LIMA — After being in prison for years, the world can be a very different place once an inmate is released. Everything is different, from the price of gas to who lives in the White House. Making that transition back to the outside world can be very difficult for someone accustomed to the structured life behind bars.
“Lima looked different,” Lima resident and former inmate Steve Riley said. “It was like I was dumped back into society and I had to feel my way around. It’s like being in a dark room for a long time, and when you step out into the light, your pupils have dilated and they have to adjust, and that’s the way it was re-entering society.”
Once ex-inmates are able to make that adjustment, they may find that there are some surprises waiting for them, potentially making their reintegration into society more difficult.
Steve’s story
Riley was released from prison in January 2014 after spending 13 years behind bars for involuntary manslaughter. Like other former inmates, Riley’s first order of business was finding a place to live. In his case, that was resolved very quickly.
“I had a lot of help from my mother, my siblings and my children,” he said. “I was paroled to her house. I would have had to go to a shelter or halfway house otherwise.”
With that arrangement in place, Riley then turned to looking for employment. A month after parole, he found work briefly at Regal Cinemas before moving on to a job at Dana Corp. However, he was dismissed soon after because he had a felony conviction on his record, forcing him to look once again for a job.
“I went to St. Marys, I went to Ottawa, I went to Kalida, I went to Sidney,” he said. “I went everywhere looking for a job.”
Eventually, he found his way to Proctor & Gamble’s Lima plant, where he was able to work until October, when he moved to Innocor Foam Technologies in Spencerville, where he works 12-hour shifts six or seven days a week. While he has been able to get his life back together, Riley said it was not an easy process.
“Despite all the promises you get in prison, when you get out, you’re on your own,” he said. “But I’ve got three kids and eight grandkids, and I refuse to let them down.”
Money issues
Riley has continued to have child support to pay after his release, but that is not the only financial hurdle released inmates have to face. A study released earlier this fall by the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio examined the issue of “pay-to-stay” rates that some county jails and prisons charge to inmates, taking the form of either a booking fee, a daily rate or both.
According to the study, out of the 75 full-service jails in the state, 40 charge a pay-to-stay rate, including the Auglaize County Jail and the Van Wert County Jail, charging a $10 fixed and a $32 average daily rate, respectively.
However, according to Auglaize County Jail administrator Capt. Lisa Wright, the daily rate is only charged to those who are sentenced and is not binding.
“We don’t force them to pay for it,” she said. “Also, the county does not send these fees to collections. Most don’t pay for it.”
Wright said the county brings in an average of $7,000 per year from this fee, which goes back to inmate services.
“We put it back into an inmate fund that would help them with supplies,” she said.
Can inmates be welcomed back?
Becky Magrum works with men coming out of the corrections system who face addictions or struggles through the ministry of the House of Grace on Harding Highway. In interviewing potential residents getting ready to be released from prison, Magrum has found a common emotional thread in many of them, especially those who have served long sentences.
“A lot of guys we interview are scared,” she said. “They’ve lost family contact, they haven’t been out in the world, and they’re going to get out without a job.”
While there is some help available in the short-term, some people eventually end up on the street or back in jail, according to Magrum, due to lack of a good support system. To remedy that, she said, will take the whole community.
“We need volunteers to go into these prisons,” she said. “Even our churches would be a wonderful support group for them.”
Many people view these people with suspicion, some deservedly so, Magrum said. However, for those who really want to make good on their second chance, it will take a change in the community’s mindset to help them.
“If you look at it, probably every family has someone in prison,” she said. “How can these guys get rehabilitated if we don’t help them?”
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