{"id":32302,"date":"2020-01-23T13:07:34","date_gmt":"2020-01-23T19:07:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/?p=32302"},"modified":"2020-01-23T13:19:49","modified_gmt":"2020-01-23T19:19:49","slug":"oklahoma-prisoners-struggle-to-find-stable-housing-after-release","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2020\/01\/23\/oklahoma-prisoners-struggle-to-find-stable-housing-after-release\/","title":{"rendered":"Oklahoma prisoners struggle to find stable housing after release"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_32305\"  class=\"wp-caption module image aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-large wp-image-32305\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/01\/Robin-Wertz-1920x1500.jpg\" alt=\"Robin Wertz stands behind her files on prisoners seeking housing at the Exodus House.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/01\/Robin-Wertz-1920x1500.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/01\/Robin-Wertz-672x525.jpg 672w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/01\/Robin-Wertz-768x600.jpg 768w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/01\/Robin-Wertz-150x117.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/01\/Robin-Wertz-300x234.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/01\/Robin-Wertz-620x484.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/01\/Robin-Wertz-1382x1080.jpg 1382w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Quinton Chandler \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Robin Wertz interviews dozens of prisoners to determine who would be a good fit at the Oklahoma City Exodus House.<\/p>\n<\/div><p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/player.simplecast.com\/252840d4-4f4e-422c-a290-42823e31ed23?dark=false\" width=\"100%\" height=\"200px\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" seamless=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p><p>The outside world was overwhelming when Robin Wertz was released from prison in 2007. Today, she helps others who are having that same experience as the site director of Exodus House, a transitional housing unit that helps people get back on their feet.<\/p><p>\u201cWe can\u2019t go back out into crime-ridden drug-infested neighborhoods,\u201d Wertz said. \u201cWe have to provide communities where they\u2019re getting the resources they need and they\u2019re being inspired.\u201d<\/p><p>In her office, she has a file cabinet filled with neatly organized folders holding dozens of letters from prisoners hunting for a home.<\/p><p>Wertz says they ask her for an apartment and she sends them an application. If they\u2019re approved she\u2019ll schedule them to take an apartment when one becomes available.<\/p><p>Right now, all of the apartments are committed to prisoners scheduled for release. She has no more room. But, there\u2019s a waiting list. Twelve names have been added so far, and she still has 25 more applications to review.<\/p>\n<h3>Recidivism and homelessness<\/h3><p>Oklahoma Department of Corrections data suggests nearly a quarter of people released from prison will go back. They\u2019re also at higher risk of being homeless.<\/p><p>According to data from the Prison Policy Initiative, people who\u2019ve been incarcerated are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.prisonpolicy.org\/reports\/housing.html\">almost 10 times more likely to be homeless<\/a> than the general public.<\/p><p>Survey data from Oklahoma City suggests 3 out 4 homeless people who don&#8217;t have shelter have experienced some form of incarceration.<\/p><p>Transitional housing programs are one of the few tools Oklahoma communities have to help former prisoners start building stability right away.<\/p><p>But, there aren\u2019t enough of them to help everyone being released. The Department of Corrections doesn\u2019t keep a complete list of this kind of housing, but the charities who run them\u00a0 say they\u2019re often full and most are clustered in the state\u2019s two largest cities. Finding similar programs in rural communities can be hard.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_32304\"  class=\"wp-caption module image aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-large wp-image-32304\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/01\/pam-dobbins-1920x1391.jpg\" alt=\"Pam Dobbins sits at her office desk in Comanche.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1391\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/01\/pam-dobbins-1920x1391.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/01\/pam-dobbins-672x487.jpg 672w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/01\/pam-dobbins-768x557.jpg 768w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/01\/pam-dobbins-150x109.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/01\/pam-dobbins-300x217.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/01\/pam-dobbins-620x449.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/01\/pam-dobbins-1490x1080.jpg 1490w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Quinton Chandler \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pam Dobbins launched Christian Helping Hands&#8217; housing program shortly after she took over in 2009.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h3>Filling the gap in rural OK<\/h3><p>Pam Dobbins runs Christian Helping Hands in Comanche. She says they\u2019re the only transitional housing program in Jefferson and Stephens Counties.<\/p><p>Comanche is about an hour and a half southwest of Oklahoma City. Christian Helping Hands houses women who\u2019ve left prison in homes that were donated to the program.