Who is the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition?

Our mission is to reverse the trend of mass incarceration in Colorado. We are a coalition of nearly 7,000 individual members and over 100 faith and community organizations who have united to stop perpetual prison expansion in Colorado through policy and sentence reform.

Our chief areas of interest include drug policy reform, women in prison, racial injustice, the impact of incarceration on children and families, the problems associated with re-entry and stopping the practice of using private prisons in our state.

If you would like to be involved please go to our website and become a member.

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Homeless and On Parole

(AP) DENVER Homeless shelters are increasingly becoming a haven for ex-inmates just released from prison, with a new study finding nearly one in four in the Denver metro area taking refuge there.

"They're in partnership with us," said Tim Hand, assistant director of adult parole for the Department of Corrections. "It's almost like they're part of our structure."

The study by the Piton Foundation and Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition found that housing, difficulty in finding jobs, overcoming substance abuse, and dealing with a patchwork parole-support systems are some of the challenges facing parolees.

Piton is an organization that studies social problems in Denver and seeks alternatives to incarceration.

Piton analyzed the home addresses of about 6,600 Colorado parolees as of early May. Of 1,377 parolees in Denver, about 37 percent were at homeless shelters or other temporary housing. Across the metro area, about one-fourth of the 3,379 parolees were in temporary housing, which is defined as two or more parolees at the same address.

Many live in the shelters immediately after their release from prison, while others end up there after they fall upon hard times, said Christie Donner, director of the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition.
CBS 4

at 6:12 AM

1 comment:

Barb said...

It's one of the worst places a parolee can be. They are living with other felons, drug addicts, alcoholics and it's unstructured. They go outside for a cigarette, don't come back all night and nobody cares. There has to be something better than this if we expect to stop the high rate of recidivism.

9:19 AM

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