Housing Issues for Those Released

About a year ago I attended a symposium at John Jay College of Criminal Justice (JJC) here in New York City. The topic was housing for those released from prison.

Well, first, they can’t get a job because they have a criminal record, so no one will hire them. So they don’t have the money to rent an apartment. This means that they will have to live with family. Ha! In New York City, the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) will not allow anyone who has less than a perfect record to live in their housing. This is called Permanent Exclusion. This means, in short, that the family must break up because if anyone in the housing even so much as breathes in the direction of a jail, he will be thrown out. So, the parent cannot see his children. He has no base from which to start his life over. His predicament is usually so dire that he must turn to crime to support himself – and he is back in prison. This also applies to someone whose arrest never led to a conviction.

Fortunately, someone from NYCHA also attended that symposium last year, and the person said, “We have seen the light.” The Prisoner Re-entry Institute (PRI) (a research organization) at JJC “is working with a diverse group of organizations and tenant-stakeholders to overturn the NYCHA… policy.” (From the PRI web site.)

In my case (not with NYCHA), my first discharge from the hospital allowed me to go in steps, but I could not live with my parents because my young son was living with them, and the Court would not allow it. But I thought that particular process made some sense. I was directed to get a job and transportation (a car) – which I did – while I continued to live at the hospital. Family and staff helped. At the end of the probationary period I was given permission to live in a place of my own, and I had the wherewithal to do that.

My second discharge was not as easy. The Court would no longer allow a smooth transition from the hospital. I must have a job, transportation, and a place to live all at once. As we are talking about housing, I was not allowed to live in Section 8 housing because of my Court involvement though I was never convicted of a crime nor involved with parole. Technically I was never on probation although that is how the Court monitored the case.

It was a hard go for the Social Worker. Nobody wanted me, and I had no support. So, what was I to do? Fortunately for me, my son had grown and moved out of my parents’ house, giving me the opportunity to live with my parents while getting back on my feet. If they had not taken me in, I could still very well be in the hospital now 14 years later.

Overcoming Mental Illness

When I was very young, I was taught that life was meant for suffering, that God is angry with us. Twenty-some years later I tried to kill myself in an acute schizophrenic episode. Others were injured as well, and after a jury trial where I was found Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity I was placed under the supervision of the Court and experienced – all told – well over half a decade in a psychiatric hospital.

Time passed – slowly. I discovered who my enemies were, and I overcame them. Almost 40 years after my initial breakdown, I was on the right side of the keys to the jail cells. I had written a book, and it was generating interest.

Recently I was invited on a tour of the Bergen County (NJ) jail where I saw once again the suffering of the mentally ill. Suffering is chronic for this class of people.

Remembering my days past, I asked my guide, “Do they know where they are?”

“They seem to.”

I thought I knew where I was that 40 years ago, but I was in a world of fantasy and delusion. Today I believed these people were no better off. Maybe medication made a difference. But we want to help them. We want them to live a life of joy and happiness, not just some subsistence level of living in a locked room.

What can we do to get these people jobs, improve their lives? Well, first we must address their illnesses. Research into better drugs and gene therapy, for example. But are jobs the only thing we want for them? Some can’t handle the stress of having the responsibility of a job.

I can and have handled the stress. I ran multi-million-dollar projects in New York City for twenty years for Con Edison, improving service and winning industry awards. And I believe there is more that I can do.

Cop Shot – Ban the Box!

Last night a female police officer was shot in the face near to my wife’s house in Yonkers, NY. There are no further details at this time, but it is reported that she will be OK. Drug sales are suspected because of easy access to the highways.

Let’s turn to my experience of being locked up with some of these people: Why do people sell drugs? Because they can’t get a good job. Even when they come out of prison on fire with the thought of turning their lives around – and there are those – they can’t get a decent job and have to turn to their old ways.

It makes me raging mad to see that box on job applications: Have you ever been convicted of a felony?

Not me, but it screens out other applicants right away, and they must turn to crime once again to support themselves and their families. Yes, some of these guys have family. I just saw the box yesterday.

What would you do if you could not get an honest job? I have been fortunate in my life to some extent. I played by the rules, and I was able to get a job. It is much more difficult now because I have gray hair, and age discrimination is rampant. I just filled out an application yesterday that asked if I am over 40 years old. I can’t get a job. What do you say that I should do? Fortunately, I’m old enough to apply for social security and take withdrawals from my IRA, but it is not enough. Again, what do you say that any of us should do?

Ban the box!

Reporting a Pending Crime

Too many times we hear on the news that a murder or mass murder was committed by someone – just today as a matter of fact in Las Vegas! What can we do to stop it?

