Wanted: Inmates Who Don’t Come Back

Ruben de la Cruz Manuel spent his first day in jail Saturday. But instead of sitting in his cell staring at the walls, the 26-year-old Santa Ana man took part in an unusual program aimed at helping him kick his cocaine addiction and avoid another visit to the city jail.

Manuel is among the hundreds of inmates who have participated in weekend-long courses that provide coping strategies for an array of behavioral and psychological problems they face, including alcohol and substance abuse, uncontrollable anger and domestic violence.

The federally funded program provides group counseling and offers referrals to support groups and agencies that the inmates can use after they are released.

“It’s a great help to know where to go,” said Manuel, who found himself in the Santa Ana Detention Facility after being arrested on suspicion of crack cocaine possession.

Jail officials hope the program lowers recidivism rates and helps curb crime overall.

“Most facilities don’t bother with transient inmates who are only going to be with them for one to two days,” said Fernando Espinosa, detention supervisor for the jail. “We feel that in that period, we can do something positive and productive and provide them with follow-up referrals to keep the instruction and counseling they have received ongoing.”

Since the Stay Out of the System (S.O.S.) program began in July, about 97% of those who have landed at the jail for a one- to two-day stay have chosen to participate. Most had faced domestic violence or drug charges.

“We encourage everyone to attend,” Espinosa said. “We really focus on the inmates arrested for being drunk in public or under the influence of drugs, drug possession or drug sales. Also, anything having to do with domestic abuse, child abuse or child neglect.”

The high participation rate heartens jail officials, especially since the class is often not an appealing option.

When inmates are awakened at 8 a.m., many are tired and bleary-eyed from a lack of sleep after having been incarcerated in the early morning hours. Others, suffering drug withdrawal, fidget restlessly, their faces drawn into scowls of discomfort. Sometimes, guards must remove inmates whose coughs and frequent bathroom trips disrupt the class.

On Saturday, about 30 inmates participated. The classes, held in a cell block lounge, are taught simultaneously in Spanish and English, and translators assist during private counseling sessions.

During group sessions, a counselor asked inmates about their crimes and to what extent they were willing to accept responsibility for their actions. She also talked about how they could have avoided trouble and stressed that they can improve their lives with help from support groups and drug rehabilitation programs.

Several inmates interviewed Saturday said they benefited from the program. Some said it had forced them to reflect on the mistakes they had made, and had provided them practical ways to avoid repeating the same behavior.

“A lot of the guys who come in are first-time offenders, and those are the ones we feel are the best targets for us,” Espinosa said. “They are pretty unaware of the legal system and how it works. This gives them awareness and it gives them an introduction into some of the programs that are available to them.”

Elkin Harold Apaza, 18, said he took the class partly because he thought a sentencing judge would view him more favorably. But he said the program most of all made him realize he’d done a stupid thing that had saddened his family.

He said he had been charged with stealing a car. His friends described the jail as “marvelous,” but Apaza quickly found otherwise.

“It’s not nice to be here. This is punishment,” he said. “I never want to come back here again.”

A Santa Ana man in his mid-20s jailed on drug charges said he wished the program had been operating the first two times he had been incarcerated. The lessons he learned Saturday on how to control his anger could have helped him.

“I probably wouldn’t be here today,” he said.

So far, there have been more than 750 graduates of the program. Linda Hopkins, a counselor, said it is too early to measure the program’s effectiveness, but she estimates that less than 10% of those taking the class have been subsequently jailed.

Hopkins said she can sometimes see an immediate effect.

“They come in on a Friday arrested with their self-esteem shattered,” she said. “They are often ashamed and scared. They really go from shame to some level of empowerment by the end of the weekend. You can see it in their faces.”

Upon completion of the program, inmates receive a certificate that they are encouraged to show a judge at arraignment.