January 26, 2009

Reduce Crime, Cut Costs by Reducing Repeat Offenses

Markell calls for coordinated effort across cabinet to reduce prison recidivism

WILMINGTON – A critical step to reducing crime is reducing the number of repeat offenders. To accomplish that goal, Governor Jack Markell today assigned five members of his Cabinet to build a comprehensive plan to reduce recidivism by coordinating efforts among their agencies.

The comprehensive effort could include provisions to create individualized re-entry plans that would be tailored to each inmate's specific life situation and identify potential difficulties the inmate faces in re-entering society and agencies that can provide assistance.

“We are all in this together; everyone wins when ex-offenders successfully re-enter society,” Markell said, noting that housing an inmate in Delaware costs taxpayers an average of $24,000 per year. “Waiting until an inmate is about to be released is too late to start thinking about re-entry. We must start planning for re-entry the first day someone enters a correctional facility. There has been a lot of discussion about reducing recidivism for many years – now is the time for action.”

Recently released inmates can face one or all of a number of factors that may lead them back into crime– limited education, addiction, homelessness, a lack of job skills, limited opportunities to work because of their criminal records and limited transportation to get to a job if they can find one. Markell tasked five Cabinet Secretaries whose agencies work on these individual problems to work together and deliver him a plan that leverages their individual strengths to tackle this problem.

“About 97 percent of the criminals in our prisons will someday get out. With little training and fewer options, many may quickly turn back to crime. The costs of their actions are high - the financial cost of incarceration coupled with the emotional cost to their victims is staggering,” Markell said. “We have the tools to tackle this problem. We can cut crime and cut costs. But the solutions demand action across several State agencies. It demands coordination and collaboration. I am tasking my Cabinet, working with the HOPE Commission, Stand Up for What Is Right and Just and other organizations focused on solving this problem, to come together and deliver a plan to do just that.”

The team of Cabinet Secretaries will consist of:

- Carl Danberg, Commissioner of Corrections

- Rita Landgraf, Secretary of the Department of Health and Social Services

- Lillian Lowery, Secretary of the Department of Education

- John McMahon, Secretary of the Department of Labor

- Anas Ben-Addi, Director of the Delaware State Housing Authority

“Every person in my administration is reminded each day to put themselves in the shoes of the people they serve. Our streets will be safer, our costs will be lower and our society stronger when we can start inmates on the path to productive behavior well before they are released,” Markell said.