earn the trust-one day at a time."

i have sat here and read the arguements back and forth but this one i just have to respond to.
i moved here from the south partly because i was told all my life how tolerant the people "up north" are. what they really meant was "INtolerant". i moved up here with the promise of a job until i got here and the bonding company refused to bond me because of a past felony. so i have been living hand to mouth ever since. with my experiences i have a somewhat different view of things. my particular crime was to defend myself. if someone is trying to kill you are you supposed to stand there and let them do it? it just so happens that the state i moved from has no self-defense laws. so does that make me a criminal? add to the fact that it happened 17 years ago when i was 23. i'm a grown man now and i can't even provide a living for myself so can i provide for my family?
when it comes to work i find a double standard. for alot of places it's ok to work felons as a temp until the time comes to hire them. then they let them go. if they did a good enough job to keep them several weeks or months as a temp then they deserve the job. for the people with old felonies, give a cut off date if they stay out of trouble. for the new ones coming out of prison look at the details of their crime and check and see how they acted in prison. that is a pretty fair indicator on how they will act in the "free world". honestly, i have considered resorting to crime to get by but i have kids that i would never see again if i went back to prison and for me i would rather die than not be with my kids. but when the time comes that there is no more food on the table or in the cabinets and fridge and nobody will help anymore, what am i supposed to do then? just something to think about.

[antyup80]

I WOULD LIKE TO SAY I UNDERSTAND WE HAVE CHOICES .WE MUST LIVE WITH THEM. BUT THINK ABOUT THIS .... SOCIETY HAS A CHOICE TO ..BY NOT GIVING A MAN WHO HAS MADE A MISTAKE BEFORE A CHANCE ONLY MAKES HIM PRONE TO MAKE IT AGAIN.EVERY LIVING THING MUST EAT.IF U TAKE THAT CHANCE TO DO THAT AWAY LEGALLY WHAT OTHER OPTION DOES THAT THING HAVE LEFT.IF U WONT GIVE THAT MAN A CHANCE TO PROVIDE FOR HIS FAMILY HE WILL HAVE NO OTHER CHOICE.AND THINK OF THIS..A MAN FILLS OUT 100 APPLICATIONS..ALL R NOT ONLY TURNED DOWN BUT NOT EVEN CONSIDERED BECAUSE OF SOMETHING HE DONE IN HIS PAST.OVER THE COURSE OF MONTHS AND MONTHS.HIS FAMILY IS IN A DIRE SITUATION.HE COMES IN UR HOUSE LATE NIGHT ON UR FAMILY BECAUSE THATS THE ONLY WAY HE KNOWS HOW TO DO IT ON HIS OWN.HES TRYING TO PROVIDE FOR HIS FAMILY LIKE U R.ENDS UP KILLING SOMEONE.NOW JUST THINK IF SOMEONE HAD GIVEN THAT MAN A CHANCE HE WOULDVE BEEN SAVED AND SO WOULD SOMEONE ELSE.PEOPLE R SO STUPID AND UNFORGIVING.

[hands-r-tied]

I was convicted of a felony that was reduced to a misdemeanor in 2005 ,I have been on interviews,why is it that they even waste your time calling if you put down that you have a misdemeanor and they dont hire you! I am a 32 year old single mother with a 16 year old boy and 14 year old girl,I have been going in person ,online calling ,practically begging to be hired,but no luck I have even went as far as waitressing at a gentlemens club where I just felt degraded but I guess when you have kids you can never say never (as far as how low you will stoop to keep them fed,clothed and a roof over their heads...since my kids are teens ,I dont need a babysitter I have my own reliable transportation,would prefer to work mornings so that I can be home when they get home from school so that I can continue to steer them in the right direction I have attmempted to go to nursing classes basically work in the medical field but because of my misdemeanor they do background checks,so thats not going to work,I would even like to go into forensics but i dont think that will work either due to my background,I just wish someone just one person could give me one chance,I mean I learned from my past and I refuse to repeat it,that was the worst year of my life I wouldnt wish it upon my worst enemy,I lost my new car ,my dignity ,respect I was very ashamed,lost my job of almost 10 years,utilities were shut off,almost lost my apartment and the only way I didnt lose that was by working at the club as a waitress getting touched on inappropriately by drunk men,I cried many of nights wondering how I was going to get through it my whole point is when you think your at your wits end look at your surroundings as long as you have a home and you have your needs food,clothing, think twice before you make that wrong turn that will make your life spiral out of control!!!!!I had worked since I was 15 years old not a break in between ,and now being unemployed since february I feel like a bum right now my male friend pays all of my bills ,but ive never been a dependent and it kills me I even act like I have a job because I dont want to send my kids the wrong message in life....PLEASE HELP ME, all im asking is for one person to give me one chance and you wont regret it Im not asking for any handouts I just want to work thats all,I have my resume',I would even take a lower pay than other employees!!!!!!!