NEW ORLEANS — On Wednesday, a group of about 10 men gathered to talk about their life after prison and their next steps.
The room they meet in is just steps away from the Orleans Justice Center. The program is run by First 72+, an organization that helps people who were once imprisoned reenter society. The Executive Director, Troy Glover, says even their location is intentional.
"We’re uniquely located... we’re taking folks immediately after their release," Glover said
He says they even work with the sheriff's office and those incarcerated to develop a plan two to three months before their release to ensure their success.
That plan includes everything to ensure they can enter society after serving their sentence, from a place to lay their heads at night to making a living wage. Sometimes, it includes offering basic necessities that others who have never been in prison may take for granted. Other times, it's reconnecting someone with their grandkids.
No matter what someone may need, Glover says the first 72 hours after someone is released are absolutely crucial.
"When folks come, they typically don’t have anything, so we immediately provide them with a welcome home kit. And that welcome home kit is 100 to 150 dollars worth of groceries. We have a clothes closet that folks can have access to unlimited just to be able to have clothes, then we provide wrap-around services and support."
Glover says they serve two different groups of people. The first is men who have served decades, sometimes 30 to 40 years. Glover says so much of the world changes in those decades. Someone may be behind bars, and they help bridge that gap.
The second group consists of young people who may have dropped out of school or lost their way. Glover says the program has been successful. He says when someone interacts with their services after being released from prison, there's a 50-60% chance that they won't commit another crime.
He says there are so many barriers to someone living a successful life after incarceration, but he adds the recent special session on crime in Baton Rouge makes it even harder.
"This crime session was particularly tough for us, and I think it was tough for the state as a whole. Being able to take away parole from folks which gives people any hope to return home, and that’s a big chunk of folks we serve, and even taking away good time credits being able to have good behavior has a negative effect and ramification on folks in custody," Glover said. "You tell someone there's no chance of being released early or for good time, that doesn't increase public safety."
Some help is on the way, though. Wednesday, the city council's quality of life committee made it possible for the full council to pass a $500,000 ARPA-funded project for the organization. Glover says that type of money can broaden their reach.
"We’re going to use some of this funding to scale out our culinary and entrepreneurship program. Folks who have been incarcerated have learned amazing cooking skills while being incarcerated, but because of some of the restrictions, they aren’t able to implement them when they get out. Through our program, they’ll get trained up, certified, and placed across the city in high-wage culinary jobs and be able to support themselves and their family," Glover said.
The money will also be used to purchase clothing and food. The bill is expected to be passed by the full council soon.
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