Jessica Wright is now living for the future.

"I'm not going back," Wright said of being incarcerated. "I believe the class has changed all of us. I'm living for the future now, not my past."

Last week, Wright took a step forward in keeping that vow. The 37-year-old, sentenced to three years on drug-related charges, is on house arrest.

On Thursday, she was among 13 women graduating from the first Crossroads Ministries "Thinking for a Change" course in Madison County sponsored by the Mississippi Department of Corrections. The course is designed for inmates as well as those on parole or probation.

In Mississippi,inmates released from prison are given $25 or $50 and a one-way bus ticket with little or no training to help transition back into society, a situation that often leads to a revolving prison gate.

Roughly a third or more of Mississippi inmates return to prison within three to five years.

“When they go into the community, it’s a new world for them,” said U.S. District Judge Keith Starrett, chairman of the Mississippi Reentry Council. “If they don’t have some assistance, they will be back doing the things they were (doing) in a matter of months and end up back in the system.”

Former inmate Fred Wilson, 47, of Byram said at a recent criminal justice reform summit in Jackson that inmates need a God-centered program to reap benefits when released.

A lot of inmates live to go back in once they are released because they will get three meals a day, Wilson said.

"Fighting demons” is the way Wilson described what he called "foolish mistakes" that he and other inmates made to land themselves in prison. He served 14 years for aggravated assault.

An ad hoc group began meeting in 2013, leading to the Mississippi Legislature passing a bill in 2015 formally creating the Mississippi Reentry Council. The council's goal is to assist former inmates in their return to society, reduce recidivism and increase public safety while reducing the state’s corrections costs.

The state has spent more than $1 billion over the last five years in corrections costs.

Mississippi Parole Board Chairman Steve Pickett said reentry programs are an investment in saving the state money in the long run.

“We can’t incarcerate ourselves out of this situation,” Pickett said. “Reducing recidivism is the key to making our communities that we serve safer.”

Still, there aren't a lot of programs to help inmates navigate back into society in Mississippi, but there are some, and officials are pushing for reentry programs.

Mississippi has been awarded two Second Chance Act Reentry Program grants for former inmates with mental health and substance use disorders.

The first grant was awarded in 2016. The first six individuals graduated from the program in April. The second grant came in September, earmarked for north Mississippi.

John Blackman, 44, on parole for burglary, graduated from that first class. He said in a statement issued by the Department of Mental Health that the program changed his life, saying if not for Thinking for a Change he would still be in prison.

“It was a long hard road, but I believe if you free your mind, your behind will follow. My favorite parts of the program helped me in learning to trust people again, keeping an open mind and raising my self-esteem. Now, I want to help other people,” Blackman said in the statement.

There is also a pre-release program at the three state prisons in which offenders are offered help to obtain employment, provided counseling, classroom instructions, job development, job interviews and follow-ups.

Mississippi for a long time was a state known for harsh sentences for inmates, leading to it having one of the highest incarceration rates in the country. Mississippi still has the third-highest incarceration rate.

The Second Chance Act is a series of grants managed by the Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Assistance aimed at re-entry programming. The Department of Mental Health initiated the state's first grant in collaboration with the Mississippi Department of Corrections and Hinds Behavioral Health Services.

Mental Health spokesman Adam Moore said eligible participants include men and women released from MDOC facilities who are diagnosed with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders and are considered medium to high risk for recidivism. They are supervised by Hinds County's probation and parole office post-release.

The program includes an intensive outpatient program.

MDOC Commissioner Pelicia Hall said the second grant, awarded in September, will fund a new program in Panola, Lafayette, Marshall, Tate, Calhoun and Yalobusha counties.

The program can be completed in 12-16 weeks, with moderate-risk offenders requiring 140 hours and high-risk offenders requiring 210 hours.

Of the initial six who graduated, two have full-time jobs and one is working to acquire a GED. There have been no violations.

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MDOC general fund budget amounts