A Reentry Simulation was conducted at the Statewide Management Meeting held in State College. The Reentry Simulation, which took place on June 18, was organized by Deputy Secretary Kelly Evans and Director Melissa Repsher, simulates the struggles and challenges faced by individuals who are transitioning from incarceration back into society. The Reentry Simulation mimicked the first month after release.
Participants must perform the tasks which a reentrant must do and parallels real life for reentrants. The simulation consisted of various stations which represented various service providers (community service, Social Security, identification, AA/NA, urinalysis, employment, etc.). The reentrants had to visit their parole officer as well! Several reentrants from the Johnstown Community Corrections Center (CCC) and Tomorrows Hope participated by portraying the service providers. The attendees comprised of Parole and Bureau of Community Corrections (BCC) management staff portrayed the reentrants. Incorporated into the simulation are unexpected hurdles and other random life events.
Each reentrant was given a packet containing a life card with instructions on who to visit each week, limited tokens for transportation, and limited financial resources as well. There were four weeks, broken into 15-minute increments, in the simulation. Each week, the reentrants had numerous tasks to complete. Some reentrants did not have identification, Social Security cards, or birth certificates. You can imagine the challenges faced without identification, limited money but still mandated to attend programs or visit their parole officer. Sadly, some of the reentrants were consequently violated and sent to prison. Participants not only learn what must be done when coming home, but also learn the difficulty and frustration that accompanies this process.
Deborah Carpenter (Special Assistant to Parole Board Chairman Ted Johnson) participated and wrote:
"It was an eye-opening experience to see the struggle and challenges reentrants face when beginning the process of reintegration into society after incarceration. Even though it was a simulation, I was able to experience the challenges they face satisfying their conditions of release while attempting to complete their assigned tasks. One of the items that made 'Nelson' successful was having a state ID upon release, which allowed him access to supportive resources within the community. Criminal justice agencies and lawmakers should participate in a simulation like this to gain a better understanding, and assist in positive changes to the criminal justice system."
District Director Michelle Rivera participated and wrote:
"The Reentry Simulation was an excellent experience for staff to get a small inclination into the barriers and difficulties that our reentrants may face when returning to society without the assistance needed to be successful. The scenario that I received left me feeling defeated, and I was returned to jail three times because I could not navigate through the system to meet my basic needs. I spoke with others to see how they maintained their freedom and they informed me that they cheated to beat the system to survive. I believe that this simulation would be beneficial to all staff and serve as an excellent training tool."
Deputy District Director Robert Petrarco wrote:
"As the directions were being read to us, I was skeptical as to how productive the simulation was going to be. However, quickly within the first simulated week, I was overwhelmed with how much I had to get done with so little resources. Every week I had to make hard decisions - am I going to buy groceries or bus tokens this week; am I going to go to work to get paid or report to the probation office to avoid a violation. The Reentry Simulation gave me a perspective of the challenges our reentrants face daily. We ask them to do a lot, and often times with little resources. This helped me to understand I need to work harder to connect our reentrants to more resources to help them succeed."
Some of the reentrants from Johnstown CCC and Tomorrows Hope initially were hesitant to participate. Afterwards, two reentrants expressed how fulfilling it was to be a part of the simulation, and believe it provided a real-life perspective into the challenges they faced when released from incarceration with limited resources.
This simulation gave visibility into the perspectives of the reentrants who we are tasked to help. The aim is to represent a realistic landscape of what these individuals face when coming home. By experiencing these complex obstacles and barriers which these reentrants must navigate, visibility into the individual's perspectives is gained but also an opportunity to discover innovative ways to help these individuals succeed.
Deputy Secretary Kelly Evans, who has participated as a reentrant in a Reentry Simulation hosted by Kentucky Department of Corrections, had a rewarding and insightful experience as well. She stated, "I have worked with parolees for 29 years and the Reentry Simulation is one of the most valuable and insightful trainings that I've experienced. It puts you in the reentrant's shoes and you experience their struggles, frustrations and barriers firsthand. We're professionals in the field and we struggled with knowing what to do and where to go to get it done. The simulation highlighted the importance of preparing inmates for release on the inside as well as connecting them to community supports on the outside. Ideally my goal is for everyone involved in our system to participate in a Reentry Simulation. Walking in the shoes of a reentrant is very impactful, and I believe this will help our staff realize that rather than simply giving reentrants tasks to complete, we may need to provide more guidance on how to get things done."