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Convicts need social help, too

Ex-Offender Re-Entry Summit participants look at the best ways to help former offenders readjust to life outside prison.

By ALDO NAHED
Published June 28, 2006

TAMPA - William "Pete" Duncan used to rob random people, mom-and-pop shops and even his family. Duncan, who was also a heroin addict, spent 30 years in and out of Maryland prisons. From age 10, he was caught 17 times and convicted 11.

"I was going to rob you or make you buy something," he said.

Duncan, 53, whose eventual rehabilitation was the subject of a PBS documentary, Omar & Pete, knows the hurdles that offenders face when they try to make lives for themselves outside of prison.

On Tuesday, Duncan was among the guest speakers at the Ex-Offender Re-Entry Summit hosted by Abe Brown Ministries and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida, held at Tampa's Quorum Hotel.

About 200 participants, representing faith organizations, community outreach groups, law enforcement and criminal justice agencies, traded ideas.

They also heard from trainers and speakers on the best ways to help former offenders. The summit continues today.

"Usually we're in the front end of this, where we investigate, prosecute and convict individuals into prison," said U.S. Attorney Paul I. Perez.

The summit explored ways to help offenders while they are in prison and beyond: among them mentor programs, job coaching and placement, education, and transitional housing.

Roughly 30,000 ex-offenders leave Florida prisons every year, and more than half are arrested within two years, said James McDonough, secretary for the Florida Department of Corrections. There are nearly 90,000 state prison inmates and 188,000 others on parole or probation.

"We are working to change the culture at large," said McDonough, who was appointed by Gov. Jeb Bush in February. "I'm prepared to change the system."

Vicki Lukis, vice chairwoman of the Governor's Ex-Offender Task Force, said the board made recommendations to Bush, including one requiring identification papers for every person leaving prison. Without an ID, some find it difficult to get a job or a place to live, she said.

Lukis has seen both sides of the issue. The former Lee County commissioner served 15 months in federal prison for public corruption. She now assists women in prison and girls in detention centers.

"We have to stop the cycle of children that are coming into the system and recycling into our adult system," she said.

[Last modified June 28, 2006, 01:25:13]