By Sharon Coolidge
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Alissa Jones walked out of Ohio Reformatory for Women in 2001 with nowhere to go. She ended up at a cheap hotel and within three weeks was using drugs again. She was sent back to prison to serve the remaining six months of her sentence for drug possession.

Lisa Pennell, left, and Alissa Jones, participants in the Having the Courage To Change program, speak about their lives and the progress they've made through the program. (Gary Landers photo)

She's one of about 10 percent of Ohio's prisoners - about 2,500 people in 2002 - who head to Hamilton County after being released. That's second only to Cuyahoga County and about the same as Franklin County.

Jones' case not only illustrates some difficulties facing ex-convicts, but also for the communities where they go to live after their release.

A study by the Washington, D.C.-based Urban Institute's Justice Police Center found that the number of Ohio prison releases has tripled in the last 20 years - from 8,522 in 1982 to 25,624 in 2002.

Of the 21,759 Ohio prisoners released in 2001, 17 percent go back to prison within one year, the study found.

It costs taxpayers $59.92 to house a prisoner a day, or almost $22,000 a year, according to the Ohio Department of Corrections.

Hamilton County has at least a dozen programs to help released inmates succeed.

They include: the Urban League's Solid Opportunities for Advancement and Retention, a job and skills training program; the Urban Minority Alcohol and Drug Outreach Program, which works with prisoners before release; and Tender Mercies, which works with the seriously mentally ill. Some of the groups are working together as part of a task force formed six months ago.

Even with help, the transition is tough, said Danny Payton, who served a prison term for burglary and now runs the Urban League's training program.

"They face a lot of different problems," Payton said. "Not just employment. There's housing, building relationships with children they left behind, becoming a part of a new community."

"Without training and a job, they feel they have no other choice but to turn back to crime," Payton said.

Alissa Jones said Lucreta Bowman, who founded Having the Courage to Change in 1996 after being released from prison, is an inspiration. Jones has been in the program since she was released in November 2002.

"When I came here, I didn't know how to live in society," Jones said. "We're addicts. I was lawless and disrespectful. I didn't treat myself right, let alone others."

Through the faith-based program, Bowman teaches basic skills - cooking, cleaning, planning and budgeting. Ex-prisoners receive job training and help finding jobs.

About 20 women can stay at one of the program's three shelters for up to two years, although most stay for about a year.

The program provides clothing, food, counseling and medicine - all from private donations.

Later, when the women are working, each must pay $300 a month to remain in the program.

Even though Hamilton County has programs to help prisoners, Bowman said she thinks more needs to be done, especially in helping find jobs.

"Employers need to be willing to give them a chance," she said.

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E-mail scoolidge@enquirer.com