Reentering Society with NeighborCorp

Once released from prison, many formerly incarcerated people are left unsure of what exactly their next step in life is. Many hope to rejoin society and find a career after their sentence but sometimes they do not have the means or the support system to keep them afloat. This is where Austin Morreale and NeighborCorp come in to help. They refer to their clients as participants to encourage in more of a participatory culture as opposed to focusing on the past and hope to help them plan for their future. Morreale is the service director at NeighborCorp. He took a few moments out of his day to answer some questions about the organization, the process of working with people with convictions, and how he and the staff work with them to ensure they keep their new positions.

What is your position here and what exactly does it entail?

My position is responsible for everything from working one-on-one with returning citizens who we have as participants, whether they’re in jail or out of jail. We provide them with case management and direct care. I’m also responsible for recruiting volunteers to work with NeighborCorp.

Can you expand on what you mean by volunteers?

They’re volunteers from the community. Some of them may also have a record, some don’t. The ideal volunteer role is someone who actually meets with our participants while they are still serving their sentences. Ideally, that relationship is continued once that participant is released and the volunteer can continue to provide support and connect the participant to programs, job opportunities, substance abuse programs, etc. Navigators, also known as volunteers, work with people inside the jails as well as outside, though those volunteers are more specialized.

So not including the volunteers, how many people work with the company?

There are only two paid staff members, myself who is basically full time and then my co-worker who is part-time. Most of her work is primarily handled in the jails one-on-one with potential clients. She handles the work while they are incarcerated and is the first to interact with them from NeighborCorp. After they are released, they are first transferred over to me. Besides us and the volunteers, we are very lucky to have interns with us. Some are from Rutgers or the social work department, and then some are from other schools.

After the initial one on one process, how do you go about planning out a potential future for your clients?

During the initial meetings, whether it be someone who’s in jail or out of jail, we go through an intake form that goes over their background and medical history. Then, we spend time talking to them about what goals they would like to accomplish. What kind of support system they already have in place, whether that be through friends or family in the area that can provide assistance. After that, we start talking about what steps we could start taking to reach those predetermined goals. Once the client is released, then this plan can begin. We at least want them thinking about a reentry plan for when they are released. We also do advocate for our clients in courts if needed.

What is the participant’s initial reaction when you go to them?

It’s interesting. They heard about us through various ways in jail so they had asked us to come in. Other people are referred to us through social services and they might not have been told by social services that we have been notified. Sometimes we go in to talk to someone and they have no clue what’s going on. Mostly everything works out well but there are instances where it’s kind of a surprise for them when they realize we’re here to help and that they could benefit from us.

Has there ever been a time where someone denied your help?

Oh, there has been. There are times when we go into the jail and the person reached out to us and we go to see them. The officer there then informs us that the potential client denied to see us. Sometimes there’s a valid reason like they aren’t feeling well or they’re at their in-prison job. Other times, they just say no and we don’t know why. There were a few people who were the ones who initiated the interaction but then said they didn’t want to see us when it came time for a meeting. We’ll try a couple of times afterward and send letters but, we help who we can. They always know we’re there and if they change their minds, we’ll go see them.

What are some of the job opportunities available once they are released?

Mostly warehouse work. A lot of it is through temp agencies. The majority of our participants have yard work experience so they end up doing that. A good deal of them are doing warehouse work or manual labor jobs.

Do you follow up with participants after a certain period of time?

We try to stay in touch with our participants once a week or as long as they still seem to need support. The model for it is a year but the majority of returning citizens that we’re working with are not stable after a year so we continue to work with them. The idea is that we are in touch with them once a week. However, there are some participants that we are in touch with a lot more than once a week. It may be a crisis situation so they need more support. Other times, we may hear from participants less than once a week because they found a job or are in a program that they needed. We reach out so many times and hopefully, they respond to us but if they decide that they don’t need us anymore, that’s up to them. We are always there to help when needed.