Reentry

People who are formerly incarcerated and seeking employment are often rejected by employers because of their criminal record.

Lonnie Lockhart Bey, Mataka Askari and Supreme Allah all previously served time in the Missouri Department of Corrections. Since being released, they have all chosen to work with at-risk youth in Columbia.

Carlos Wade is an inmate at the southeast Missouri Correctional Center in the Bootheel. He's been in prison for 28 years – since he was 17 years old, and he maintains his innocence.

During Jessica Hicklin's time as an inmate in the Missouri DOC, she came out as trans. But at the time, she couldn't access the care she needed.Prior to the 2018 Hicklin v. Precythe ruling, only inmates who had started their transition before entering the DOC were allowed to continue treatment.

Missouri has become the first state to join Reentry 2030, a national effort focused on improving people’s chances of success upon reentry to society after incarceration. Dozens of people working in Missouri corrections and reentry gathered in Jefferson City yesterday to celebrate and mark the launch of the initiative.

The local newscast from the KBIA newsroom in Columbia, Missouri

Thousands of Missourians are currently on probation and parole, and while the two terms are often used together, they affect a person’s life in completely different ways.Mary Beth Lammey, the policy and procedure coordinator at the Department of Corrections, has worked at the DOC for over 25 years. She sat down with KBIA’s Katie Quinn to talk about the differences between probation and parole and her advice for the justice-involved.

Lonnie Lockhart Bey and Julian Jackman both spent many years in prison, and since their releases they have worked together to create the R.I.S.E Initiative in Columbia, which works with and empowers at-risk youth.They spoke about some of the reasons they created the R.I.S.E. Initiative and about what motivates them to do this work.

Jessica Chambers, a peer support specialist at the Reentry Opportunity Center in Columbia (the ROC), works with folks who are coming out of prison – helping them connect to housing, treatment, and just a sense of community.

On a side street off of Business Loop 70 in Columbia is an unassuming office. Large dark windows make it hard to see inside. But the moment you walk in, you’re greeted by the booming voice of Julian Jackman, the executive director of People Embracing Another Choice Effectively, or P.E.A.C.E. Jackman was in prison for 17 years. Now, he helps others who have recently come out of prison.P.E.A.C.E. helps people get identification, housing or whatever else they might need to reenter society after incarceration. But even before that, they work on getting people released as well as who they’re going to live with.