Stephanie Tubbs Jones: “I want to highlight, if I might, just a couple of programs in the City of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, that have been…”

“I want to highlight, if I might, just a couple of programs in the City of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, that have been successful in community re-entry. I have served on the board of the Community Re-Entry Program under the Lutheran Metropolitan Ministries for some 25 years. I remember with great glee Rev. Dick Searing, who has gone on to shine down upon us as we continue his work, as well as Charles See, who is the executive director, and a lot of the members that were on the board. We were able, through Community Re-Entry, to do a number of things, and one of those was to develop care teams, and the care teams were made of ex-offenders. And we developed these care teams such that at one point in time they were literally serving as caretakers or workers for senior citizens staying in public housing. One of the senior citizens actually said that she viewed the, we called them 'care team members,' and they wore red jackets, and she stated how she felt about them. And she said, 'They're not criminals. They're just like my sons. And they've been taking care of me.' The care teams were paid employees of Community Re-Entry. They received a full-time benefit package, including vacation, health insurance and pension that was fully vested after 1 year. The recidivism rate for our care team members was less than 5 percent.”