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Contact: A. Bruce Crawley
Millennium 3 Management
(215) 922-7186
abcrawley@millennium3management.com

Harriett Spencer
Mayor’s Office for the Re-Entry of Ex-Offenders
(215) 685-3615
harriett.spencer@prisons.phil.gov

Five out of Six Philadelphia Mayoral Candidates Support Greater Focus on Re-Entry Efforts

May 4, 2007, Philadelphia, PA – In responding to a recent survey from the Mayor’s Office for the Re-Entry of Ex-Offenders (M.O.R.E.), five of the six candidates running in the City of Philadelphia’s Mayoral Primary Election on May 15, 2007, Democrats Bob Brady, Dwight Evans, Chaka Fattah and Michael Nutter, and Republican Al Taubenberger, expressed support for the re-entry program’s advocacy agenda and agreed that it is not “possible to improve the economic conditions in our city’s neighborhoods without having an effective re-entry program.”

In addition to receiving a copy of the program’s advocacy agenda with the questionnaire, each candidate received a packet of background information that included a citation from a 2004 report from the Re-Entry Workers Group that indicated that “27 percent of the country’s adult population lives a substantial portion of their lives with a criminal record.” The candidates were also reminded that the annual budget for the Philadelphia Prison System in FY 2007 is $207 million and that the system has exceeded its budget each year since 1997. In addition, the candidates were advised that 67 percent of ex-offenders will be re-arrested within 3 years of their release from prison, but that a 10 percent reduction in recidivism rates produces a savings of $6.8 million a year in jail costs alone.

Highlighting the City’s re-entry challenge is a 2002 report from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Department of Corrections, which disclosed that, in 2001, only 38 percent of the State’s parolees were employed.

Only one of the six major candidates for mayor – businessman Tom Knox – refused to respond to the one-page questionnaire. Mr. Knox’s campaign staff advised that he would respond to the survey after the May 15 Primary Election.

The five candidates who did respond agreed that:

- To assist in more effective post-incarceration re-entry, the Philadelphia Prison System should require that those who are imprisoned be provided basic education and job preparedness training while they are incarcerated,

- They will make a point of stressing in their public statements and position papers how an effective ex-offender re-entry program can help reduce Philadelphia’s expenses related to recidivism and incarceration, and expand the employability of a significant number of neighborhood people,

- The city’s public and private-sector decision-makers should have a fuller understanding of how a well-trained re-entry community can expand the city of Philadelphia’s employable workforce,

- A percentage of prison-related and other construction jobs should be open to ex-offenders, and

- More state and federal funding sources should be identified to expand and continue Philadelphia’s re-entry efforts.

Each of the five responding candidates also made a commitment to visit the program’s new Re-Entry One-Stop Center facility, at some point during the campaign. In fact, Candidate Fattah has already scheduled to visit the One-Stop Center on Tuesday, May 8, at 8:30 am.

The Re-Entry One-Stop Center’s director, Harriett Spencer, believes that having mayoral candidates with a broad understanding of re-entry-related issues will be important to Philadelphia’s future neighborhood development initiatives. “I am extremely pleased that all but one of the mayoral candidates seem to have an appreciation for the work that has to be done here in Philadelphia to convert ex-offenders into re-socialized, employable citizens, following their return to our communities,” said Spencer. “The response we’ve received from the candidates should be great encouragement, not only to the members of the City’s growing ex-offender population, but also to their family members, who want nothing more for them but an ability to avoid a return to incarceration and an opportunity to lead a normal, productive life.”

The Re-Entry One-Stop Center, headquartered at 1739-41 S. 54th Street, in Southwest Philadelphia, first opened its doors on February 5, 2007 and, to date, has served over 500 clients. The comprehensive services provided through the Center include: GED/ABE, Job Readiness Training, Mental Health/Substance Abuse Services, Job Placement and Retention Services, Emergency Housing Assistance, Case Management Services, Career Link Accessibility, Probation and Parole Services, Parenting Classes, Entrepreneurial Courses, Motivational Lectures and Mentoring Services.

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Last Updated: May 9, 2007