May 31, 2017 Dear Senator, As NFL players who ... - Cleveland.com

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May 31, 2017 - This plan would place more short-term, nonviolent inmates in community-based options, closer to their sup
May 31, 2017 Dear Senator, As NFL players who have personal connections to our broken justice system and have seen its impact on our own neighborhoods, we support justice reforms that strengthen families and restore communities. That is why we urge you to support the Targeted Community Alternatives to Prison plan included in Governor Kasich’s budget. This plan would place more short-term, nonviolent inmates in community-based options, closer to their support systems, instead of state prisons. The Targeted Community Alternatives to Prison plan will benefit Ohioans by expanding the use of less costly, more effective alternatives to prison. The plan gives more individuals the opportunity to receive essential programs and treatment at the community level while safely reducing Ohio’s growing prison population. But this policy is not just a cost-cutting strategy: it is an avenue to strengthen Ohio communities. Families across the state are torn apart when a parent heads to a prison hours away. Children have few chances to visit, creating significant challenges in maintaining relationships with their mother or father. By placing short-term, nonviolent offenders in effective community-based options, Ohio will give these parents the chance to more easily rejoin their families, ensuring a more stable family environment and decreasing the chance that they return to prison or jail. In Clinton County, where the Targeted Community Alternatives to Prison plan is already in place, individuals can access the treatment they need through such programs as the Intensive Prison Diversion Program, which can help prevent them from returning to prison. The support from this program has dramatically changed the future for individuals with substance abuse issues in Clinton County and, by expanding it statewide, it has the opportunity to do that for many more Ohioans. We are not asking Ohio to do anything groundbreaking. By enacting a robust expansion of this policy, Ohio would be in line with most other states that already limit prison incarceration to inmates who have been sentenced to a year or more. The Targeted Community Alternatives to Prison plan would strengthen communities and improve public safety across Ohio. With this in mind, we urge the Ohio Senate to include a robust version of the plan as a part of the budget you plan to pass. Thank you, Malcolm Jenkins Raekwon McMillan Ibraheim Campbell Chris Wells