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else I’ve been in, there were no resources, nowhere to start
from.”
And Mr. Ramos, the resident rapper, added what he felt was
a game-changer even after just three weeks of Steps to Freedom. “They really care about us in here, about what’s going on
in our lives. They speak to us like we’re human beings, not just
a number.”
This is pretty much where the tour ended, and now it was
Local 167’s turn to stand up and share a thought. Victor did the
honors.
“I feel strongly that a program like this will help many correctional facilities throughout the state,” he surmised. “I just
wanted to say thank you for doing so many positive things.”
Changing Corrections
In an exit interview, Local 167 asked Balicki and Bermudez
some illuminating follow-up questions. First off, Ryland wanted to know how the corrections officers in the unit reacted to
a program in which inmates had the responsibility of policing
themselves.
“Well, it’s going to be weird,” the warden shared. “When we
started this, I went to one of the gang leader inmates and asked
him to be on my side. He said he would do it, but then another inmate gave him some lip and he punched him in the face.
Had to send him back to lock-up. So, at first, the officers didn’t
like the inmates having the authority over each other with peer
pressure. But then they saw it could be positive peer pressure,
not negative.”
Bermudez added that Steps to Freedom rarely, if ever, comes
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■ NOVEMBER 2016
up as an issue that elicits complaints from Local 231 members.
“Alternative incarceration is the way,” he supported. “It’s safety
first and it serves the community. It’s a win-win.”
The other obvious big question is one that will no doubt
come from the freeholders: How to pay for the program?
Cumberland County gets a grant from Regional Substance
Abuse Treatment (RSAT) that covers 25 beds each quarter. Of
course, they put considerably more clients though each year,
so the county is picking up the rest of the tab.
Why would they do that, Warden?
Balicki initially pointed out that h is population has gone
from 700 to approximately 350 primarily because of the decrease in the recidivism rate Steps to Freedom helps. He then
explained how getting the program graduates back into society
with a job and place to live has reduced the need for a local
hospital to treat so many chronically homeless people, which
has had an impact of nearly $2 million in reductions. Add to
that, the warden said, the impact of these inmates becoming
tax-paying members of the local economy, and the impact has
been at least $3 million and up to $5 million by some counts.
“How could they not invest in it,” Balicki concluded.
As a result, Land was already formulating the opening statement for his report as he left the Cumberland County jail.
“The bottom line is that it saves taxpayers money and your
inmates are becoming citizens of the community,” he said.
“With the way they are bringing them into rehab, sending them
out and bringing them back again in Mercer County, all they
are doing is making money off the incarcerated. That’s not
right. With this program, we can change it around by helping to make positive citizens and bring money back into the
community.” d