Under program, felons avoid prison to be better parents

A unique sentencing alternative for felons in Washington state has allowed nearly 160 offenders to avoid prison in favor of family life.

The Parent Sentencing Alternative, which was created by a state law passed in 2010 (SB 6639), identifies non-violent felons whose children would benefit from having them at home rather than incarcerated.

Children of inmates are seven times more likely to become involved in the criminal justice system themselves, according to statistics from the Department of Corrections.

Amber, a 34-year-old inmate at the Washington Correctional Center for Women in Gig Harbor, Wash., is all too familiar with that statistic. Her father was incarcerated when she was young, and later died in prison.

Now, Amber has been given an opportunity to save her young children, who are five and two, from becoming third-generation inmates. She has been given the Community Parenting Alternative, a branch of Senate Bill 6639 which allows inmates to go home up to 12 months prior to their release date.

“Here we are paying the price for what we’ve done, but being able to still be a parent. That’s a really big deal,” she said. “To do something in a positive way and to rebuild yourself and break that cycle is a great opportunity.”

Amber will be released in coming weeks, but her activity will still be strictly monitored.

“The inmates that are coming out are still inmates, but they’re in their home,” said Susan Leavell with the Department of Corrections. “So, we use electronic monitoring as a way to ensure that they are where they say they are, that they don’t leave the home without permission. It’s kind of like a virtual prison in the home.”

Leavell is program manager of another branch of the Parent Sentencing Alternative, which is called the Family and Offender Sentencing Alterative, or FOSA. A judge allows certain non-violent offenders to avoid their prison sentence altogether, in favor of staying home with their young children.

“They will waive the prison sentence – regardless of the number of years – and impose 12 months community custody,” Leavell said. “We then do an intensive supervision model and are out with offenders weekly.”

A community corrections officer is assigned to those felons, who will learn to be present parents and put their kids first. The offenders are required to read with their kids at least 20 minutes each day, and must have a library card. Meals must be eaten as a family without the distraction of television to increase communication.

“With this alternative, we’re not just supervising an offender – a felon. We’re really working with that family as a unit with the goal in mind to assist with the raising of those children,” Leavell said. “Consistency and routine is so important with kids.”

Jesse, 28, is a felon who was allowed to stay home with his 2-year-old son, Jesse Jr., rather than serve an 18-month sentence for fourth-degree assault. He is required to call his community corrections officer, Ann Watkins, everyday, and she stops in once a week to keep him on track.

“How’s he?” Watkins asks Jesse of Jesse Jr. during a visit last week.

“He’s so happy,” said Jesse. “He’s just a whole different kid.”

Jesse said his son would have been the one to suffer would he have gone to prison.

“He would have probably thought he was abandoned,” he said. “He would have probably looked at me as a stranger.”

Jesse Jr. would have been one of roughly 1.7 million children nationwide affected by incarceration. Leavell said the effect on kids is very similar to that of a death in the family or another traumatic event. Kids of prisoners are more prone to delinquency and have a higher rate of drop-out.

“We all have a vested interest in generations to come, and if there is any way we can interrupt that intergenerational incarceration which we see often, it makes total sense to do that,” she said.

The Parent Sentencing Alternative can also help battle the ballooning cost of incarceration. While the total savings is difficult to estimate, it costs roughly $31 per day to put offenders on the alternative, compared to $90 a day to incarcerate.

“I think we are really fortunate in Washington State. We have a lot of alternatives to confinement, as compared nationally,” Leavell said. “We’ve for a long time had a sex offender alternative. We have a drug offender alternative, and I think as we start to look at the increasing cost of incarceration, we have to start dealing with the population differently.”

Since June 2010, 158 offenders have been given a parenting alternative. The diversion can be revoked at any time, sending felons back to prison to serve their original sentence, with no credit for time spent in the program. Nine participants have been kicked out of the FOSA program so far, one of which was sent to prison after committing a drug-related felony while under supervision.

But, the vast majority of offenders complete the alternative successfully. The Department of Corrections works with the Children’s Administration, Division of Behavioral Health and Recovery, Department of Health, crime victim advocates and child developmental specialists to ensure the right felons are being given the opportunity.

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