Washington, USA - Taboris Robinson recently got out of jail after the latest in a series of sentences for a variety of petty offenses. This time, with the help of a faith-based mentor who can pray with him and give practical help and encouragement, he hopes to stay out of trouble.
Each year, according to the Department of Justice, some 600,000 people are released from U.S. prisons. Within three years, two-thirds of them are back behind bars.
Struggling to deal with this problem -- which is costing the country billions of dollars -- state and local authorities are increasingly turning to churches for help. They have the enthusiastic backing of President Bush, who has advocated spending hundreds of millions of dollars on such faith-based programs and generally favors bringing religion more into the public sphere.
In Washington D.C., where around 3,000 ex-felons return to the community each year, Rev. Donald Isaac runs East of the River -- a partnership among clergy, police and the community that tries to help released prisoners by returning them to the religious life many of them grew up in, helping them find jobs and housing and equipping them with basic skills.
"Many of them don't know how to operate and live in a law-abiding way. They are conditioned to solving their issues in unproductive ways," Isaac said.
"Our most successful participants are those who have made a spiritual commitment. We are dealing with people who do have a spiritual deficit and lack of center," he said.
The organization's headquarters in Anacostia, which has some of the city's poorest streets and is over 90 percent black, is surrounded by drug dealers.
The nation's biggest faith organization working with prisoners is Prison Fellowship Ministry founded by former Watergate figure Chuck Colson. It runs an aggressive, evangelical program in many prisons. To join, prisoners must "accept Jesus Christ as their personal savior" and undergo a rigorous program of prayer and Bible study.
BUSH'S SUPPORT
In 1997, as governor of Texas Bush allowed Colson take over an entire wing of a state prison to launch an intensive two-year prison program. It has since spread to several other states and is enthusiastically embraced by many conservatives, who see prisons as a fertile source for new converts.
The program in Washington D.C. is a lot less intense. Isaac matches released prisoners with mentors who can teach them how to dress for job interviews, how to write resumes and direct them to literacy and anti-addiction programs as well as matching them with potential employers.
So far, the program has made little dent in recidivism, which is still over 60 percent for participants.
One success is Michael Barton, released in March 2004, who was a heroin addict for 15 years until he found God in jail.
"It brought me some stability and peace. I listen to a voice inside my head. Most of the time, it's God, keeping me straight, but sometimes it's wrong and I know it's the devil and I push the stop button," Barton said.
Barton is now mentoring Robinson, 28, who is living with his girlfriend and trying to get by on odd jobs. He has two children, each with different women.
Robinson's story is fairly typical. His mother was addicted to cocaine for much of her life. His father, also addicted, left when he was a young boy. By the time he was 16, he had dropped out of school and was selling drugs on the street and developing his own drug habit.
"The program keeps my head in the right place, which is important because it's much easier to get in trouble than stay straight," Robinson said. "Mike is like a brother to me, somebody I can talk to, a friend."
But Robinson is a rarity. Of 12 ex-prisoners assigned to Barton for mentoring, only four actually have showed up to meetings after the initial orientation. "Taboris is the only one actually doing anything to straighten himself out right now," Barton said.
Successive laws enacted by Congress and state in the past 10 years have made it even harder for ex-felons to stay out of trouble. For example, welfare reform legislation in 1996 banned anyone convicted of buying or selling drugs from receiving cash assistance or food stamps for life.
Several states have barred parolees from working in a variety of professions, including real estate, medicine, nursing, engineering, education, and dentistry.