WHAT:  “Share the Wealth Expo Day” at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women (EMCFW) presented by the Center for Behavioral Health Services and Criminal Justice Research at Rutgers. Participants will explain a pilot re-entry initiative for 40 inmates implemented with the New Jersey Department of Corrections (DOC). The initiative comprises a 14-week, skill-based, practice-focused course, “Community 101,” and full-service Community Centers, with resources and peer staff to help prisoners prepare for their return to society. The day reinforces the re-entry initiative’s philosophy: “Each one, teach one.”
WHO: Rutgers Center Director Professor Nancy Wolff, EMCFW Administrator William Hauck, DOC Commissioner George Hayman, Chair of State Parole Board Yolette Ross, State Sen. Sandra Cunningham, Assistant Commissioner of the Division of Mental Health Services Kevin Martone, Director of the State Re-entry Program Wanda Moore and Director of the Division of Volunteerism Rowena Madden. Inmates will be available for interviews.
WHEN: Wednesday, Feb. 11, 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
WHERE: Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women, 30 County Route 513, Clinton
BACKGROUND: In 2007, while praising the Recidivism Reduction and Second Chance Act, Sen. Ted Kennedy cited some frightening statistics to highlight the financial and social costs of the criminal justice system’s failure. The nation’s prisons held 2.2 million prisoners, 97 percent of whom would be released. State prisons were operating at full capacity, sometimes as much 14 percent above capacity. Federal prisons were 34 percent above capacity. More than 600,000 prisoners were released annually but two-thirds were rearrested within three years. States spent a yearly average of about $22,000 to house each prisoner. Taxpayers spent more than $60 billion annually on corrections. The goal of the Rutgers program is to help reduce recidivism and prepare inmates to become productive members of society when released.  

Media Contact: Steve Manas
732-932-7084, ext. 612
E-mail: smanas@ur.rutgers.edu