Morristown Daily Record

Inmates face destitution, social and emotional challenges and biases as they try to re-enter society. Those issues can push them back to jail.

Morris County's Sheriff's Department is trying to change that with its new transition and re-entry program.

On Friday, county service providers, probation and police officers and high school students assumed the roles of former jail inmates for a simulation to experience some of the challenges.

The re-entry simulation held at the Morris County Public Safety Academy was the first public showcasing of the Successful Transition and Re-Entry (STAR) program started in October as a collaboration between Morris County Sheriff James Gannon and the county Office of Temporary Assistance within the Department of Human Services.

STAR's goal is to reduce recidivism, to give inmates assistance in accessing housing, food stamps, medical help or Medicaid so they don't get overwhelmed and hopeless when they are released and return to crime, said the sheriff.

The recidivism rate of Morris County Correctional Facility inmates is about 48 percent, according to the sheriff. The rate won’t drop without meaningful programs offered to inmates, Gannon and Freeholder Heather Darling said in opening statements.

“This is a holistic approach to a population that needs our support,” Gannon said.

Attended by more than 100, the re-entry program was organized by STAR case managers Melissa Maney and Sierra McEniry, who work out of the county correctional facility.

STAR assists inmates, who sign up voluntarily, with discharge, access to medical and substance abuse recovery services, housing, Temporary Aid To Needy Families, Medicaid, SNAP, jobs, identification documents, and even Vivitrol injections to help prevent relapses to alcohol or drug dependencies.

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“There’s no cookie-cutter method. We’re meeting everyone where they’re at,” McEniry said.

There are 83 current and former inmates enrolled in the program.

Michael Lester, who signed up for STAR, spent several months in the county jail for his third drunk driving offense. He shared his story on Friday. His first DWI, he said, took place 10 years ago after his wife died. His second for riding an electric bicycle while intoxicated.

“In real life, when you go to jail, you’re not laughing,” he told the crowd who laughed at some of his story. He received Vivitrol, found an apartment and set up dental and medical appointments with the help of STAR caseworkers, he said.

Role players moved between stations operated by volunteers posing as service and medical providers, landlords, court officials, pawn shop owners, and other people a former inmate may encounter. Mirroring real life, some volunteers treated the inmate role-players rudely while others were sympathetic or lenient.

Sheriff’s officers played roles too, escorting people away from stations to “jail” in a back corner of the room for infractions that included failure to pay a probation fine or speaking disrespectfully to a judge. By the time role players had reached the fourth week of trying to meet obligations, most were in jail – a reflection, Reeves said, of how easily a former inmate can return to jail without assistance.

“I think it’s a cool experience,” Morris Hills High School senior Francis Babe said. His background was as “Wesley,” who spent 10 years in federal prison for bank robbery.

Rewaida Muheisen, who works for the Morris County Office of Temporary Assistance, said the simulation gave her a glimpse of how overwhelming life may be for a former inmate.

“We see clients all day long and now we can see the effects of what we ask of them,” Muheisen said.