On Transitional Housing
So what if you were just released from jail or prison and wanted to get back into society but didn’t have money to buy a house or any friends or family in the area?
This is the problem that 40% of the 274 ex-prisoners released in 2006 and 40% of the 139 expected to be released in the Rochester Area face or will be facing. They are essentially homeless and may stay that way unless the already over-burdened probation officers and system find accommodations for them. By the way, there are currently 2,178 people on supervised release living among us today.
I think we’ll all agree that having a job, earning our keep, and being able to support ourselves are key to leading a healthy, productive life. Ditto for those who return to society after serving their sentences for their previous transgressions on our society.
The Department of Corrections including our Olmsted County probation office are proposing to open a “transitional” housing facility to address this need for housing. Others may follow.
An early attempt met with resistance from nearby residents. Fear of the unknown mostly. danger to themselves and their loved ones, loss of property values – you know, that sort of thing.
We, the city council, placed a one year moratorium to study the matter and formed a task force to help do this. Representatives from the Corrections community, neighborhoods, and various city and county organizations met since January.
They’ve made some pretty sound recommendations and we, the council, gave them the approval to continue through the ordinance formation and change process on the line they suggested.
Basically, the proposed home will have to come before the Planning and Zoning Commission and Council as a Conditional Use Development – meaning that it would only be approved if it met the conditions laid out in the ordinance and that it could only keep functioning if it continued to meet those conditions.
Conditions may vary depending on whether any level of sex offender would be housed on the property but basically no two houses could be within 1000 feet of each other (to keep the residential flavor of the area) and there must be at least 400 homes within a 1500 foot radius (again to insure residential atmosphere versus putting the home in a fringe area or industrial area).
In houses where sex offenders of any type might live there would be additional restrictions imposed. Houses could not be within 1000 feet of a licensed day care center, or 500 feet from a school or neighborhood play ground. We think this makes sense and is a balance between addressing the need to help assimilate these folks back into our community as helpful, supportive members of the community and addressing the concerns of our current residents.
I don’t expect to make a firm decision on this before June so let me know what you think.
I also have a lot of data on success rates, recidivism experience and can enlist the help of the Department of Corrections to address your questions, attend neighborhood meetings etc.
This is the problem that 40% of the 274 ex-prisoners released in 2006 and 40% of the 139 expected to be released in the Rochester Area face or will be facing. They are essentially homeless and may stay that way unless the already over-burdened probation officers and system find accommodations for them. By the way, there are currently 2,178 people on supervised release living among us today.
I think we’ll all agree that having a job, earning our keep, and being able to support ourselves are key to leading a healthy, productive life. Ditto for those who return to society after serving their sentences for their previous transgressions on our society.
The Department of Corrections including our Olmsted County probation office are proposing to open a “transitional” housing facility to address this need for housing. Others may follow.
An early attempt met with resistance from nearby residents. Fear of the unknown mostly. danger to themselves and their loved ones, loss of property values – you know, that sort of thing.
We, the city council, placed a one year moratorium to study the matter and formed a task force to help do this. Representatives from the Corrections community, neighborhoods, and various city and county organizations met since January.
They’ve made some pretty sound recommendations and we, the council, gave them the approval to continue through the ordinance formation and change process on the line they suggested.
Basically, the proposed home will have to come before the Planning and Zoning Commission and Council as a Conditional Use Development – meaning that it would only be approved if it met the conditions laid out in the ordinance and that it could only keep functioning if it continued to meet those conditions.
Conditions may vary depending on whether any level of sex offender would be housed on the property but basically no two houses could be within 1000 feet of each other (to keep the residential flavor of the area) and there must be at least 400 homes within a 1500 foot radius (again to insure residential atmosphere versus putting the home in a fringe area or industrial area).
In houses where sex offenders of any type might live there would be additional restrictions imposed. Houses could not be within 1000 feet of a licensed day care center, or 500 feet from a school or neighborhood play ground. We think this makes sense and is a balance between addressing the need to help assimilate these folks back into our community as helpful, supportive members of the community and addressing the concerns of our current residents.
I don’t expect to make a firm decision on this before June so let me know what you think.
I also have a lot of data on success rates, recidivism experience and can enlist the help of the Department of Corrections to address your questions, attend neighborhood meetings etc.
posted by Bob Nowicki | 9:23 PM
<< Home