There are about 50,000 people incarcerated in Pennsylvania prisons and jails. Every month, about 1,800 are released from state prisons. Within three years, more than half of them will be arrested again or back behind bars.
Being able to cope on the outside is a major challenge for the inmates who are released. Finding a job, staying away from people or habits that landed them in jail in the first place, and re-storing trust and relationships with family and friends are hurdles facing those who are freed from prison. Avoiding drugs and alcohol is also a factor to staying on the right side of the law.
More than 2,800 inmates are women. Collectively, those women have about 2,000 children.
WHYY-FM is one of 15 news organizations that participated in the The Reentry Project, a solutions-oriented focus on the issues facing formerly incarcerated Philadelphians. WHYY’s Assistant News Director Katie Colaneri followed one woman who had just been released from prison. That woman — Redina Rodriguez — is from Harrisburg.
On Friday’s Smart Talk, we hear a documentary Colaneri produced about Rodriguez as she tried to reclaim her life, regain custody of her daughter and stay off drugs.
We’ll also speak with Katie Colaneri about what went on behind the scenes of Redina Rodriguez’s life.
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