Public safety, reducing recidivism goals of NC Rehabilitation and Reentry Conference

By: Michael Perchick | Posted:Tuesday, April 1, 2025 7:46PM

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- Hundreds of people are attending this week's North Carolina Rehabilitation and Reentry Conference in Raleigh, as state agencies lay out goals to ease the transition for formerly incarcerated individuals.

Governor Stein Highlights Public Safety Priorities at Rehabilitation & Reentry Conference | Source

"I don't know that there was so much excitement because I had no family, no support, no nothing coming out of incarceration. So my anxiety was really, really high. What am I going to do? Where am I going to go?" shared Mike McGuirt, who spent a dozen years in prison on drug-related charges.

McGuirt now works as the North Carolina Reentry Coordinator for Oxford House, Inc., which provides sober living housing for those struggling with substance use and alcoholism. He's supportive of greater programming within the Department of Corrections to better prepare individuals upon their release.

"If I knew I would have had an opportunity to take a class, a vocational training class, and be ready to be placed on a job coming out, that would have been a world of difference. A world of difference," said McGuirt.

A report by the North Carolina Sentencing and Policy Advisory Commission reviewed data from 2021, finding a 44% re-arrest rate within two years out of a sample of nearly 13,000 people released from state prisons.

"When you're a felon, you're never forgiven. You're always reminded," said Dr. Kendall Taylor, the CEO and Founder of Salute 1st Academy of Men.

Taylor started the non-profit within the prison system.

"Character development, leadership, tenets and principles and perspective realignment. You've got to start looking at the same thing with brand new eyes," said Taylor, who himself is a justice-impacted individual.

Taylor, the husband of American Idol and Grammy Award winner Fantasia Barrino, explained it's important to use their platform to spread awareness of the challenges impacting those transitioning out of the criminal justice system.

"I think sometimes it's not until the impact encroaches into their comfort and the territory that they start to take notice. But it is too late, right? So I just think from a public consensus, there's not enough education, there's not enough empathy," Taylor explained.

Governor Josh Stein delivered a keynote address Tuesday, highlighting efforts as part of the state's Reentry 2030 Strategic Plan.

"The Department of Adult Corrections estimates that 92% of North Carolina reentrants are eligible for Medicaid, but we're signing up only about 1/3 of them for Medicaid prior to release. We can do better, and we will aim to do better," said Stein.

He said the Department of Corrections has a 38% vacancy rate for officers, noting the impact it has on safety and the ability to run programming.

When you're a felon, you're never forgiven.

Dr. Kendall Taylor

"We are 48th in the country in what we pay our Correctional Officers. It is unacceptable and we must remedy this. That's why I've called for a six-and-a-half percent increase for correctional officer pay," said Stein.

Following his remarks, Stein proclaimed April as Second Chance Month, and earlier in the day, First Lady Anna Stein was named to the Joint Reentry Council.

"If people are not re-offending, they're becoming taxpaying citizens, they're becoming voters, they're becoming fathers and mothers and they're becoming productive members of this society. So I think as a community, as a whole, as a people in the state of North Carolina, it is imperative that we do and implement processes and programs to drive this recidivism rate down," said McGuirt.

Businesses and state agencies also attended the event, with Stein noting the importance of assisting individuals in finding employment.

"People need income in order to stand on their own two feet. That also requires that more employers are willing to hire people with a history of incarceration," said Stein.

Financial Barriers

Financial barriers are a consistent issue for those reentering society. Addressing those was at the root of a 2022-2023 pilot program in Durham called Excel, which provided $600 a month in guaranteed basic income for one year to a group of individuals who were formerly incarcerated.

"Housing, stable food, better career opportunities and just overall quality of life over the course of a year. It was incredibly impactful and game-changing for them," said Tim Wollin, Operations Director at StepUp Durham.

He said the flexibility allowed participants to focus on career advancement opportunities and limited their need to work overtime.

"The average person comes out of prison with somewhere between 10 and $13,000 of debt from incarceration. (The $600) gives you enough of a cushion to get your phone turned on to make sure you can put gas in the tank, to make sure that you can ensure your car at the very least, and make sure that there's at least food accessibility for you and your family. It's a lot of those little things that become a lot easier because the margin for error is so razor thin," Wollin said.

The participants' experiences were reviewed by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, which found they had more success in staying away from substances and criminal activity, avoiding probation or parole violations, and providing for themselves.

"If we just want the best bang for our buck, a guaranteed income program is significantly more helpful than re-incarcerating people from a livelihood of that person, from a community health engagement perspective, but (also) purely from a taxpayer perspective," said Wollin.