Incarceration in Indiana

Incarceration impacts Hoosiers at alarming levels, and the effects of imprisonment on communities, and families are grave. In 2017 alone, the Indiana Department of Correction (IDOC) released 5,798 individuals on parole and 3,348 on probation. An additional 1,584 were released through the Community Transition Program, transferring to work release, day reporting, or electronic monitoring programs two to six months in advance of their scheduled parole or probation period . These numbers are likely to increase, as Indiana continues to incarcerate Hoosiers at a higher rate every year.

Facing Re-Entry

Upon release, formerly incarcerated individuals encounter enormous challenges to re-acclimate to life outside prison walls. Those in jail for long periods have often lost contact with their prior support systems, particularly if they were incarcerated from a young age. With little or no adult experience outside of prison, navigating the basics of society outside prison can be extremely challenging and frustrating. Stable housing and employment are difficult to come for people recently released from prison, especially in a city with among the highest eviction rates in the country, and not having either can be an immense obstacle to successful re-entry. A safe home and regular pay are highly correlated with the likelihood of preventing re-incarceration, but formerly incarcerated individuals face numerous discriminatory barriers to renting and working.

Focus Emerges

Our initiative originated from a prisoner correspondence project based in Bloomington and Indianapolis. Through correspondence, incarcerated people and “free world” abolitionists built relationships and a support network for incarcerated people. Through those supportive relationships, we facilitated a greater understanding of the serious challenges of incarcerated life and the desperate need for increased support for people upon release from prison.

The urgency of creating FOCUS became clear when one of our incarcerated friends was released from prison and we attempted to help him navigate the hardships of re-entry. Incarcerated since he was 14, Faheem left prison the age of 32 with serious medical problems and little family support. He entered an environment in which job opportunities and housing for individuals with criminal records were extremely scarce. The experience of supporting Faheem taught us that the obstacles people face when transitioning out of incarceration - especially under severe circumstances like Faheem’s that are all too common - are simply too great to overcome on an informal basis. This understanding steers our work today. Faheem is a member of the Foundation Committee of FOCUS Initiatives, and several of our other friends who remain incarcerated (some of whom will be released in the next few years) advise us as we develop the organization’s vision and goals.

The Indianapolis Context

Some non-profit transitional housing and employment programs do exist in Indianapolis to help people navigate re-entry. However, most are focused on a single aim (e.g. employment), lack the capacity to meet the needs of the population they serve, and/or often are restricted to certain subsets of the formerly incarcerated population based on identity (e.g. religion, gender). In general, the need for transitional housing and employment far exceeds the capacity or the organizations committed to providing such resources to people returning to Indianapolis after being incarcerated. Because the support systems available to formerly incarcerated people in Marion County are insufficient to comprehensively meet the formerly incarcerated individuals’ diverse needs, many are re-incarcerated. More information on the Indianapolis/Marion County re-entry landscape is available on the website of the Marion County Re-entry Coalition.

As an organization intent on reducing carceral and punitive solutions to societal problems, FOCUS Initiatives aims to provide housing, employment, and a supportive community for formerly incarcerated people returning to Marion County without discrimination on the basis of any identity category, and on a much larger scale than currently exists.