The Journey Home is the product of a county-wide “Safe Communities, Strong Neighborhoods” Community Solutions Team. This team of community leaders from across many sectors was convened by the United Way of Dane County to address growing crime against individuals and families across the county, both in the city of Madison and in a growing number of small and medium-sized rural towns.

The concern about rising crime was two-part. First, we were alarmed that more of our youth are disconnecting from our communities, from schools and jobs, and engaging in crime. Research is clear that youth that disconnect are less likely to be productive in school, interact positively with peers and safely navigate unhealthy choices. As a result they are unlikely to achieve their full potential as adults in terms of economic self-sufficiency, healthy family and social relations and productive community involvement. Wisconsin has the highest rate of teenage and minority incarceration in the country. Second, we are concerned that the crime is disproportionately taking place in our most poor neighborhoods with high concentrations of people of color, bringing immediate physical, economic and emotional harm to residents already struggling to find success despite the pressures and barriers that come with poverty and prejudice.

The team studied youth and young adult dynamics and services in these neighborhoods and discovered that one of the greatest troubles facing these communities was that too many young men were caught in a tragic cycle: they were returning from incarceration and quickly getting caught up in addiction and crime and then getting shipped back off to prison. Thus a single crime was starting to take their entire life off-track. About 90% of these individuals are men and the vast majority are between the ages of 18 and 25.

The team leaders used a review of research and best practices on prisoner re-entry as the basis for the design of the Journey Home. The team then identified specific indicators that we would track to make sure we are doing the best work possible to support these ex-offenders in getting on a healthy life path and to track the crime rate that harms the individuals, businesses, landlords, and others in these communities. The key indicator for the Journey Home: the county-wide rate of recidivism. The question below on “what measures do you use to gauge your impact” gives more details on all the indicators we track to determine the impact of this program.

First, we have worked diligently to have the corrections system refer all individuals being released from prison into Dane County to the program. This involves networking and coordination with individuals from the juvenile justice and adult prison systems. This is about 500 people annually.

Second, all ex-offenders are offered an opportunity to have an interview with a Journey Home Resource Specialist who works with them to establish goals and find the resources that they want and need. For this population, the biggest issues are employment and housing. Many ex-offenders have limited job skills and education and many employers are not interested in hiring ex-offenders. Many subsidized affordable housing programs exclude ex-offenders; this condition often bars an ex-offender from moving in with family and friends until they can secure a job and save for a deposit. Prisoners are often released with less than $100, a single change of clothes and a one month supply of medication. Resource Specialists often become their advocate for clothing, temporary shelter, and prescription medications so that their basic needs are met until they can get a job. The program also links program participants to Circles of Support. A Circle of Support is a group of four or five volunteers who meet regularly with a program participant as he negotiates returning to life in the community; these circles seek to include former prisoners who have made that transition successfully and appreciate that it is a difficult process.

Third, the Journey Home convenes monthly Service Fairs at the centrally located Villager Mall. These Fairs link the ex-offender to dozens of agencies offering concrete support, from access to food stamps to assistance completing a job application. Many program participants are linked to mental health services, especially support in overcoming issues with addiction.

Fourth, the Journey Home compiles data on the individuals served by the Resource Specialists so that we can track their progress and identify problems that the program may need to address. It was the Resource Specialists who determined that changes to local policy regarding food stamps was making it difficult for ex-offenders to access expedited food stamps, leaving many without income and without food. The Journey Home staff then worked out arrangements with Second Harvest and a local food pantry to give access to food to these people still awaiting food stamps.

Fifth, the United Way Safe Communities, Strong Neighborhoods Community Solution Team of community leaders meets to discuss evaluation data and become advocates for any needed program or policy changes to maximize program success.

We met with several surprises. A remarkable 65% of people who were introduced to the program elected to participate in a Service Fair and/or pursue individualized service through a Resource Specialist. Also, dozens of men who had been released from prison at some earlier time also sought out service from the program. And the successes we have had with former prisoners attracted the interest of the Sheriff and others operating the local jail system. They have asked that Journey Home be made available to the 3,000 to 5,000 people who cycle through the jail system each year.

With the demand for service far outstripping the time of the two Resource Specialists and Program Director, the leadership team has developed a plan to bring the model to a scale where it could serve all ex-offenders in the county. We would need two more Resource Specialists, additional office and meeting space, transportation vouchers for the program participants, and support for more management time to coordinate the growing partnership relationships, data collection and evaluation. The cost will approximately double.

In terms of replication and expansion to other communities, that is likely to take two routes. First, as this program meets with success, the Wisconsin departments of justice, corrections and law enforcement will be highly motivated to replicate the project in other counties by the potential of Journey Home to reduce crime, to decrease their caseloads and to reduce the burdens on their budgets. We are happy to provide training and technical assistance towards that end. Second, the United Way of Dane County (UWDC) is one of six United Ways across the Country to be designated as a Center of Excellence by the United Way of America in 2007. The UWDC is being asked by the United Way of America to reach other United Ways across the country with our methodologies for achieving measurable results in our work. The Journey Home is one of the best practice models we will be sharing.

We work with the corrections, justice and law enforcement communities to track recidivism rates. To measure our success in helping these individuals get on a positive life track, we track these ex-offenders’ success in securing stable housing, employment, participation in healthy support groups, and enrollment in treatment programs. These are the four areas that research shows lead to long-term positive outcomes.

To measure out success in reducing violence, we are tracking juvenile crimes, adult crimes, domestic violence and violent crime. We are taking a particular look at larceny (theft) reports as it is the number one charge for those who re-offend, regardless of the original crime that caused them to be incarcerated. Many in the field believe that there is a connection between the high rate of theft and the struggle these men face to connect to basic needs (food, shelter, medicine) in those first months out of prison. Larceny is also correlated to individuals with substance abuse problems.

The law enforcement, justice and corrections communities have a tremendous self-interest in supporting this program over time. It currently costs $24,000 -30,000 to sustain an inmate in the prison system. There are sizeable costs to the law enforcement, justice and corrections departments to re-arrest, process, imprison and supervise repeat offenders. By contrast, the Journey Home costs $166 per person in its first year. Keeping just three or four people out of the system could save the justice and corrections system an amount equivalent to the entire Journey Home budget. These budget numbers should be quite persuasive. Until we can secure more government funding, we are looking for foundation support for our expansion and evaluation.

The United Way of Dane County (UWDC) is a community impact agency that raises funding from businesses and others within the community and reinvests them in agencies in the community addressing critical human needs. The UWDC serves as convener of the Safe Communities, Strong Neighborhoods Community Solutions Team and is lending its staff to secure resources to support the program expansion and long-term sustainability.

The Madison-area Urban Ministry (MUM) is the lead agency in the field carrying out this work. MUM is an interfaith coalition of over 100 congregations and individuals of all beliefs whose mission is “to stand with the poor and hurting, neighbors working together for social change.” Their role in The Journey Home is an extension of a set of programs they operate in the area of prisoner re-entry. Indeed, a centerpiece of that work – their Circles of Support – was launched with funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Faith in Action program and is sustained through the United Way of Dane County.