| TANF TANF Reauthorization ideas Office of Administration 5th Floor
East Aerospace Building 370 L’Enfant Promenade, SW Washington, DC 20447
Re: TANF Reauthorization The Fortune Society is a non-profit ex-offender
self-help organization that runs one of the country’s most successful and
intensive array of programs serving community corrections clients. Founded
in 1967, The Fortune Society has a dual mission: to educate the public and
decision makers on criminal justice issues and to provide ex-offenders
with the skills and services needed to break out of the cycle of crime and
incarceration to build productive lives in the community. Since its
founding in 1967, Fortune has helped tens of thousands of ex-offenders and
at-risk youth rebuild their lives. Fortune currently serves over 2,000
clients on-site annually, and over 8,000 prisoners and ex-offenders
receive HIV-related outreach and education each year. The demographic
make-up of our client base largely reflects that of the prison population;
approximately 49% are African- American, 45% Latino, 88% male, 15%
homeless, roughly 70% have a history of drug abuse and an estimated 20%
are HIV-positive. While Fortune’s current programs have proved successful
at providing supervision and services that enable clients to grow, learn
and remain free of incarceration, we have not had the resources to
adequately provide much needed intensive family counseling, vocational
preparation and life skills training for clients. Many of the clients who
come to us for supervision and counseling have strained many of their
familial relationships and lack the skills needed to find and retain work
and support and care for their families. There are nearly 1,500,000
children of incarcerated parents in this country. Children of incarcerated
parents are more likely than other children to become involved with the
criminal justice system. Most of our clients have grown up in poor, single
parent households and are themselves parents of young children. We
recognize that the education level of children is, more often than not,
determined by the educational attainment of their parents. In homes where
parents have low literacy skills and do not model learning as an important
value, the literacy and learning of their children is affected. In fact,
illiteracy is often intergenerational. Fortune works to not only reunite
families, but to provide parents with the skills to be better parents, and
to provide their children with the support and encouragement that so many
of our clients lacked. In FY 2000, Fortune developed and received TANF
funding for a Family Services unit, which provides a variety of
family-centered services to Fortune’s clients and their children. Fortune
was one of the agencies chosen in the New York State Division of Probation
and Correctional Alternatives to receive this first round of TANF funding.
Our program works to reduce the risk of children repeating a debilitating
cycle of dependence, substance abuse, crime and incarceration. On November
5, 2001, staff of Fortune attended a regional TANF reauthorization forum
in New York City. The Fortune Society is committed to participating in all
forums where input from community-based agencies/organizations is valued.
Based on our experience during the past year, The Fortune Society
wholeheartedly encourages Congress to reauthorize the TANF legislation
with the following provisions expanded. While Fortune supports TANF’s
emphasis to move recipients from dependence on public supports to
independence through work, we have found the majority of TANF eligible
clients are not employable but rather are in need of vocational/
educational readiness training prior to employment. According to the Youth
Advocacy Project, “School failure has been universally recognized as a
precursor to anti-social and self-destructive behavior.” For youth already
involved in the criminal justice system, preparing for economic
self-sufficiency requires a solid academic foundation, life skills, and
good workplace attitudes and attributes. According to the Federal Bureau
of prisons, there is an inverse relationship between recidivism rates and
education. The higher an individual’s education level, the less likely he
or she is to be re-arrested or re-imprisoned. Education programs in
prisons are extremely limited, and are often only available through
correspondence, so strong adult education programs are necessary to meet
the specific needs of ex-offenders who have most likely been out of the
classroom for many years. Our intervention with this population in the
form of parenting and family services, life skills and employment
readiness is critical, for both the clients as well as their children are
at risk of repeating a debilitating cycle of dependence, substance abuse,
crime and incarceration. The many of the clients served by Fortune require
intensive support in the Educational/Vocational Readiness arena before
they can successfully seek and hold employment that will allow them to
become economically self-sufficient. The changing job market has also
impacted our communities. According to the Department of Labor Statistics
Employment Projections report the five fastest-growing occupations are
computer-related occupations. The report also states that jobs requiring
an Associates Degree or higher will grow at a faster rate than jobs
requiring less education. Not only do ex-offenders face the loss of
industrial jobs, once the major source of employment in inner-city
communities, but they also face the reluctance of employers to hire
ex-offenders. A recent survey found that 65% of employers in five major
cities would not knowingly hire an ex-offender. Our clients who lack
education and experience are going to be left out of this changing economy
unless they are given technical and job skills, as well as a basic
education. Young people in urban areas, particularly in the seven
communities we generally serve, have limited access to computers and new
technology necessary to enter today’s economy. People coming out of prison
are at an even greater disadvantage. Technology has changed drastically
over the last few years, and prisoners are rarely educated on changing
technologies. We request the Administration to promote the philosophy that
education and training are essential to providing our clients with the
tools necessary to insure stable employment. Our communities need
additional funds for pre-employment education and vocational training. We
also encourage changing the rules regarding the time available for
secondary education. Our clients would increase their probability of
successfully maintaining stable employment if TANF allowed for the
increase from one year college to a minimum of an Associate degree. As
mentioned above the staff at Fortune is available to provide information
based on life experience regarding the changes we that believe would
benefit our clients, our community and our country. Please call on us if
we can be of any assistance. Respectfully submitted, Peggy Arroyo Senior
Director ATI Programs |