<\/p><p>\u201cSome come stay 30 days. Some stay 9 months and they feel like they\u2019re ready to be on their own,\u201d Dobbins said. \u201cThey can stay up to a year. It just depends.\u201d<\/p><p>Christian Helping Hands started as a food pantry. Dobbins took over about 10 years ago and decided to expand the program when she met eight homeless single mothers.<\/p><p>\u201cWe found out (that) somewhere in their past they had been incarcerated and incarceration had a lot to do with their homelessness,\u201d Dobbins said.<\/p><p>Victoria Swier was released from prison in 2018 and she says coming out of prison was a hard transition.<\/p><p>\u201cWhat am I supposed to do when you don\u2019t make your own decisions on what you get to eat and what you get to wear?\u201d Swier said. \u201cAll of the choices you get to make now kind of are overwhelming.\u201d<\/p><p>One of her first decisions was to move back into Stephens County. She was told to move to Oklahoma City or Tulsa where there are more services and no bad influences from her past. But she wanted to be near her kids who live in Duncan.<\/p><p>\u201cThat was one of my main focuses was to reconnect and because I had missed out on so much, I didn\u2019t want to miss out on anything,\u201d Swier said.<\/p><p>In the last two years, Swier says she\u2019s made great progress with her children that wouldn\u2019t have been possible if she\u2019d moved outside of the county, but this program is unique in rural Oklahoma.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_32303\"  class=\"wp-caption module image aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-32303 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/01\/Pam-and-Victoria-and-Judy-1920x1302.jpg\" alt=\"Pam Dobbins, Victoria Swier and Christian Helping Hands resident Judy Holzberger sit together at Christian Helping Hands' food pantry.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1302\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/01\/Pam-and-Victoria-and-Judy-1920x1302.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/01\/Pam-and-Victoria-and-Judy-672x456.jpg 672w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/01\/Pam-and-Victoria-and-Judy-768x521.jpg 768w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/01\/Pam-and-Victoria-and-Judy-150x102.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/01\/Pam-and-Victoria-and-Judy-300x203.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/01\/Pam-and-Victoria-and-Judy-620x420.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2020\/01\/Pam-and-Victoria-and-Judy-1593x1080.jpg 1593w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Quinton Chandler \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pam Dobbins, Victoria Swier and Christian Helping Hands resident Judy Holzberger (right) at the organization&#8217;s office.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h3>Housing after mass commutation<\/h3><p>Kathy Peacock works with Stand in the Gap Ministries, an organization that helps women in prison get ready for life on their own.<\/p><p>\u201cWe need more transition homes, and we need them in areas that we don\u2019t have them in,\u201d Peacock said.<\/p><p>Without transitional housing, Peacock says people leaving prison often end up couch surfing in the same places where they got arrested. That\u2019s where she\u2019s afraid people released in the state\u2019s mass commutations last November have gone.<\/p><p>\u201cUnfortunately there were very few women who went to transition homes,\u201d Peacock said. \u201cI personally only know of two \u2026 the other homes that I\u2019ve talked to, they may have applied but they didn\u2019t show up.\u201d<\/p><p>Unlike people who are paroled, many of the people in the mass commutation were released without conditions. She says that\u2019s concerning because the structure people get in these programs helps reduce their chances of falling back into criminal life.<\/p>\n<h3>Future transitions<\/h3><p>\u201cWe need 100 more programs like this because that\u2019s what people need,\u201d Robin Wertz said. \u201cThey need housing and employment, first and foremost.\u201d<\/p><p>With a record number of commutations in 2019 and hundreds more releases expected this year as criminal justice reforms take effect, lawmakers and a task force for the governor say they want to give people smoother transitions out of prison and set them up for success, but it\u2019s unclear if they will deal with it when the legislative session starts February 3.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Stable housing options are limited for people leaving Oklahoma prisons. People running transitional housing options that offer a temporary residence where people can get on their feet say they can&#8217;t completely meet the demand. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":201,"featured_media":32305,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"page-noFeature.php","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18],"tags":[1198,1197,1201,1200,1199,1196,1202],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32302"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/201"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32302"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32302\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32317,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32302\/revisions\/32317"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32305"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}