Charlottesville Kiwanis Hosts Regional Jail Superintendent

by Jim Hart

The Kiwanis Club of Charlottesville hosted Colonel Ronald Matthews, Superintendent of the Albemarle Charlottesville Regional Jail, and Phyllis Back, Director of Programs at ACRJ, at their regular meeting Monday evening, November 2, at the Elks Lodge. Colonel Matthews (on left) cited a recently published study conducted by Ann B. Loper of UVA's Curry School of Education which showed that inmates who had undergone an intensive 8-week re-entry program prior to being released were much less likely to re-offend than those who did not go through the program. In the 170-person study, 31 percent of the offenders who did not go through the program were re-booked into the jail within six months. But only 14.5 percent of the persons who had completed the program were re-booked. Twenty percent of those who had a brief meeting with the Offender Aid and Restoration (OAR) transition team, but did not go through the 8-week program, were rebooked into the jail within six months of release.

"Recidivism is a serious problem faced by all communities in America," Matthews noted, "and we at the jail are interested in partnering with the community so that we can strengthen re-entry programs which have proven to lower the rate of recidivism." Phyllis Back explained the details of the Re-entry Program and other efforts, such as GED classes, vocational workshops, AA and NA meetings, and a re-entry mentoring program. All of these mostly volunteer-driven programs are aimed at moving offenders towards successful rehabilitation and away from those behaviors that will likely lead them back to jail.

Ms. Back encouraged the Kiwanians to volunteer in the wide variety of programs she directs, while Colonel Matthews underscored the importance of community employers and landlords extending a welcoming hand to those coming out of jail in search of a job and housing. "If each employer can offer just one inmate a chance at a job, imagine the difference that would make in the attitude of all the others who have most likely abandoned hope of ever rehabilitating their lives," Matthews said. "We need to change the perceptions of people and focus on the positive, on the success potential of these individuals, all the while offering them coaching and mentoring and positive relationships to keep them on the right track."

The community has an important stake in the success of this program, said Jim Hart, president-elect of the Kiwanis Club, and a volunteer re-entry mentor. Hart invited Kiwanians to take a "Look Behind the Walls," in a tour conducted monthly by Chaplain Alonzo Minor of the Good News Jail and Prison Ministry. "It will change the way you look at our jail," he said. "Just by visiting you will have a positive impact on those inmates and jail staff who come in contact with you."