SCHENECTADY COUNTY Grant possible to help ex-cons get on track BY STEVEN COOK Gazette Reporter Reach Gazette reporter Steven Cook at 395-3122 or scook@dailygazette.com.
State prison inmates returning to Schenectady County after their release could soon have a more coordinated way to do so, officials said Wednesday. The Schenectady County effort would be similar to those in 13 other counties, and could include a $100,000 state grant to get it started. Help with housing would be part of the effort. A host of local service agencies sponsored a forum Wednesday at Schenectady County Community College to talk about the effort. Included in the forum was Schenectady County District Attorney Robert Carney, who is backing the plan. An estimated 200 former state prison inmates from Schenectady County return each year, Carney told the forum. The program would target those most at risk to offend again. For each former inmate kept from returning to prison, the community benefits by saving the cost of prosecuting them and imprisoning them again, not to mention the cost of their crime, Carney said. “It’s important we embrace the idea of re-entry, not just because the time is right from a resource perspective, but because the need is growing,” Carney told the group. The state grant application could be available as early as later this month, officials said. If the county Legislature accepts, the program and task force could be running by this fall, said Byron Kline, the re-entry coordinator for the state Division of Criminal Justice Services. But the time line would depend on how quickly the county moves. Until that happens, there are still programs in place that help those coming back into society, Kline noted. The major difference would be coordination, getting services moving even before an inmate is released. “It won’t just be organizations operating in silos,” Kline said. “It’ll be organizations working collectively together.” The programs also serve to dispel myths about re-entry, Kline said. Carney noted questions he’s encountered have included whether the program would cost money and whether it would even attract former inmates. Inmates most often return to the counties they left, Carney said. And, in the long run, a successful program would mean money is saved. A Schenectady County program could also have the experience of 13 other counties that have already implemented programs, including Rensselaer. Several representatives from Rensselaer’s program spoke at the forum, including District Attorney Richard McNally. ..........>>>>........http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....amp;EntityId=Ar01401
"The time line would depend on how quickly the County moves!" ROTLMAO!! Then we are in the clear for the next century. Operating in silos? Is this farm work? This is typical of the nitwit programs this State and especially this County are famous for. What we need is a farm work program for inmates while locked up instead of idling all day.
DA Carney should be focused like a laser on the Mad Bomber case {which should be moved to Federal Courts and Federal Prosecution} and a County wide crack down on gangs. Instead of worrying about creating non-hot dog jobs these idiots are worried about ex-cons.
I would like to help them too. I would like to help them into the electric chair, or help them get their head in a noose more readily so they can hang. Or maybe assist their transition across the threshold of the gas chamber.
Remember one thing people: These people broke the law dozens of times, got away with murder, rape, selling drugs, and other heinous violence, BEFORE they had the one run in that got them behind bars. DON'T BE STUPID AND THINK LIKE THE LIBERALS DO THAT THEY ARE FIRST TIME OFFENDERS. USUALLY IT IS JUST THE FIRST TIME THEY GOT CAUGHT!!!!!!!!!!!! Or the 20th time; they just got probation the other times beforehand.
"While Foreign Terrorists were plotting to murder and maim using homemade bombs in Boston, Democrap officials in Washington DC, Albany and here were busy watching ME and other law abiding American Citizens who are gun owners and taxpayers, in an effort to blame the nation's lack of security on US so that they could have a political scapegoat."
I think there are more important issues then getting grants for bunch of scumbags who are getting out of prison...WTF
Amen to that!
This will open a whole can of worms. Will the sex offender or rapist get the same counciling as the robber or drug dealer? What about the ones who go to prison for embezzlement? Or the aggravated assault criminal? Who decides what crime is a repeat crime? And can't a parole officer do the same thing? (anyone in lawenforcement know?)
And lastly, when these programs are put into place, what will keep it going when the grant money is gone?
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
What will keep them going after the grant money is gone? the same money that put the grant money there in the first place,,,,taxes.....
I think once you have served your time for the crime your debt is paid(depending on what society/judges deem as justice).....and I do think in this case that it would bode well for society to 'purchase' friends/neighbors.....we all know how much more we like our bosses when the paychecks/benefits get better........get more bees with honey etc etc.......having said that,,,,prison needs to be a little less capitalistic/comfortable.......not that I am saying I would love it, but some of these folks find the accomodations better than where they came from.........
