Climbing a Frayed Rope Ladder

Report of 2022 Focus Groups of Formerly Incarcerated People

Process

• 7 focus groups with 54 total participants, who were compensated for participation
• 4 in person
• 2 in Detroit in partnership with Center for Employment Opportunities
• 1 in Flint in partnership with Nation Outside
• 1 in Grand Rapids/Wyoming in partnership with 70x7
• 3 online
• One “all call”
• One focusing on northern MI
• One focusing on formerly incarcerated women
• All led by formerly incarcerated facilitators
• Ashley Goldon facilitated the women’s focus group, Danny Jones facilitated the others
• Focus groups were recorded and coded by MI-CEMI Research team

We think of support as a net

The connection & coordination between the different pieces that make it work.

Housing

Transportation

Job

Education

Healthcare

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A safety net is there to catch you when you fall

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Reentry is more like a rope ladder

To give people a pathway from incarceration to stability and wellbeing as they move through their reentry journey

Photo: Combined Military Service Digital Photographic Files

The most successful respondents in our focus groups described strong and connected rope ladders

• Some had strong relationships that began while incarcerated and continued post-release, such as with the State Appellate Defender’s Office (SADO) or the Calvin Prison Initiative
• Others were connected with programs that provided comprehensive coordination and wrap-around services.

Sometimes Parole Officers Have Been Helpful

“Even my parole officer, she did an amazing job with making sure that I had my ID, my social security card. She hooked me up with the food stamps, my health insurance.”

–Detroit Focus Group Participant

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Sometimes Parole Officers Were Not Helpful

“When you parole, like we go to parole officers, they don't provide you with anything. A lot of these services and these organizations that a lot of us are talking about, a lot of us we had to find this on our own, or through word of mouth.”

–Online Focus Group Participant

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“ I was in the prisons, [MDOC] gave me a list of resources out in the street. Everything I call[ed] was outdated. Nothing I called was in effect.”� –Detroit Focus Group Participant

Sometimes Parole Officers Have Impeded Reentry

“I felt like, when I first got out, there was some discrimination. They [parole staff] were really judgmental about what my charges were and thought that I was just gonna come home and do the same things… That was a little bit discouraging at first.” � –Northern MI Focus Group Participant

“Nope, they counting on you to go down.” � –Flint Focus Group Participant

Participants faced stigma & discrimination

“The background check has been the bane of my existence. I mean, I've had background checks that were for the wrong person. I've had background checks that were scandalous, that made me look like a monster. I've been hired and, when the background check came back, I've been shown the door and they locked door behind me.”�� –Online Focus Group Participant

Access to Housing is a Pervasive Challenge

“The biggest thing for me, the biggest concern was housing.”� –Online Focus Group Participant

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“I'm a coach for a couple of guys who recently got out of jail in Grand Traverse County, and housing has been their biggest problem… I know most folks who come out, housing is a huge, huge issue. I mean, housing is a problem up here anyway, affordable housing especially but for people coming out of jail or prison, it's even 10 times worse.”� –Northern Michigan Focus Group Participant

We Saw Peer Support Happening In Real Time

“But you also make family connections on the inside, in which you have to find a covert way of connecting with people when you are released as well. You need to find a way to bring the information/reflections about your experiences to people back inside to ensure they can navigate things when they get released.”

–Online Focus Group Participant

Participants Supported Stronger Services Inside

“When you get sentenced, they say they want to reform you, they want you to change while you're in prison. But yet they don't provide no programming.”� –Grand Rapids Focus Group Participant

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Participants Supported Better Coordination

“I believe that everyone has individual needs and individual causes, and should receive an individual care plan upon entry to the facilities and upon exit.”� –Women’s Focus Group Participant (paraphrased)�

“On process, I think it'd be really important and very powerful if MDOC and the prosecutors and all those folks could sit down with people from different reentry agencies, and people like us who have been in there and know what it's about, to have conversations. I think that's how policy's gonna get made and changed, is for them to hear what's going on.”� –Northern Michigan Online Focus Group Participant

“Just Give Us a Chance”

“We're not asking for a handout, we're not asking for a gift. We're asking for honest employment, decent wages, a decent place to live, a decent community. If you can't convince society to allow us to have these things, then you're putting yourself in jeopardy, because what do you want us to do? We don't want to return to the way we were before we went to prison.”

–Online Focus Group Participant

Table Discussion

• Discuss:
• What should we maintain
• What should we let go?
• What should we resuscitate?
• Please select a recorder, a facilitator, and time keeper on each table
• There are discussion note sheets on the tables, we will collect them during report backs
• We will ask for 1 top new insight from each table