MPT in the Community

Community Service Initiatives

Revitalize, Reenter, Rebound

Revitalize, Reenter, Rebound captures the challenges many Maryland families face today.

Neighborhood revitalization or re-development, while bringing with it new economic opportunities and jobs, can cause neighborhood worry and displacement. Ex-offenders re-entering their families, workforce and community are challenged with living adjustments, locating steady employment and avoiding set-backs. Rebounding from personal crises, low wage jobs, medical concerns, family caregiving or economic set-backs is what we hope Maryland families can do to realize their fullest potential.

Growing Together
Revitalization of our urban neighborhoods

Baltimore, like many cities across the country, is evolving. Government and investors often call it economic development. Residents and others, who have lived in a particular neighborhood all their lives, sometimes think of it as displacement.

Revitalization of various communities and land-use areas is common throughout the State of Maryland and in varying degrees. From private investment to commercial development the efforts encompass everything from historic preservation to the treatment of contaminated land for it to be designated by the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) as safe for re-use and land development.

In 2005 Governor Robert Ehrlich earmarked $26.6 million for the revitalization of Maryland's older communities including $4.5 million each for the East Baltimore Biotechnology Park, which will contain 2,000 housing units and provide 8,000 jobs, and the West Baltimore Revitalization, which will result in residential, office, and commercial use.

Sources of funding include $655 million in general obligation bonds, $106.9 million in special funds, $60.5 million in federal funds used primarily for environmental and housing programs and $25 million in revenue bonds used for higher education academic facilities.

Places such Suitland, Maryland (www.suitlandonline.org) to land in Southern Maryland (http://www.epa.gov/region03/revitalization/newsletter/southern_maryland.htm) from Cumberland to Bethesda are undergoing various stages of preservation or a revitalization effort to improve housing, traffic and the local economy.

One of the largest, most comprehensive projects in Maryland is that of the East Baltimore Development Initiative (www.ebdi.org) in an area called the "Middle East" began in 2003 and will continue to evolve for the next decade.

>> Go to Growing Together web site

Navigating the Road to Reentry
Prisoner Reentry and its effect on families and the community

Prisoner reentry into the community, into the lives of the families that previously incarcerated individuals left behind, is a serious societal issue. Many former inmates want to make a difference for themselves, their families and their community but are often faced with seemingly insurmountable challenges when seeking employment. The job application process alone can be hostile to former inmates previously convicted of even a minor offenses -- but who have a sincere desire to begin a new life.

According to a report authored by five researchers from the Urban Institute, between 1980 and 2001:

"Maryland's prison population more than tripled, from 7,731 to 23,752 prisoners. The per capita rate of imprisonment in Maryland more than doubled over the same period, rising from 183 to 422 prisoners per 100,000 residents. The growth in Maryland's prison population is attributable to increased admissions rather than to longer lengths of stay in prison. Key factors influencing increased admissions include rising crime rates and arrests, more admissions of drug offenders, and more parole violators returning to prison. Maryland's release patterns reflect these rising admissions and population trends: 9,448 prisoners were released from Maryland prisons in 2001, nearly double the number released in 1980 (5,436)." Source: http://www.urban.org/publications/410655.html

Does Prisoner Reentry Affect Me?

It does if you're one of the estimated 2 million children with a parent in jail. Or, as a parent, neighbor, taxpayer, volunteer, employer, activist or concerned citizen - yes, prisoner reentry affects you. The success of prisoner reentry programs is largely due to their availability to eligible prisoners. In 2001, Maryland inmates (17 percent) participated in educational or vocational programs, while 31 percent were in no such similar programs. Forty-five percent had work assignments and seven percent were part of a work-release program.

Successful reentry is key to helping once-incarcerated individuals become productive members of our communities. The cost of crime is high. Research indicates that within a 19-year span (1982-2001), policing expenditures increased from $19 to $72 billion; expenditures on corrections increased by $45 billion in the same timeframe.

Maryland has launched reentry initiatives that, according to The Urban Institute, "suggest that Maryland is ahead of many other states in understanding the importance of reentry preparation."

In MPT's initiative, Navigating the Road to Reentry: A Community Approach, viewers will explore the various aspects of reentry, its challenges and triumphs, its failings and its future. For some prisoners, reentry education and training are the seeds to a more abundant future for themselves, their families and our community at large.

Faith-based organizations, non-profits, foundations and government have researched and spent resources on the effects of prisoner reentry and how to mitigate them. Maryland Public Television, with the Annie E. Casey Foundation, is striving to give a platform to the broader discussion of prisoner reentry and offer resources to potential employers, families and the community on how to face this familiar challenge.

>> Go to Navigating the Road to Reentry web site

Working Families
Rebounding after the challenges and hurdles faces by hard working families

Working families come in all socioeconomic categories from middle-class to poverty level. Many parents work two jobs, some require public assistance while others may have no health benefits and must bear the cost of healthcare and prescriptions alone. Families can be at risk when a parent is laid off due to company downsizing or a when family member becomes ill and medical expenses escalate. Some families share a caregiver-parent who must take time from work in order to caregive for an ill grandparent and still care for the needs of their own children.

In 2005, The Job Opportunities Task Force (JOTF) announced the results of a national report Working Hard, Falling Short. The authors of the report found that "although Maryland is one of the wealthiest states in the nation, more than one out of six working families in the state earn so little they have difficulty surviving financially, and one in five jobs in the state pay less than a poverty-level wage."

The report when on to say that Maryland provides Medicaid health insurance only to those who earn less than 41percent of the federal poverty threshold, the 40th most restrictive limit in the nation.

Some other facts offered by JOTF and the report included:

Adults in some three-person families in Maryland, for example, lose eligibility for Medicaid when their annual earnings exceed about $7,500; in 16 other state eligibility extends to families earning more than $15,000.
Twenty-seven percent of Maryland's low-income working families have a parent who did not complete high school - a higher percentage than in 22 other states. Yet Maryland spends only $18.45 a year for adult education for every Maryland resident without a high school diploma, the 28th lowest expenditure among the states.
Maryland unemployment insurance system is one of the most restrictive in the nation, with only 25.3 percent of unemployed workers receiving benefits, the 46th lowest.

>> Go to Working Families web site

The Annie E. Casey Foundation

Annie E. Casey logo This comprehensive initiative, funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, encompasses the best of MPT's broadcast programming, resources, partnerships and outreach activities from the region. These resources are assembled in one area for every adult, child, parent, grandparent, friend, potential employer and/or advisor who might benefit from this cross-section of resources, while simultaneously tapping into the specific information needed.

» Download our December 2006 brief on these three initiatives. (Adobe Reader required)

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