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
you know with you repubs all being the child porn lovers and abusers like your former party chair over here you should all be happy that the help is for the people incareatted like them. Most abusers are repubs
you know with you repubs all being thechild porn lovers and abusers like your former party chair over here you should all be happy that the help is for the people incareatted like them. Most abusers are repubs
Sal, you may want to re-phrase your last post?
Quoted Text
Former president of Albany Young Democrats pleads to child porn possession Benjamin Jakes-Johnson receives 57-month sentence; defense blames childhood abuse
By CASEY SEILER AND SARAH HINMAN, Staff writers Last updated: 7:18 p.m., Friday, May 15, 2009 ALBANY - Members of Albany County Young Democrats are "shocked and disturbed" at the revelation that the former president of the organization, Benjamin Jakes-Johnson, spent almost four years facing child pornography charges while rising through the ranks of the local group, as well as the party's state and national affiliates.....>>>>....>>>http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=800621
awww, he is just a gay man struggling with his identity. If he were a Republican this would be on national news wires through Izvestia!
"While Foreign Terrorists were plotting to murder and maim using homemade bombs in Boston, Democrap officials in Washington DC, Albany and here were busy watching ME and other law abiding American Citizens who are gun owners and taxpayers, in an effort to blame the nation's lack of security on US so that they could have a political scapegoat."
EDITORIALS It’s smart policy to help ex-cons return
Besides being inevitable, re-entry has always been the trickiest part of an astronaut’s journey. It is no different for ex-convicts, and a program touted last week for Schenectady County would help those most at risk of re-offending make a successful return. That’s important not only for them and their families but the entire community, which has an interest in avoiding future crimes by these former inmates. The program, sponsored by the state Division of Criminal Justice Services, is being used in 13 other counties, including Rensselaer. It involves a coordinated effort to make sure the ex-inmate gets what is needed — housing, social services, transportation, a job or job training — to feel a part of, and have a stake in, the community to which he or she is returning. In Schenectady County, an estimated 200 former prisoners return each year. And that number is only going to grow with recent reforms in the Rockefeller drug laws. Programs and services for ex-prisoners are already available, but they are usually separate and the person has to find and apply for each one. Here, using a $100,000 state grant, the different agencies would work with a coordinator to develop a plan, even before the prisoner is released, and then implement it. This is not a bleeding-heart-liberal program. Or, as Rensselaer County District Attorney Richard McNally, put it, it’s not “hug-a-thug.” But it does recognize that denying people who have paid their debt to society a chance to return to it and make a life for themselves and their family is not only unfair, but unwise. It almost ensures that they will commit another crime. And that is only going to cost us all again — not only with the crime itself, but investigating it, prosecuting it and incarcerating for it. We urge Schenectady County to apply for this grant, and the state to award it.
It's obvious that this writer hasn't spent much time in state prisons or county jails and doesn't know what the inmates are really like. You're not going to change the spots on the Leopard by a touchy feely approach to the problem.
Besides being inevitable, re-entry has always been the trickiest part of an astronaut’s journey. It is no different for ex-convicts
WAIT! Is, whoever wrote this article, saying that astronauts are the same as drug addicts/dealer, thieves, murders are all the same? The author of this, obviously HAD to put this comparison out there since s/he also quoted this..
Quoted Text
This is not a bleeding-heart-liberal program
...cause YES IT IS! Are we the people suppose to subconsciously place educated, highly trained, dedicated, hard working people in the same category as EX-CONS? Does s/he think that we are all that stupid, that we might actually think that re-entry to earth, from a 5 day stay in space, is equivalent to the re-entry of years in prison?
Soon to be ex-cons, while incarcerated, get cable TV, 3 squares/day, exercise daily, religion and an education. And we, the taxpayer, pays for that. And as far as the so called 'extra' government services such as....housing, social services, transportation, a job or job training.... they already exist. There is plenty of section 8 housing in Schenectady. Of course we have plenty of social services benefits.Proof of that is to just drive by the DSS building and see the long line, not to mention the hot dog stand to accommodate them. There is transportation everywhere! And all they have to do is go to the unemployment office to look for work. Not to mention the other organizations in Schenectady.
And 200 ex-cons return per year. Well who wouldn't? We have the best welfare in the country!!!
Astronauts? Hardly! That sentence should have never been printed. It is embarrassing.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
Logged
"The time line would depend on how quickly the County moves!" ROTLMAO!! Then we are in the clear for the next century. Operating in silos? Is this farm work? This is typical of the nitwit programs this State and especially this County are famous for. What we need is a farm work program for inmates while locked up instead of idling all day.
