PANAMA CITY— Marvin Jones Jr. has been slowly putting his life back together since June 29. That’s the day he stepped out of Bay Correctional Facility after being locked up for three years.
It was the sixth time he’d been released from incarceration.
“I’d get out and do the same thing,” Jones said, as he fried up bologna sandwiches in the kitchen at Panama City Rescue Mission. “It was all drugs and trying to get a quick dollar, which was an illusion I was chasing instead of getting out and working.”
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Jones is one of the many inmates contributing to the alarming recidivism rate.
According to the Florida Department of Corrections, nearly half of inmates released will return to incarceration within three years. Florida paroles very few inmates before completion of the original sentence, and only a third are released under continued supervision.
Jones went to county jail for the first time at age 26 to serve a year for a DUI. He was incarcerated three other times between 1990 and 1993 for selling crack cocaine. He also picked up a theft charge, and his latest release was, once again, due to selling the drug he’d been hooked on.
Now that he’s paid his societal debt for the sixth time, Jones is starting at square one with finding a place to live, employment, family support and help with substance abuse.
About 87 percent of Florida inmates re-enter society, and many have to start from scratch with cobbling together a plan for stability.
“I have guys that are literally dropped off by the police here, and they don’t know which direction to plant their first foot in,” said Neil Hickem, community relations manager at the mission.
Housing hurdles: Inmates released from a Bay County facility are often transported to the mission and other shelters when they have nowhere else to go.
Jones chose the mission this time around, but recalls how divulging his botched background on a rental application for a duplex after his fifth incarceration cost him a housing opportunity.
“Things went well over the phone, until it came down to the interview,” Jones said of meeting the potential landlord. “She was like, ‘You have a felony. I don’t let felons in my house.’ ”
This discouraged Jones. He admitted to lying on rental applications thereafter, hoping property managers wouldn’t check his history.
“But they always did,” he said.
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It’s even harder for ex-cons to get public housing.
Paul Mills, executive director of Springfield Housing Authority, said the federal standard is to require felons to wait three years after their release before they’d be considered for public housing.
When felon applications do get a glance, Mills said prior offenses are evaluated on an individual basis. Unfortunately, rejections don’t come with a referral to other options.
“I really don’t give advice as to what they should do,” Mills said. “They are adults, and they’ve got to figure it out on their own.”
Having this barrier to such a basic need does little to boost morale. Many shelters are foregoing the image of a last-ditch place to take refuge and repackaging these facilities as transitional housing where residents can take part in other programs vital to reintegration.
Rachel Duvall, manager of women’s programs at Bethel Village Home for Women and Children, feels the lack of housing options for new parolees leads them right back down familiar paths of destruction.
“If we had more transitional housing for men and women getting out, I think the success rate would shoot sky high,” Duvall said.
Work and getting around: Securing a safe place to sleep is just one battle. Ex-cons face the same problem with employment applications.
“When I got out, I pounded the pavement every day for four or five hours,” Jones said.
It’s tough getting out flat broke and with few prospects once potential employers discover a criminal past.
“With my track record, it was like every door was closing in my face,” Jones said. “It seemed like every place I went said, ‘You have a felony; we can’t use you’.”
When bad history wasn’t the issue, Jones was turned down for jobs because he was over-qualified or lacked critical computer skills.
Duvall said it helps to acquire desirable skills with job training and emphasized the importance of the job seeker taking pride in their appearance to make good first impressions. She ensured the ladies who come to Bethel Village can dress appropriately for a job interview.
“I started an interview closet for the ladies with different sizes of nice clothes,” Duvall said. “They can just find a nice dress suit to go look for a job in.”
Duvall said a surprising number of employers are willing to extend felons a second chance. Jones finally found a job making minimum wage at a local industrial company.
He said a crucial moment in the interview was when the manager asked Jones if he was done with that part of his life, referring to his substance abuse and legal troubles. Jones reassured him that he was and worked hard to be a model employee.
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Jones had a lot to prove to his new boss and himself.
“I just wanted something to help myself. I would’ve washed dishes,” he said.
Transportation is another necessity. Mission residents use the Bay Town Trolley system, bicycles and walking to get around, since the convenience of a personal vehicle is a distant luxury.Duvall said people with addiction can qualify for free and reduced trolley passes through the federal Easy Access program that helps elderly and disabled people get around.
Addiction is defined as a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act, so addicts can qualify to ride for free by providing documentation.
Duvall also said anyone in a homeless shelter qualifies for emergency childcare assistance through the nonprofit Early Education and Care.
Finding support: Felons trying to build a life resilient to past mistakes have more success with a support network and a sense of accountability. Those released under parole supervision have an added responsibility during reintegration.
“Probation officers don’t want to send people back to prison,” said Bay County Sheriff Frank McKeithen. “Their job is to try to help people get back in society and be successful.”
But he said the likelihood of success rests on a personal decision.
“It is totally 100 percent up to the person to stay out of trouble,” McKeithen said.
Others succeed by turning to loved ones for emotional support and finding the right mix of help with substance abuse issues.
Jones said a change of scenery has helped him maintain his sobriety.
“My family is actually very supportive of me and very proud of me,” he said. “They want me to come home, but I just couldn’t at my age. I can’t be a burden on them.”
Jones, originally from Virginia, had a pretty good life in Ocala before he fell into addiction again.
“I had a home and business there and a marriage and kids,” he said. “I traded all that up for stupidity.”
Jones said life unraveled when the economy tanked in 2008. His contracting business fell apart and a bad investment drained his savings. Feelings of failure to provide for his family caused Jones to lose touch with his church and seek out drugs as an income stream and an escape.
That was the final straw for his marriage.
Being incarcerated meant Jones had a long time to sober up and think of where his life was going. He heard about the Rescue Mission while in prison and made the conscious decision to put rehabilitation first.
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“It’s the elephant in the room,” said Michael Brust, support supervisor at the mission. “Just because you’ve been incarcerated doesn’t mean that your alcoholism and drug problem isn’t waiting for you as soon as you get out. It’s still there.”
Jones is thankful for places like the Rescue Mission that offer hope when the rest of society seems so unforgiving toward people with a checkered past.
“People don’t really trust you,” he said. “You got to earn that.”
Felons can find meaningful work. Here are some tips for getting started:
- Be honest on the application. Rachel Duvall recommends checking a box admitting prior arrests and writing “will explain in person” where it asks for details.
- Admit to past mistakes in the interview without providing more detail than necessary. Emphasize what you’re doing now to ensure success in life.
- Sell yourself. Be prepared to answer the “Why should we hire you?” question with confidence.
- If the interview goes nowhere, write it off as practice and move on to the next thing.
- Duvall also said to make a good first impression. Show up on time, be humble and take pride in your appearance.
- Just get a foot in the door. Take less desirable temporary work until a more ideal job is offered.
- Attend free resume writing workshops offered by Gulf Coast State College on Thursdays from 1 to 4 p.m. at the job placement office located at 5230 W. Hwy 98.
Source: Rachel Duvall, Bethel Village
Do you do the hiring?
- The Federal Bonding program provides insurance to employers who hire at-risk applicants against loss of money and property associated with employee dishonesty. Bonds cover up to $5,000 of loss due to acts, such as theft, forgery, larceny and embezzlement. The incentive program is free and requires no papers to be signed. For more information, call CareerSource Gulf Coast Center at (850) 872-4340.