One thing is that neighbors see something unusual is going on in the community, but the police can’t respond because nothing had happened yet. How true is that? At one of my Court appearances after my commitment to a psychiatric hospital my mother told the judge that she saw something happening with me but did not know where to go but was later instructed by the judge to get in touch with the Probation officer. In the case of Adam Stein – a real character in my book – to his recollection he was sitting at home reading the newspaper when a police officer came to the door with a warrant and took him away to the same maximum security psychiatric facility where I was committed. He had no idea why, but it was done.

“If you see something, say something” is great directive, but it is useless if there is nowhere to go.

One suggestion is to bring him to a hospital for a 30-day psychiatric evaluation, but who has the right to do that? From personal observation families have turned in family members, but what if they don’t want to do that or there is no family? Then we have a problem. Can we change that? Is it worth somebody’s life? Sometimes freedom is a little too free and brings about anarchy. It is important that we realize this, and don’t let it go that far

Jim McGreevey Gets It

You know what the problem is with criminals? I’m going to tell you what the problem is. Then I’m going to go one step farther, and I’m going to tell you how to fix it. Here is the story: The typical prison inmate does not have the skills necessary to succeed in accepted society. That is the problem. And here is what we need to do about it: We educate them -- reading, writing, arithmetic, social skills, speaking English in many cases. They also have a problem with substance abuse which must be addressed. They also need role models and mentors because they need to see that integrating into society can be done, and, in that regard, not every day is a good day.

I learned this the hard way by going through the criminal justice system myself. I have schizophrenia, and it brought tragedy to my family in 1979: my wife died, and my son was severely injured. He is OK now and has a family of his own with three teen-aged children.

Back in the 1980s and 1990s, the State’s answer to crime was to build prisons and incarcerate everyone they could. The result today is that well over 2 million people are in jails nationwide, and crime has not gone down.

I was sick of this, being on the receiving end, so I wrote an article in 1999 called “The Crime Solution” (copyright 2000 David E. Geiger) stating the same things I just told you here and published it in a Mensa newsletter. (It is now titled “Reducing Recidivism” and is available as chapter 104 in my book In the Matter of Edwin Potter available on Amazon and my web site: www.DavidEGeiger.com) Later in May 2013 I dusted it off and sent it to NJ Governor Chris Christie. In May 2014, I sent it to him again. In the fall of 2014, Martin’s Place opened up with former NJ Governor Jim McGreevey as Executive Director. Martin’s Place is a transition facility for those getting out of prison and into the community, and recidivism has gone down in New Jersey.

Jim McGreevey gets it. My wife and I met McGreevey serendipitously in a parking lot on the NJ Turnpike when we were traveling to Baltimore to visit a friend for the Labor Day weekend. I told him I had sent him a copy of my book – and he knew right away who I was when I told him the title. We spoke for a little while about my health and chapter 104. We shook hands 5 or 6 times, then wished each other luck and parted ways. A few days later he appeared on a local PBS news program and stated that released prisoners need, “Employment, employment, employment, employment!” You’ll see my arguments for this in my book.

Defunding Private Prisons

NYC Comptroller Scott M. Stringer withdraws 100% pension fund investment from private prisons calling them “morally bankrupt” on PBS MetroFocus. https://comptroller.nyc.gov/newsroom/comptroller-stringer-and-trustees-new-york-city-pension-funds-complete-first-in-the-nation-divestment-from-private-prison-companies/

Criminalization of Gender

Back on February 23, 2017 there was a symposium at John Jay College of Criminal Justice given by Pinkerton Fellowship. The topic was the criminalization of gender – not boys but girls. The example given was that of a 14-year-old black girl on a bus who cussed out a white boy. She was put in prison. In addition to the racial issues, the argument was made that if a white boy had done that the whole thing would have been ignored.

This issue is not new. Panel 1 discussed factors that lead to criminalization: 1) substance abuse, 2) placement in foster homes, 3) racial profiles, 4) offenses not limited to violations of the law. Woman many times do not have the means to support their families, so they turn to crime, and the problems are criminalized. The criticism was made that they really get no support from the community or the justice system though it is known that a girl is having a problem.

Panel 2 discussed the impact of criminalization. Among the results are suicide, death, and sexism. Additionally, foster care is seen as a funnel, a “cross-over” into the criminal justice system with “incredible long-term effects of having the police in your life.” – Mik Kinkead. Nevertheless it was Ebony Walcott who said, “It was the people around me who pulled me up.”

The featured speaker, Ana Oliveira who is President and CEO of The New York Women’s Foundation, said, “It is not a question of money. It is a question of investing the money in human beings... We cannot dream of freedom and have nightmare elements… Setting our sights high is not the reason for failure… It is important to do more of what works.”

Part 2 of this symposium will be held at John Jay College in April 2017. Contact Prisoner Re-entry Institute.