The Madison County recidivism rate hovers around 85% a rate that’s been higher than the state average yet the city, county and much of the surrounding region don’t have re-entry programs for West Tennesseans coming home from imprisonment.
Many formerly incarcerated men and women come home with more trauma and problems but no support system, resources, programs or ways to reacclimate into society as working individuals.
So, the cycle continues: unable to work or deal with trauma, they commit crimes again.
Now, West Tennesseans who’ve been incarcerated will get a second chance through educational and career opportunities for the second phase of their lives because of the Phase II Adult Re-entry Program, a 12-month program that opened in Jackson in late April