The human cost of Delaware’s Probation reform delay
DELAWARE – With Probation reform failing to pass in Delaware- advocates say it means more headaches and more prison time for thousands of Delawareans.
Smart Justice Ambassador for the ACLU Keandra McDole says she’s been through the probation system and has multiple family members in it today.
She tells us being sent back to prison can be as easy as missing one meeting or being scheduled for overtime at work when you have a curfew.
“You want to work more, your boss expects you to work more, but you can’t be passed your curfew, and if you do work without letting them know, that’s a violation,” she said.
She tells us oftentimes people have to choose between going to work or going to probation meetings making it hard to hold a job, and sending them back into the circumstances that may have landed them behind bars in the first place.
McDole tells us the knowledge that one missed meeting can end your probation led her to some very difficult choices.
“I was eight months pregnant and I was actually in active labor and it was time for me that day was my day to go see my probation officer and I had to make a decision, where do I go to the hospital or do I go see my probation officer?” she said adding “I made the decision to go see my probation officer because I was terrified that I would get violated of probation, which means obviously I’m going back to jail.”
She tells us probation reform would have given officers more leeway in cases such as those, and standardized procedures on how to help people transitioning back to society after time in prison.
“If they have been away a long time they need housing, they need help, it’s not something probation officers necessarily know or have available,” McDole said.
She tells us she hopes the measure can be introduced and move quickly next legislative session, and until it’s passed, she knows thousands of Delawareans will be operating under the system that she says has them on edge and one minor violation away from going back to prison.
