Advocates work to make re-entry successful
Advocates gather at the MercyCorps headquarters, downtown, examine and question the often costly and prohibitive process for once incarcerated individuals to re-enter the community. Photo by Mark Washington/The Portland Observer
When a person walks out of prison, they usually face costly financial barriers including fees, fines, and restitution which can add debts of up to tens of thousands of dollars. In addition, upon re-entry into the community, formerly incarcerated people must navigate the complex system of the repayment process often without complete understanding of their legal financial obligations.
Working to help individuals through such financial burdens and promote successful re-entry from incarceration to the community is ROAR (Re-entry Organizations and Resources), a collaboration of over 45 faith-based and government agencies mostly in the Portland Metro area.
With the aim of making the re-entry process easier to understand and more fair, ROAR conducted a recent workshop to examine how legal financial obligations might affect the process of re-entry and consider whether changes need to be made to the method of payments.
The workshop panel consisting of a parole officer, formerly incarcerated people, and researchers from Portland State University’s Criminal Justice and Masters Program, concluded that the financial obligations often do present a significant barrier to re-entry. The group also addressed questions about the victims of crime; when and how do they get their money?
If you would like more information on re-entry issues, you’re encouraged to attend the next ROAR meeting on June 16 or contact Peter Pincetl at ppincetl@mercycorpssnw.org or call 503-896-5074.
The next ROAR meeting will be on June 15th from 1:00-3:00pm at the Mercy Corps building downtown (45 SW Ankeny Street, Portland OR).
