

Why is helping returning citizens important


Factors contributing to recidivism include a person’s social environment and community, their circumstances before incarceration, events during their incarceration, and one of the main reasons, difficulty adjusting back into normal life. Many of these individuals have trouble reconnecting with family and finding a job to support themselves.
Recidivism affects everyone: the offender, their family, the victim of the crime, law enforcement, and the community overall. Crime can affect anyone in any community, and if a previously incarcerated person is released only to repeat an offense or act out a new crime, there are going to be new victims.
“…In Horticulture when you move a plant from one soil to another if you don’t do it correctly the plant can undergo culture shock and die because it could not assimilate into the new soil. The same is true of returning citizens. When they do not have stable living environments, mentoring, and supportive services to help them successfully reacclimate back to society.”
—Mujeddid Muhammad
