Letter: Housing next hurdle for former inmates

We want to thank IBJ for highlighting the employment needs of justice-involved individuals and the struggles they face in your article from Aug. 25 that appeared in the IBJ and Indiana Lawyer [“Worker shortage leads firms to hire more ex-offenders”]. However, the article contains outdated information that Marion County Community Corrections would like to correct.

In March 2022, Senate Enrolled Act 9 changed the response requirements for signal loss during work hours at a facility known for poor signal acquisition. In our experience, these locations are usually warehouses or similar facilities. When our electronic monitoring equipment loses signal during a client’s scheduled work time, SEA 9 allows MCCC to call the employer and verify that the client is on site. The client is not required to leave their worksite unless this back-up verification method fails.

While it is true that clients are required to charge their electronic monitoring devices, at minimum, twice a day to keep the device fully operational, there is no set time that they must charge. They can charge their device before work, during lunch or breaks, and after work. The only time a client is required to stop what they are doing and charge their device immediately is when they are at low power and at risk for losing signal. If this occurs, the client is contacted and told to charge their device. Clients will be required to leave and report to MCCC if their device registers tampering or an attempt to remove it.

Each of our clients is required to meet certain contact standards with their case managers. These monthly meetings allow our agency to assess our client’s needs and make sure they are receiving treatment and participating in cognitive behavioral learning.

We want to congratulate our area employers for opening their doors to justice-involved individuals who have completed their sentence or are currently completing it. Their acceptance has created hope for those who thought they may never be eligible for jobs with good wages. Our city has come a long way, but we still have quite a distance to go to aid in successful re-entry for our clients.

Our next hurdle to overcome in Marion County is housing. We have all seen the reports about the lack of affordable housing, but for justice-involved individuals, housing is scarce. It is difficult to stay compliant on home detention when a client doesn’t have a home. We believe Indianapolis is a place that wants to curb crime and stop people from re-offending on technical violations. Jobs are a great first step, but housing needs to be our next focus.

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Scott Hohl,
executive director,Marion County Community Corrections