New $60M SC program aims to keep ex-offenders from going back to prison. Here’s how

A program aimed at reducing prison recidivism is set to come to the Upstate in the spring.

An organization called Concordance, with the help of $60 million from its partner Wells Fargo, will open a center in Greenville to help ex-inmates restart their lives after being released from prison.

The initiative, which was announced by Concordance CEO Danny Ludeman, Gov. Henry McMaster, the Adams and Reese Law firm and other partners at the State House Wednesday, is a part of Concordance’s expansion plan, with South Carolina being the first state it is set to develop in outside of where it was founded, in St. Louis, Missouri.

Ludeman, the former CEO of Wells Fargo advisors, said they plan to open 39 centers across the country. The first center will serve the Greenville and Spartanburg areas.

Concordance is a program that supports individuals returning from prison by offering re-entry services, and has reduced recidivism rates by 56% since 2016, according to its website.

The Concordance 18-month program starts six months prior to a person’s release from prison and lasts for an additional year. The program offers services such as mental health counseling, job training, education and financial education counseling to get and keep individuals out of prison.

The Greenville center is expected to open in March or April and have 25 to 30 employees.

As of now, any prisoner is eligible for the program except for sex offenders. Program leaders said they are working towards offering services to sex offenders in the future.

The creation of the Concordance program was based on research to see how to keep repeat offenders out of prison, and why they kept returning. Ludeman explained that many of the participants had experienced a severe trauma by the age of 9. He also said racial disparities within the criminal justice system play into the revolving door.

“If you can’t heal somebody first, then a lot of the other things we offer don’t really matter,” Ludeman said.

The partners added that it takes a lot more than this program for success and urged other private and public companies to make investments as well.

McMaster applauded the efforts by the groups.

“We must do more, and we now have the opportunity to do that,” McMaster said. “We don’t want to waste these people.”