Monta Knudson spent 15 years of his life experiencing a substance use disorder. Ten of those years were spent cycling through jail and prison, he said.
After the fourth time he was incarcerated, he was referred to a transitional program with housing, recovery and treatment services. That was the missing piece that, on a long and winding road, helped him toward a better path.
Knudson shared his story with the Board of County Commissioners on Thursday, April 18. As the Executive Director of Bridges to Change, he now leads a 150-person organization dedicated to helping those who’ve experienced incarceration reenter the community with the same sorely needed support he received.
“What you may not know is that we [Bridges to Change] are a peer-run organization,” said Knudson during a proclamation honoring Second Chance Month.
“They [staff] come with lived experience and in most cases, have navigated the criminal justice system, including myself,” said Knudson.
“The Second Chance Act is important to our organization and vital to the services we provide as peers, but it’s also important in bringing those people who were once in the trenches of their addictions and criminal justice challenges into the field to help others,” he said.
“It’s very important that we keep the cycle of recovery happening.”
Knudson joined Linda Hastings, justice coordinator for Southeast Works and Michelle Aguilar-Tallmadge, interim deputy director of the Department of Community Justice, for the proclamation born of the Second Chance Act, a law passed by Congress in 2008.
The bipartisan act funds work to improve reentry outcomes, including more than 800 awards to grantees across the country.
Over the years, the goal of incarceration and community supervision has been redefined, said Aguilar-Tallmadge whose agency oversees parole and probation in Multnomah County.
“The primary purpose used to be detaining a person convicted of a crime until their sentence was complete. An approach that inevitably led to high recidivism rates of crime and wasted taxpayers dollars,” she stressed.
But today, leaders across the country have come to acknowledge that 95% of the people who are incarcerated will eventually return to their communities.
And a big part of ensuring public safety is preparing people for that transition, she said.
Many of the approximate 2.2 million people incarcerated nationwide will serve what reentry advocates call a “second sentence” back home as they face barriers to housing, continuing care, treatment, parenting and employment.
Without support, reentering residents often fall into a costly cycle of incarceration. But Thursday, speakers shared that progress has been made by government and community partners such as Southeast Works, Bridges to Change and Central City Concern who play a vital role in transitional housing, connection to mentors, treatment and other services.
“Our work is our passion and our passion is to ensure each person walking through our door has an opportunity to redefine themselves and be judged on skill and ability— not on their background,” said Hastings of Southeast Works.
Her organizations provides tailored job and vocation programs alongside services to assist returning citizens. From food stamps and temporary financial assistance for needy families, to resume workshops and even access to a public defender to assist with legal fines, fees and expungement needs, Hastings said.
“We find this is a huge barrier and stops reentering citizens from finding decent housing, getting a driver's license and securing a good job,” she said.
But there are still obstacles, even in the form of convincing some members of the public the work is needed.
This month, the County alongside Bridges to Change launched the Diane Wade House, the first-of-its-kind Afrocentric, transitional housing program from women involved in the justice system in Multnomah County.
“We were all at the Diane Wade House opening and it’s such a struggle to educate folks about why it’s important to rehabilitate people,” said Commissioner Lori Stegmann. “We have to invest in our community members so they can get back.”
Knudson shared that successful reentry is good for the community overall. Staff members at Bridges to Change have paid more than $700,000 in taxes after going through programs designed for reentry.
“It’s really crucial that we talk about it because what we’re hearing from a lot of nay-sayers in the community is to just put people back in jail — that jail is the answer,” said Chair Deborah Kafoury.
“We all know that jail is not the answer. It doesn’t find you a home or get you a job."
The Chair said, “We have to celebrate our successes, and talk about them."