Ex-Prison Inmates In NJ Find Support, Camaraderie In Essex County

NEWARK, NJ — Calvin Bass has spent nearly four decades of his life in New Jersey state prisons. And if there’s anyone qualified to know the struggles that former inmates face when they’re released, it’s him.

Bass – who was incarcerated at the age of 14 – is among thousands of people that have gotten a hand up from the New Jersey Reentry Corporation (NJRC), a nonprofit that helps people readjust to life after prison.

On Tuesday, Bass stood alongside the state’s new acting attorney general, Matthew Platkin, a Montclair resident, as part of the NJRC’s latest “Men Over 30” discussion group in Newark. The group – which focuses on issues such as addiction, mental health, conflict resolution, parenting and job training – was founded by the late actor, Michael K. Williams, who enthusiastically supported the group until his death in 2021.

• See related article: Actor From 'The Wire' Supports Ex-Prison Inmates At Newark Event

“This group is essential for men coming home after a long stretch of time in prison,” said Bass, who was paroled in 2021 and currently serves as the NRJC Newark outreach coordinator.

“Men need to know they have support in the community and among each other,” he added.

Platkin has been among those to embrace the mission of the group. “We do believe in second chances, and the system that once existed has changed and is changing,” he told attendees at Tuesday’s meeting.

Those interested in joining a future Men Over 30 event can contact 929-274-1438 or [email protected].

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According to the NJRC, the others present at Tuesday’s meeting shared Bass’ mission: to seek responsible employment while maintaining healthy behaviors.

That simple-but-tough formula is paying off for many of the NJRC’s program participants, the Jersey City-based nonprofit says. Out of 13,613 clients, there has been a re-arrest rate of 19.7 percent and a reincarceration rate of just 8.8 percent.

It isn’t only men who have gotten a boost from the group, either. This past year, the NJRC expanded its program, The Women’s Project, with linkage to medical, addiction treatment and mental health services in the community upon release.

The nonprofit has also been reaching out to veterans in need, including more than 8,000 New Jersey veterans with “less than honorable discharges,” some of whom struggle with addiction and mental illness.

The need is urgent, the group says.

There are more than 12,000 people in New Jersey state correctional institutions, 3,200 in federal prisons, and over 12,000 in the state’s county jail system on any given day, according to the NJRC’s 2021 annual report.

More than 50,000 inmates were released in New Jersey during calendar year 2021, many of whom had previously been connected with the criminal justice system, the nonprofit says.

“This prison population reflects deep social problems of race, poverty and the failure of our social institutions to provide for New Jerseyans in a way that would reduce the rates of incarceration in the first place,” the nonprofit states.

Other highlights from the NJRC annual report include:

• “In New Jersey, historically African American adults are 12 times more likely and Latinos six times more likely than whites to be incarcerated. New Jersey has the highest racial disparity in state prisons in the nation.”
• “A staggering 78 percent of the incarcerated population in New Jersey suffers from drug or alcohol addiction; 42 percent of those suffering from addiction also present with a co-occurring mental illness.”

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