BALTIMORE — People who return home from prison often don’t have the help they need to go back into society.
"People, when they are released back into Baltimore, have a plastic bag with their clothes, no ID, and then a voucher for 50 dollars," says Councilman James Torrence, District 7.
On Monday, Baltimore City Council gave its final approval to create a new office, the Office of Returning Citizens.
Its purpose is to make sure people from Baltimore who are getting out of prison have access to the resources they need to successfully start their lives again.
“So many people are returning citizens because of mass incarceration in the early 2000s, so how do we right the ship," says Torrence.
When people don’t have access to healthcare, housing, job opportunities, or something as simple as identification to start their lives over, they may end up back in prison.
“This is near and dear to me because my mother and father are both returning citizens, so it is about giving people a second chance at redemption," he says.
Even though his parents returned, Councilman Torrence says he ended up losing his mother.
“My mom died of cancer, and she didn’t have access to healthcare because she had a felony," says Torrence.
Torrence says he has seen the success this type of office has in other areas like D.C. and Boston, which is why he is confident it will succeed.
“We have 14 million ARPA dollars invested into it already, and we’re trying to rev up the pilot to do more people, so that means we’ll have reentry counselors as well as coordinators to help with just dealing with the day-to-day life of everyone," he says.
The program is in Mayor Brandon Scott's hands now.
If he signs off on it, Torrence says he would like to see people who have gone through this type of transition help those who are going through it now.
“A person who has a lived experience and had trouble navigating maybe you can be on the reentry action council and tell us how we can help you," he says.
If the Mayor approves the bill, it will take effect 30 days after it is signed, which means the city may begin creating the Office of Returning Citizens in the next few months.
Back in August, Torrence introduced this legislation with Mayor Scott.
At the time Scott said, “Historically, the criminal justice system has failed our residents. We have an opportunity to break the vicious cycle of poverty, crime, and mass incarceration by ensuring our incarcerated residents have the services and supports they need to successfully re-enter society.”
