SADO’s Project Reentry is dedicated to supporting individuals transitioning from incarceration back into society, offering resources and guidance on the reentry process. This column aims to provide valuable knowledge and guidance from the Reentry team, highlighting the critical work they are doing to support individuals transitioning from incarceration back into society. We hope readers will gain insight into challenges faced by returning citizens and the strategies used to overcome them, fostering a more informed and supportive community.

In this issue, we are highlighting a client’s success and the importance of reentry programs that focus on rehabilitation and support, proving that with the right help, people can thrive beyond their past.

In 2021, one of our original Miller clients struggled beyond measure after he was discharged following his resentencing to a term of 40-60 years. Fortunately, Randall had a dedicated Project Reentry (PR) team to help soften his landing, narrowly avoiding housing insecurity upon his release, but the transition was still challenging and there were still many impossible gaps to fill without community supervision. Without community supervision, Randall missed out on the structured support usually available to parolees, who get guidance and resources to help them fit back into society. 

Through Randall, action was inspired. His circumstances positioned us to connect with one of our greatest allies in discharge planning: Angie Sprank, Offender Success (OS) Coordinator for Region 4. Angie understood the uniquely difficult path our discharge clients face. She shared our frustration that Randall was excluded from many services due to systemic limitations and stepped up to create avenues to human service agencies that provided basic needs.

Over the past two years, Randall and others like him have brought OS and PR together to work collaboratively with MDOC and OS administrative agencies to ensure that fewer discharging juvenile lifers fall through these same cracks. Angie and her OS team have helped build groundbreaking partnerships with organizations like Fresh Coast Alliance in Muskegon, and together we have begun providing guidance to MDOC, OS, and community agencies about how this model of collaboration works and why it matters. And it is working.

While our planning and collaboration continued to mature, we learned that Randall had returned to incarceration. Lacking parole supervision and without a clear pathway to support, he defaulted to the easiest and most familiar option—recidivism. Randall broke into a vehicle and waited for police to arrive and take him back to what he knew. In prison, he knew there would at least be a bed, food, and structure.

About nine months ago when we learned Randall had been sentenced to two years for the new offense, rather than disappointment, I felt a sense of urgency. We reached out to Angie, and because of the process we’ve worked to establish for those most affected by the system, Randall will now return home with the support he should have had the first time. Though he now reenters as a parolee, he will be met by community partners prepared to provide the stability, care, and accountability he deserved as a juvenile lifer. 

Randall will be released on May 5, and our team will take him to his new home in Muskegon, where he will be supported by other discharging clients and the agencies providing the highest level of care. We look forward to welcoming him home and sharing our gratitude for how much he has taught us about changing the system for discharging juvenile lifers.

Randall’s story pushed us to think differently, advocate harder, and demand more for those with the greatest needs. Our team is profoundly grateful for Randall's inspiration, which pushes us to be more empathetic, proactive, and dedicated to making a positive impact.

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