Opinion: Supporting inmates reentering society would pay dividends for taxpayers

The U.S. spends more than $81 billion a year on prisons, upwards of $70,000 per individual inmate. South Carolina’s yearly spending on individual prisoners alone has risen more than 50% in the past five years, reaching about $30,000 a prisoner. With more than 15,000 prisoners in South Carolina Department of Corrections facilities, that amounts to about $462 million in state spending.

You might be wondering why should you care about this. Because this money is coming out of your pocket. Every taxpayer is spending tax dollars to house inmates who don’t always need to be there.

Recidivism, or the tendency of a convicted criminal to re-offend, is one of the biggest reasons we have such a large prison population and spend so much on our prison system. The recidivism rate in the U.S. is extremely high. Within three years of their release, says Harvard Political Review, about two-thirds of prisoners will be rearrested, and 50% will be incarcerated again. In South Carolina, almost one-fourth of formerly incarcerated people will end up back in prison. The biggest issue with higher recidivism rates is that they lead to higher crime rates and more costs for the state and taxpayers.

One of the main causes of recidivism is a former inmate's inability to obtain and maintain employment. Many employers are reluctant to hire people with criminal records, so formerly incarcerated individuals often end up in low-skill jobs such as retail, maintenance, or food service, which have minimal room for growth. Another major cause of recidivism is the inability to access affordable housing. While most individuals leave prison with minimal finances to obtain housing, there is only enough affordable housing for less than half of low-income individuals in South Carolina, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

We need to put more emphasis on rehabilitation and the creation of reentry programs for formerly incarcerated individuals. This would help to reduce the tax dollars spent on our prisoners and prison systems.

Don’t take my word for it. Take the word of Cary Sanders, a 35-year-old South Carolinian who was arrested 17 times and had been in the Department of Juvenile Justice three times by his 17th birthday. A faith-based rehabilitation program called Jump Start, whose mission is to help inmates reintegrate back into society, made a huge difference for Sanders. While Sanders was inside, both his mentality and behavior shifted due to the help he received. Jump Start gave Sanders the life skills he needed to succeed, and he is now the executive program director of Jump Start.

One way Congress has sought to solve the problem is through H.R. 3372 – the One Stop Shop Community Reentry Program Act of 2021. This bill’s purpose is to connect individuals transitioning from prisons or jails with the services they’ll need for re-entry. Grants would be provided for community-based nonprofits to set up reentry centers that would help ex-inmates obtain affordable housing, find employment, get health care, and apply for public benefits. A bill like this would reduce both recidivism rates and the amount taxpayers spend on the prison system.

This bill was originally introduced in the previous congressional session but failed to pass the Senate due to a lack of bipartisan support. The current version of the bill has garnered much more bipartisan support with 13 Democratic co-sponsors and six Republican co-sponsors. It has passed the House and is currently awaiting passage from the Senate.

In addition to a federal bill, state representatives could also pursue a statewide reentry program bill. Research shows that legislation moves faster and is passed at a higher rate at the state level, than at the federal level. To take quicker action on this issue, it would behoove South Carolina representatives to introduce a state bill.

Now the question is: What can you do about this? Call your congressional representatives and tell them to pass H.R. 3372. Call your state representatives and ask them to create a statewide reentry program bill.

You deserve for your tax dollars to stay in your pocket.

Maggie Giordano is a master of public policy student at Duke University.

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Opinion: Former inmates need support; bill would help taxpayers, too