---

Despite the volumes of commentary that exist on the Gospels, I find Matthew 25:36 and the verses to follow to be unambiguous when they instructs us to clothe the naked, care for the sick and visit the prisoner: "I was naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you cared for me. I was in prison and you visited me."

Early Christians were very familiar with prison life - from firsthand experience. St. Paul was imprisoned four separate times for a total of six years. The history of the early Church includes many imprisonments.

Despite a decline in the national crime rate, more than two million men and women are incarcerated each year, and each year 650,000 of them return home. In the Capital District, this translates into approximately 1,000 ex-offenders coming home every year.

Most of the ex-offenders in the Capital District were born and raised here. This is where their families are, as well as their best prospects of employment, housing and contributing to society.

A significant number are military veterans. Many will get help through county reentry programs.

Inmates can avoid vocational and educational programs offered by the correctional facility. They come out undereducated, not trained in a legitimate trade and often with alcohol and drug addictions.

Faith-based agencies can help reentry task forces in Albany, Schenectady and Rensselaer Counties. As an example, the Roarke Center in Troy reaches out to women in a way that a public agency never could (see previous stories at www.evangelist.org). Prison and jail chaplains fulfill an important role in providing support while people are incarcerated.

Some churches operate soup kitchens and distribute used clothing and furniture. Many churches host peer mentoring and self-help programs that help prevent relapse and offer free ongoing support.

Ex-offenders have learned to rely on those programs for making new friends and affirming their sobriety - so what is left to be done? The church can pray with and counsel the ex-offender and family, provide drug-free social activity and satisfy the physical needs of the family and children.

The support that an ex-offender gets is critical to the success of his or her reentry plan. We have to replace bad attitudes, poor prospects and criminal friends with positive thinking, cautious optimism and new relationships. The ex-offenders who don't have support quickly become returning inmates.

Prison or jail will not give men and women the skills and attitudes to be successful. That is not what prisons are for. There is much to be done. The supervision will fall to professionals, but there is no specific public agency that helps the family.

A supportive family is often the key to ex offenders' success. This is an area where a loving, spiritual community can make a difference.

Even though the family of a prison inmate may be blameless, they will still suffer. There may be lost wages or a cessation of child support. Children of incarcerated parents are themselves at high risk of being involved in future crime.

Approximately 10 percent of those returning to our area are women. They have a relatively low risk of committing a violent felony, but an extremely high risk that they will lapse into self-destructive, pre-prison behavior and never give themselves a chance to succeed.

When they fail, the entire family suffers. There is a rich opportunity to intervene in a meaningful way to impact the crime rate, jail and prison housing costs and life in the community.

We all have a material interest in providing services that will discourage criminal activity and encourage a responsible life-style. Additionally, ex-offenders who get our support are better able to meet family obligations, secure and maintain employment and contribute constructively to community life.

We need them to be good neighbors, coworkers and parents. Isn't that our job as citizens and, most of all, as believers in a loving God?

(Jeff Anderson is a founding member of the Rensselaer County Reentry Task Force and teaches at The Sage Colleges. Email him at [email protected]. Contact the task force at 270-4014.)

(10/21/10) [[In-content Ad]]

---