Prison Recidivism Rates – Pennsylvania

Half of Pa.’s inmates are rejailed within 5 years, By Mensah M. Dean, July 5, 2011, Philadelphia Inquirer: “When Antoine Stone found work at a grocery store this spring, he took a giant step toward self-sufficiency while inching away from ever again being a financial burden on Pennsylvania taxpayers. The well-spoken single father of two daughters didn’t just have to overcome the ravages of the recession to land his first real job in years. For Stone, 38, the hurdles to finding work were much higher, and of his own making. The West Philadelphia native estimates that in his younger years he racked up eight to 10 arrests, serving short stints in city jails. But it was a parole violation stemming from a drug-possession conviction from nearly 10 years ago that landed him in state prison for the first time, from January 2006 to February 2008. As a convicted felon, Stone needed more help than the average job seeker, and found it at the nonprofit Pennsylvania Prison Society, which in a 12-week program taught him life skills, how to write a resumé, how to dress for success and how to be a better father. The vast majority of the inmates released from Pennsylvania’s prisons don’t go through such programs – and it shows…”