Blogging from within the Lincoln Tunnel

There's an AP story by John Miller (Idaho Statesman link) that I thought you'd like to read. Primary reason is not because my name is listed as many of you might believe, but it talks about the growing topic of how WE are going to effectively deal with people coming out of incarceration. Some of you may or may not agree how I'm trying to deal with former convicts, but if you have a better idea I'm open to it, as long as the ideas are real and you consider the lives that your idea would impact.

btw, We were at the World Trade Center/Ground Zero. Very moving experience. We shot these pics while there. Something surprised both of us-very little to do with the day of the attack. No photos with the exception of those from street merchants and peddlers. It's as if in the desire to move forward, the Political Correctness Police of NYC have scrubbed the sight of all Islamo-fascist fingerprints. Sad. Sadder for the families. Kinda looks like they were killed by the Invisible Men. Check out the pics.

Also ate at Amici's II in Little Italy (<--). Dennis' favorite :) (as well as the noted political scientist, Jeff Anderson). On the way out of the city, we stopped by to have a look at Broadway (^)

Driving in and through the Lincoln Tunnel at this moment - click the link or this one from Wikipedia if you're into learning cool factoids. Read on further if you cannot get to the Idaho Statesman's link to read John Miller's complete piece.

Dennis and Colin

ID group homes surge as inmates exit prison; neighbors furious

Drug-felon group homes are landing in Idaho neighborhoods at an increasing rate and the U.S. Supreme Court says residents can't stop them.
There are at least 104 "transition homes" across the state now, compared with 40 a year ago, according to Department of Correction figures.
Near Boise and Nampa, there are 65, up from 27 in 2006. Eastern Idaho has at least 15, up from just three. Coeur d'Alene has 13, compared with four last year. Twin Falls has seven and Lewiston four, the agency said.
Those running the homes contend they help ex-offenders streaming out of prison. Dozens more are planned, they say.
Still, some single-family neighborhoods feel abandoned by state and federal laws that don't give them a voice in where group homes can go. A meeting this week in Nampa attracted 150 mostly angry people concerned about a home operated by Dennis Mansfield, a longtime Christian activist whose for-profit treatment company has started 10 facilities in southwestern Idaho in six months.
The recent housing slump in Idaho has created a glut of homes ideal for ex-convicts and available for lease, say those who run them.
In Addy Haas's west Boise neighborhood, 12 men convicted of drug crimes but now on parole or probation have moved into a split-level home across the street. Evening traffic increases as the men arrive home from work, and Haas said she's upset Mansfield never told neighbors about his plans before they started moving in.
"He's sneaking them into the community," she said. "I'm on edge."
Across Idaho, drug violations rose more than 9 percent in 2006, the fourth increase in five years, the Idaho State Police said. The lion's share of convictions are related to highly addictive methamphetamine.
The number of convicts released on parole is expected to rise more than 5 percent annually, from 13,281 supervised offenders this year.
When they exit prison, more are turning to transitional homes that house up to 12 people for six months to a year, charge rent, provide a treatment regime, and may require religious worship as a condition of residence.
"In the past couple of years, there has been a good influx of them," said Kevin Kempf, Department of Correction's head of parole and probation. Kempf acknowledges his agency is under pressure from residents unhappy with the phenomenon.
Still, he doesn't regulate the homes; in fact, nobody does in Idaho.
"I think there are some very difficult decisions that have to be made," Kempf told The Associated Press. "I live in Nampa; I have three small children. I absolutely understand their concern to have a transition home next door to them."
Mansfield says that a decade ago, he might have joined the fight against the homes.
Today, it is his 21-employee New Hope Community Treatment company that's opening them, including one in his own neighborhood. His motivation, Mansfield said, was his son's heroin addiction.
"Until you have the poison of drug addiction come into your family, it's really easy to be theoretical," he said.
People don't have the right to choose their neighbors, he said, pointing to a 12-year-old U.S. Supreme Court decision in a Washington state lawsuit. Justices found that a Federal Fair Housing Act occupancy exemption governed only how many people can live in a house, not the character of its tenants.
"You can't deny them housing," said Norm Holm, the Nampa city planner.
So far, Mansfield's 10 homes in Nampa and Boise - three for women, seven for men - accommodate 120 people. No sex offenders are allowed. Each resident pays $400 monthly rent, attends religious instruction and takes regular urine tests. Eventually, Mansfield wants 60 homes in Boise, 30 in Nampa and Caldwell - and more elsewhere.
"We have an office leased in Twin Falls that we'll be opening right around the first of the year," he said. "We're seriously exploring the Pocatello district and the Idaho Falls district."
U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, has organized a meeting on the issue with Boise Mayor Dave Bieter in December.
And Friday, lawmakers from southwestern Idaho, including state Sen. Curt McKenzie, R-Nampa, met with prison director Brent Reinke. McKenzie wants to learn more ahead of the 2008 Legislature, in case something can be done.
"There's really a balance between providing a stable environment for offenders and, on the other hand, having people feel safe and comfortable in their homes," McKenzie said.
Those who run other transition homes say outraged neighbors forget that decades of strict drug laws mean more offenders have been locked up.
When they get out, it's better they land where they can get regular drug tests, services and a safe place to sleep that's far from where they had been using drugs or alcohol, said Melanie Curtis, executive director of Boise-based Supportive Housing and Innovative Partnerships. The non-profit group has 104 beds in large single-family homes and a five-unit apartment building.
In 2004, her group experienced similar discord with neighbors, though that's since calmed, Curtis said.
"We as a community need to embrace the folks," she said. "If they don't have anything to lose, and they go back to using, that increases crime. They're going to be in the community, anyway; this way, at least they are monitored."
On a midmorning last week, there was little to distinguish a west Boise group home operated by Mansfield from others in the neighborhood. Two cars were parked in front. Inside, it resembled a college dorm. There's a log book, so parole officers can find the men quickly. Bibles lie in stacks near a couch.
The kitchen is clean. The men, eager to talk, lounge in jeans and sweats or smoke cigarettes on the back porch. Credence Clearwater Revival plays softly on a radio.
Philip Burchfield, the heavily tattooed 47-year-old resident manager, did time in a California penitentiary 20 years ago for armed robbery and last year was arrested in Idaho for shoplifting to finance his methamphetamine habit. Now, however, he's serious about mending his ways, Burchfield said.
"Give us a chance to show us what good neighbors we can be," he said.
Some neighborhood residents aren't convinced.
"It changes you in just little things," said Gaylon Hughes, who lives across the street. "My daughter would have to walk by this house in the mornings to catch the bus. Now, I walk with her. There is no way I would feel comfortable letting her walk out the door by herself and get on that bus."

Comments

[Dennis Mansfield]

"It" means...Broadway? WTC? New York City? Which "it"?
den

[destiny preciado]

i want to know how it got it got its name

[Andrew Rampenthal]

Wow, those pictures are awesome! That most of been pretty moving being at the WTC site and thinking back on what happened that awful morning. Unfortunately when I was there in New York City in 2005 I didnt have the chance to visit the WTC site. Isnt broadway awesome!

Andrew