Every Day Is a Struggle: Reentry During the COVID-19 Pandemic
By Josh Pynoos
Five recently released individuals share how the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting their return home.
COVID-19 is spreading throughout California prisons. Over 8,000 people are eligible for release from California state prisons to help stem the transmission of the virus, but those who are returning home face new realities and further struggles. For many formerly incarcerated people, the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic has made reentry an even steeper hill to climb.
Formerly incarcerated individuals face tremendous hardship in the job market, due to felony discrimination and lack of sufficient work experience. Many rely on family for housing and financial support. Often, people grapple with learning the basics of technology, and frequently return home with no state identification. Individually any of these impediments can be difficult — experiencing them all at once while reentering society can be a daunting challenge. At every turn, formerly incarcerated people face exclusions and stumbling blocks, and the aftershocks of the pandemic have only intensified the landscape.
I. The Job Market On The Outside, “It’s Background, Background, Background”
The economic downturn has created gloom for most Americans. In April of this year, California’s unemployment skyrocketed to over 16%. Formerly incarcerated people have a 27% unemployment rate during normal economic times. Now their employment prospects are even bleaker.
“I applied to work [at] Amazon, but the background check didn’t come back as favorable, so they wouldn’t move forward with my application or hire me,” said Anti Recidivism Coalition (ARC) member Robert Sandoval. He’s searching for a job opportunity, but he has long term goals of earning a Master’s degree in social work.
Background checks prevent people from being selected for jobs and push them away from society, instead of drawing them in.
“On the inside, I was working on my education, resumés, and marketable skills to become employable, but life is different once you get on the outside. It’s background, background, background,” Robert added.
ARC member Tony Urbina was denied a job at Amazon as well because of his prior felony record. For Tony, the rejection was soul-crushing.
“I figured I would be judged, that there would be people who would not give me a chance,” Tony said, “but when it does happen, it becomes real.”
Tony hopes to work as a counselor but understands the job climate may force him elsewhere.
“I’m trying to continue my education, and start a career where I can give back,” Tony said. “That’s where my heart is at. But If I have to just get a job to make money, then that’s what I’ll do.”
II. Public Spaces & Support Networks on Lockdown
Public spaces serve as valuable and safe resources for poor and marginalized people. COVID-19 has stripped away access to these vital services and locations. ARC member Mariano Orosco had planned on coming home and using public resources in Downtown Los Angeles.
“I was planning to go to the local library to work on my resume and have access to transportation,” Mariano said, but now the library is closed and his transitional living facility is on lockdown.
Mariano knows finding a job will be harder because of his felony record and the shrinking job market. As the pool of available jobs shrinks, those with felony records are further squeezed out of the job market.
Those recently returning home from California prisons must also rely on their families, largely poor and of color, who themselves have been pushed further into the economic margins by the sharp downturn. A one-time stimulus check for $1200 is not enough to survive on for most households, and neither is the $200 “gate money” that people are given to meet their needs as they return to their communities. With only 55% of formerly incarcerated individuals having reported any earnings during the first year of release, many formerly incarcerated individuals must rely on their struggling families to survive.
“My father and fiancée helped me buy clothing. I don’t have a lot of money right now,” said David Morales, who is in a transitional living facility in Los Angeles.
Others returning to the community had high hopes for reconnecting with their loved ones. COVID-19 has interrupted family reunification. Norma Cumpian, Manager of Women and Non-Binary Services at ARC, has noted that many people lament the fact that they cannot “hug or even connect with their families due to social distancing,” and therefore cannot reestablish critical emotional bonds with family and other loved ones.
“I originally was set to parole to LA, but I was re-routed to a reentry facility in Indio, California,” said ARC member Rey. “That’s three hours away from my support system. While I was there, I was disconnected from the reentry organizations that I had planned on getting help from. They put me in an in-patient drug treatment program, where I was locked down.”
Eventually, Rey was transferred to a different program closer to his family and with fewer restrictions.
III. The Digital World Leaves Many Coming Home In the Dark
As the world shifts to virtual meetings and online learning, formerly incarcerated people are often left in the dark.
For David, learning new technology can be a challenge, “It’s crazy to learn a phone, learn email, and a laptop. My family has been teaching me how to use it over the phone, but it’s incredibly difficult.”
These problems aren’t new to formerly incarcerated people, but the technology gap makes entering a digital world even harder. Social distancing has made it difficult for reentry service providers to help those newly home improve their digital literacy.
“You can’t sit next to someone and show them how to use technology. In our case, they can’t come to the ARC office to use computers,” Cumpian said. “They are navigating it while blind now.”
She added, “There is no internet in prison. So when they come home, they don’t know how to check emails or turn wifi on. There is no context for any of these functions and questions.”
Rey avoided using cell phones in prison because it could hurt his chances at the parole board. Further, Rey was limited in his phone use at his first reentry program.
“I only had access to my phone for 30 minutes a weekend,” he recalled.
Rey knew about what the internet was, but wasn’t able to use it until he was released. Harvey Knight, a reentry life coach at ARC who helps many people exiting prisons connect with reentry services, said, “upon release, operating a smartphone can be a challenge.”
Tony is having trouble with the basics.
“I knew very little about technology,” he said. “I had trouble even using a debit card at an ATM. Now I have to pay for things online. Technology has changed since I was last free.”
IV. State Identification & Roadblocks
What hasn’t changed much is the need for a valid form of state identification to access resources and services. Those leaving prison often do so without a valid form of state identification, including a driver’s license, birth certificate or social security card. Cumpian notes that people coming home during COVID-19 are at a particular disadvantage because many government offices are closed. Not having a valid form of state identification is a significant obstacle to accessing critical resources, including employment.
“When I was preparing to come home, I had planned to get my driver’s license and social security card to get benefits,” said David. “Now I’ve been out three months and I barely have any of those.”
Tony is still waiting to take his driver’s test. Knight cites having proper identification as the biggest reentry hurdle.
“Even before COVID, the biggest challenge is documentation. People who have been gone a long time do not have an ID or documentation,” Knight said. “They are coming straight home from prison, they are not so used to doing these things on their own. In order to get a birth certificate you have to go to the Hall of Records, pay for a birth certificate, then make an appointment to get an identification. It can be an overwhelming process.“
Without identification, a person’s life is on pause until they can be connected to services.
Still, despite having difficulty establishing formal forms of identification, these individuals have not lost sight of who they are and who they became on their path to freedom. They have remained in touch with the hopefulness and resolve that helped get them through prison and into the free world. Research shows that one of the keys to success for formerly incarcerated people is their resolve and self-efficacy. Robert was finally hired at a distribution center. Rey overcame the technological challenges and connected with other released former life prisoners on Facebook. David accessed benefits and signed up other men at his housing facility. Tony and Mariano continue their job search and training. It’s their only choice because every day for those returning can be a struggle, especially now that the COVID-19 pandemic is making the reentry gauntlet even harder.
Josh Pynoos is Policy Associate at the Anti-Recidivism Coalition (ARC).
