April 11, 2013. Evansville Courier & Press.
EVANSVILLE — Children in foster care upon reaching legal adult status and nonviolent offenders re-entering society after imprisonment have one thing in common, according to members of Congregations Acting for Justice and Empowerment. They’re both trying to establish the next phase of their lives.
But CAJE — an organization made up of 19 local church congregations — believes both groups face challenges in getting to that next stage, leading the organization to target that social issue as its yearly agenda. The goal was announced before a crowd of almost 1,500 who attended CAJE’s annual meeting Thursday evening at Crossroads Christian Church.
The group, which marks its 10th year in June, pressed city, county and state officials to work toward easing the problems young adults and ex-felons face as they enter the real world.
Diane Fehrenbacher, a member of St. Wendel Catholic Church, said convicted felons need a job and a place to live, but they face challenges post-prison.
“Once you have something on your record, it’s like a life sentence,” Fehrenbacher said.
She said 800 ex-offenders are released in Posey, Warrick and Vanderburgh counties every year.
So, CAJE asked Rick Moore with the Evansville Housing Authority to develop a tracking system to help determine the accessibility of public housing and Section 8 for ex-offenders. Moore publicly agreed to help look at the issue during the meeting.
CAJE also asked Vanderburgh and Warrick County Council members to develop and propose tax incentives to encourage local businesses to hire ex-offenders starting in 2014.
“If we can help them when they get out of incarceration and get them back on the right track … they are less likely to re-offend if they can get a job. It keeps them out of the system and gives them a chance to start anew,” she said.
David Hachmeister and Gary Meyer, both with the Warrick County Council, and Stephanie Terry and Tom Shetler, with the Vanderburgh County Council, agreed to develop a proposal to give to their respective councils.
To help young adults who are leaving foster care, Linda Henzman said the group wants to identify the number of foster children nearing legal adulthood — a figure she said is currently unavailable. She said 36 percent of children who age out of foster care are homeless within three years.
For that they asked Juvenile Court Judge Brett Niemeier and Virginia Combs, Indiana Department of Child Services, to assess that figure.
“Sometimes they are forgotten children and quite frankly we need to do everything possible as a community to help these young adults become productive members of our community,” Niemeier said after agreeing to support the cause.
Monte Fetter, the president of the Property Owners and Managers Association, pledged his support to sponsor and conduct a first-time renters workshop, which will provide information to these young adults they may not have received before reaching adulthood, Henzman said.
“We’ve taken on harder and harder issues, I think, and as our numbers grow, our powers grow, so we can take on more sticky problems,” said Henzman. Sticky problems, she said, they want to loosen up.
