Last year Arkansas released over 6,000 inmates from prison. Half will be back within three years, most for addiction related crimes. This high recidivism rate plus new convictions has our prisons and jails so full that it affects the performance of our justice system (i.e. no room in jail for new arrests, releasing inmates faster than the courts wish (Emergency Powers Acts), and unreasonable case loads for Parole Offers. The current situation led officials to “call the overcrowding in Arkansas prisons a crisis”.
As bad as the situation is, there is a bright spot. A small alternative incarceration program in Arkansas has achieved unusual success, cutting recidivism to 25%. The five Department of Community Correction Units around the State take non-violent offenders through a 9 mth program they developed termed “modified therapeutic community” (MTC). Residents in the program enter recovery to maintain sobriety, learn responsibility, and practice accountability. These ‘life skills’ are the foundation that DCC spiritual volunteers build upon in their teaching of courses like Men’s Fraternity, Celebrate Recovery, Alcoholics Anonymous, and Crown Financial.A couple of UGM folks were interviewed in a Channel 4 Sept 2009 report:
