RE-ENTRY: Judicial Process Commission fights for survival

From August 12, 2009. Source: http://www.rochestercitynewspaper.com/news/articles/2009/08/RE-ENTRY-Jud...

The waiting room at Judicial Process Commission is small, with a worn, older-looking blue carpet. Two fans whirl in the background. And a quarter-pot of coffee smolders below a plaque, the type you see in hospitals and nursing homes, that says - the Virginia and John Mackey Reception Area.

If you were just released from prison - with no job and no money - this modest little room off Ormond Street is a welcome sight. For many, it's a place to start over.

For 37 years, the JPC has helped men and women leaving prison find their way back into society. But this small nonprofit with a national reputation for providing support services to the re-entry prison population is on the edge. JPC has an operating budget of $132,000 and is facing a $50,000 gap this year. Without additional funding soon, it will be forced to close its doors.

The JPC helps former prisoners reconnect with family members, find housing, address addiction problems, and find jobs. Over the years, the organization has served as an incubator in the Rochester area for other agencies and community programs. It helped start the area's first alternatives to incarceration program; the Center for Dispute Settlement; Partners in Restorative Justice; and pushed for the city's first specialized courts, such as the Drug Court.

JPC's closing would be a profound loss.

"The JPC is at the cutting edge for re-entry service," says John Klofas, a professor of criminal justice at RIT. "If we were to lose that organization, we would lose the services for one of our neediest populations that just aren't available anywhere else."

There are other organizations in the Rochester area working with the prison re-entry population, says Klofas, who is also a JPC board member. Those organizations don't provide the same kinds of services, however.

"If they were to close, yes, there would still be an interest in supporting re-entry in this community," Klofas says. "But what would be missing are people who are willing to work with the deepest fringe of the ex-prisoner population; people who are willing to work with the most severe problems - sex offenders, as one example."

Most people find the JPC by word-of-mouth, says Susan Porter, the nonprofit's service coordinator. Porter has been with the agency for more than 25 years. In recent years, she says, the JPC has become well-known for its work involving the legal documentation ex-offenders often need for employment.

In 2005, New York State passed laws that regulate licensing in a wide range of health care and education occupations. Even minor offenses can prevent an ex-offender from obtaining a license, Porter says.

"We have workers who have been home health-care aids, who have been model employees for years, but now they are walked off the job," Porter says.

These individuals require a Certification of Relief from Disabilities and Good Conduct - documentation that JPC helps them obtain. It can be a bureaucratic nightmare, however. And without work, Porters says the chances of recidivism, which are already high, increase dramatically.

�In some respects, Klofas says, JPC is tainted by its own success; JPC's record for preventing recidivism is higher than average, despite its relatively small budget. The winner is the taxpayer, since it costs on average $50,000 per year to house an inmate.

"The organization is a highly respected voice within the justice system because these people know that support for ex-offenders is hugely important," Klofas says. "But out in society, there is always a prejudice there that hurts financial support for JPC's work."

Several factors have contributed to JPC's financial woes, Porter says. The agency moved from its longtime location at 121 Fitzhugh Street about a year ago to a larger home at 285 Ormond Street. And the rent is considerably higher.

The extra space was needed, Porter says, because JPC's caseload has doubled in just the last few years and shows no sign of slowing down. In 2006, the agency saw about 400 ex-offenders. Last year, it worked with more than 1,100.

Though JPC is located at the end of an industrial street, Porter says the Ormond Street location is perfect and she would hate to give it up.

"We're close to downtown, but we're not near any schools," she says. "There aren't many places downtown where sex offenders can come and not violate their parole, since the law dictates that they cannot come within 1,000 feet of a school. And it's not just schools; the law includes day-care centers and other places where there are children."

The economy has also hurt JPC. The agency has always relied on a fairly steady flow of donations from the community, as well as grants from local foundations.

"But in times like this, money contracts," Porter says.

JPC has launched a fund-raising campaign to overcome its financial hurdle. The cover page of its May-June newsletter, "Justicia," has a letter from board director Fred Schaeffer, asking members and the general public for donations ranging from $25 to $1,000.

"We have already raised some money," Schaeffer says. "But we have more to go."

Mayor Bob Duffy has agreed to give JPC $10,000 from the city's discretionary fund, if the agency can raise $40,000 of its $50,000 shortfall. And the agency has collaborated with RIT on a grant application for $300,000 through the US Department of Justice. The money would help to fund services for women ex-offenders. Schaeffer says it looks like the JPC will get the grant, but it won't be available until 2010.

"We have to make it through this rough period, or it won't do us any good," Schaeffer says. "But I'm hopeful."