Any programs available in the state of Maryland that assist people that were one crimminals.want 2 go strait?

Question

These are fairly young people who range in age from 16-25 and assistance would be appreciated

Answer 1

"the departments of corrections and labor
operate a vocational development program open to
all prisoners. Corrections officials in Montgomery
County, Maryland, run a transitional facility where
inmates can live during the last six months of their
sentence and plan their return home. These two programs
alone suggest the range of approaches government
can take to help people become ready for life
on the outside. And research is beginning to demonstrate
their value: inmates involved in both programs
have been less likely to be reincarcerated than people
who did not receive services before release.2
While there is much to discover about the effects
of pre-release programs, enterprising officials in a
handful of states across the country continue to
experiment, convinced that common-sense services
such as job training and development, help securing
personal identification, referrals to community
health services, and family-focused counseling
enable inmates to take better advantage of whatever
support and supervision they receive in the
community or, in the absence of such services,
navigate better on their own.
This paper briefly describes their efforts—strategies
that could be modified to work in other jurisdictions.
It ends with specific suggestions for planning
pre-release services, including considerations of cost."

"Baltimore County turns inmates into ‘Winning Fathers’
By Charles Taylor
Senior Staff Writer
When 27-year-old Karl got out of jail, it wasn’t a question of "if" but rather, "when" he would resume paying child support for his young daughter. "It’s 100 percent important," the Anne Arundel County, Md. resident said by phone recently.

One of the lucky ex-offenders, he had a job waiting for him but needed transportation to get to it. That’s where Baltimore County’s Winning Fathers program helped. A joint effort of the county’s Department of Social Services and Department of Corrections, the program provided Karl free bus tokens - one of the many services it offers. Able to get to work and with his income restored, he caught up on support payments to his ex-wife for their 2-year-old daughter, making a $5,500 payment a few months ago.

Perhaps much more important than bus fare, Winning Fathers helps inmates find jobs while still incarcerated and provides them up to three months of support services after their release to help them stay employed and support their children.

The program expanded on an existing relationship between the county’s Social Services and Corrections departments. For more than 10 years, they had worked together to help Baltimore County Detention Center inmates transition back into the community. The departments collaborated on workshops in pre-release planning, anger management, parenting from afar and job readiness.

Winning Fathers began in 2003, adding employment development and case management services - with the goal of increasing fathers’ roles in their children’s lives and encouraging non-custodial dads to pay their child support. It was funded with a $91,200 state grant from the Maryland Department of Human Resources.

"What we know is that when men leave the detention center, employment is a very important piece to them being successful," said Marci Van De Mark, assistant director of Social Services. "The idea was, if we could try and identify employers who would hire men while they’re still incarcerated, that would give them a leg up in terms of being employed when they leave the detention center."

Through April 2006, the program had reached more than 900 men, helped 90 find jobs and funneled about $150,000 in child support payments to former inmates’ children, according Van De Mark. "We have 93 children who were not being supported by their dads - because their dads were unemployed or they were incarcerated - who are now being supported by their fathers." The program has been so successful that the state of Maryland plans to replicate it in its other 23 counties.

Winning Fathers is open to offenders with sentences of up to 18 months who are incarcerated for non-felony convictions. Their offenses range from assault, robbery and substance abuse to DWI and domestic violence. While a job developer aggressively recruits participants, the inmates "self select" for the voluntary program, Van De Mark said.

Preparing for life after jail

Inmates participate in an eight-hour, four-session job readiness workshop - offered monthly - designed to remove barriers to employment by providing job placement assistance, and educational and vocational training referrals. Program staff coach inmates on interviewing techniques and help them with resumes. On the behavioral side, the inmates also take an active parenting workshop, which covers topics such as role-modeling, consistency and leisure activities with children.

Earl Corso, an employment specialist with Social Services, works with employers and inmates. He recruits employers at job fairs, tracks new businesses coming into the area and tries to convince them of the advantages of hiring ex-offenders, which include state and federal tax benefits.

Another benefit, Corso explained, is getting a dependable employee. "If you have someone in work release, it’s guaranteed that he’ll be there." The program has identified more than 50 employers who hire inmates and ex-offenders.

Corso provides the inmates with job leads, arranges for employers to interview inmates at the detention center, and even helps them find work clothes and tools, if necessary.

A key component of the program’s success is finding employers who are willing to pay a living wage, sufficient for ex-offenders to pay child support, Corso added. From August 2003 through January 2005, the average hourly wage was $11.56, with the highest wage rate of nearly $19 per hour. Since then, the highest-paying job a program participant has found - as a plumber - paid $30 an hour.

Corso’s formula for success is simple: establishing good relationships with the detention center and employers, marketing successfully to employers and forming a good relationship with the inmates. "Empowering them, more than anything," he said, "I think that’s been the key to success."

Post-release support is key

"They say that if a person is successfully employed for 21 days that you’re likely to have a good employee," Van De Mark stated. So continuing to monitor and provide services to ex-offenders is important to their success. Winning Fathers works with the men for 90 days, "because these guys have many challenges, many issues in their lives," she added.

After an inmate’s release, Winning Fathers provides incentive stipends, in the form of gift cards, to reward the ex-offender for paying his child support. If he remains employed and paying child support for 30 days, he receives $100 worth of gift cards to spend on his children; after 90 days, $150 in cards are awarded. "It’s been a motivator," Corso said.

Locking the revolving door

The Winning Fathers program has another focus - lowering recidivism: "Men need to think differently when they leave," Van De Mark explained, "because if they continue to think the same way they did prior to entering the detention center, they’re going to be right back." Historically, about 50 percent of inmates in Baltimore County wind up back in jail, officials said. Lowering the rate of reoffenders can affect the county’s bottom line, said Sharon Tyler, a program manager with the Department of Corrections.

"If you’re looking at a recidivism rate where half the people who are released come back again, if you can affect 10 percent, you’re affecting your population and resources." The program will need to be in place longer to identify any meaningful trends in recidivism rates, she said.

Tyler believes the program sends a positive message to all inmates - "that we are actually trying to correct things and not just warehouse inmates, that we want to make a difference - that we’re trying to return these people to the community as real citizens, paying child support, paying taxes and taking care of their families."

Karl, who returned to work as a car salesman after serving six months in the county Detention Center for resisting arrest, agrees.

"The program provided me the ability to provide for my family and children, and, in the end, being able to see them."

Answer 2

Yep its called prison. 3 hot meals a day. And all the adult supervision they need.

Answer 3

you can go to court and get your record sealed. they also train you for free (technical jobs) sometimes