Trey Kay, Tasha A. F. Lemley, Matthew Hancock Published

Re-Entry

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America’s prisons incarcerate people who’ve violated the law, but at some point, at least 95 percent of all state prisoners will be released back into the free world. Some struggle to navigate that transition successfully. 

On this encore Us & Them episode, host Trey Kay hears about the challenges of reentry. 

Some of those challenges are essential but basic — accessing identification materials, birth certificates, social security cards and identity cards. In prison, many of life’s decisions are made for men and women while life on the outside can mean thousands of choices each day. 

How do we want men and women coming back after prison? How well do programs designed to help formerly incarcerated people succeed? Some people suggest we must first recognize that many of the men and women serving time are victims themselves. Recognizing that trauma may be a powerful step to help people make a new life after they serve their time. 

This episode was honored with a national first place documentary award from the Public Media Journalists Association.  It was also part of a series of episodes that were honored with a first place award in public service through journalism from Virginia’s AP Broadcasters. 

This episode of Us & Them is presented with support from the West Virginia Humanities Council, the CRC Foundation, the Daywood Foundation and The Just Trust.

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After 10 years in a Connecticut prison, Daryl McGraw is now a criminal justice reform expert. He has experience in the areas of policy development, contract management and project coordination, as well as collaborating with grassroots peer-advocacy agencies and the Connecticut Department of Corrections. Mr. McGraw is a community organizer, activist and philanthropist. He serves on several boards involving re-entry and criminal justice reform in the state of Connecticut. He consults with law enforcement, universities, policy makers, behavioral health and addiction treatment facilities who are looking to expand their knowledge and expertise in the area of criminal justice reform. McGraw says he re-entered society with a plan for who he wanted to be. He then went on to found Formerly Inc. He says he’s been able to implement some reentry ideas to help other formerly incarcerated people reintegrate. 

Credit: C4 Innovations
Michelle Thompson is Director of Outreach at the Bible Center Church in Charleston, WV.  She is participating in a re-entry simulation staged at the West Virginia State Capitol during the 2023 legislation session. She says that in her job she helps people with all kinds of challenges like getting rental assistance, transportation, and assistance in paying bills. However, this is her first experience in understanding what a formerly incarcerated person experiences when re-entering society.

Credit: Trey Kay/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Rahim Buford says he was “caged for 26 years of my life, from age 18 to 44, seven different prisons throughout the state of Tennessee.” He says that people of all ages, faiths, races experience challenges when they reenter society, and that’s why he started his nonprofit Unheard Voices Outreach.

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Thomas Murphy or “Tom Tom” was incarcerated for 31 years. His story of re-entry has been quite challenging.

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Jeremiah Nelson is with the West Virginia Reentry Council and the REACH Initiative. REACH stands for “Restore, Empower, Attain Connections with Hope.” They organized the re-entry simulation staged at the West Virginia State Capitol during the 2023 legislation session. Jeremiah was formerly incarcerated and says for some reentering society after incarceration, the most important things can be the most basic. Birth certificates, social security cards, IDs and transportation make the difference between surviving in the outside world and landing back inside. In prison, he says a person only makes about a hundred decisions a day. You’re told when and where to do everything. On the outside, life can mean 30,000 decisions a day.

Credit: Trey Kay/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Verna Wyatt and Valerie Craig are victims advocates and co-founders of Tennessee Voices for Victims. Wyatt started this work after her sister-in-law, who had been her best friend for 15 years, was raped and murdered. She said her whole world was turned upside down.  “I was so angry at people that could do such horrible, despicable things to innocent people that I wanted to prevent that from happening to other people.”

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