'What we're doing doesn't work': Poverty exacerbated by incarceration, recidivism

Dec. 8--Editor's note: This is the third installment in a series on poverty in Fort Smith.

The only pictures Connie Thayer has of her grandson are from several years ago -- before he got caught up in methamphetamine.

Thayer takes care of herself and her grandchildren out of her tiny old house on North 27th Street in Fort Smith because her grandson James and her daughter Maria are both in prison for meth-related offenses. Like many who have been charged with felony drug offenses, both had similar convictions from the region before they went to prison.

The absence of Thayer's daughter and grandson has left a hole in her household income -- Arkansas is one of only two states that doesn't pay inmates for work. She said she provides for everyone in the home on her Social Security income of $1,200 per month.

Without the help of food pantries, she sometimes wouldn't eat, she said.

"It is what it is. You do what you can, with what you've got," Thayer said. "The kids know that. I just hate for them to have to live through it."

Sebastian County -- of which Fort Smith holds more than two-thirds of the population -- averages around 1,700 felony cases each year, most of which County Prosecutor Dan Shue said are "in some way or another" tied to drugs. About 61% of these cases had a prior felony conviction, according to estimates from Sebastian County Circuit Court records.

Recidivism for suspected felonies and misdemeanors before the cases reach the courts is even higher -- 68% of everyone booked into the Sebastian County Detention Center starting in 2016 had been arrested again through June 2019, according to county records. Urban Institute workers during a food insecurity walk in June reported everyone they spoke to in Sebastian County "had been involved with the criminal justice system or had a family member who had."

When asked what causes these kinds of incarceration and recidivism rates, officials, affected residents and convicted felons alike gave similar answers -- a scourge of meth in the area, few jobs for people with felony records and a lack of mentorship for youth. But they also said poverty -- which is at 25.8% in Fort Smith, according to the U.S. Census Bureau -- contributes to incarceration and recidivism while simultaneously being affected by these factors as well.

"Usually, it's people who are about to lose their house or be homeless, and it gets them into drugs, whether it's selling or buying. That's usually what leads to most crimes," said Matthew Conner, who was released from prison in October.

Incarceration is often inevitable and even preferred in instances like violent and sex crimes, said Sebastian County Sheriff Hobe Runion. But Runion said other offenses such as drug and property crimes don't necessarily constitute the same kind of punishment.

When these offenses are treated the same way, the criminal justice system is suddenly bogged down at both a local and state level, Runion said. And outside the prison walls, felons lose jobs, housing and transportation, said Goodwill Reentry Program Specialist Felicia Lyons.

"What we're doing doesn't work," Runion said. "We have to look deeper than we traditionally have."

A loss of hope

Stories of convicted felons at times echo each other: they decided to break the law when they couldn't provide for their families or themselves. And in Fort Smith, these stories often overlap with the distribution of meth.

Christopher Nolan, who is currently incarcerated for resisting arrest, driving with a suspended license and fleeing, grew up in a poor single-parent household in the city. He said growing up poor contributed in part to his first sentence, which was on meth-related charges.

Nolan said he hoped to open his own business with the money he obtained from selling drugs.

"I was trying to do it the wrong way," he said.

Nolan said he was using meth while also distributing the drug -- a common practice in Fort Smith, according to 12th and 21st District Drug Task Force Director Paul Smith. He said people who live in poverty often gravitate toward meth as an escape.

"They have a lack of hope, despair," Smith said. "They don't think they're as meaningful, and when you lose hope, you turn to alternatives."

Street-level meth usage and distribution in Fort Smith is often compounded by a crowded market that has made the drug more affordable -- Smith said one ounce of meth in the city costs between $400-$600, down $800-$1,000 two years ago. He said this price reduction only further expands the market in the city.

It also gives mid-level drug dealers a recruiting base, Smith said.

"Once they're addicted, they say, 'Hey, here's a way for you to make money and also maintain your high,'" he said.

The allure of money in the illicit market doesn't discriminate, however. Michael Clifton, who was convicted on multiple drug, firearm and violent offenses in 2013, said he made $3,000 a week on average selling meth in Fort Smith. Coupled with his wife's salary, his household brought in more than $200,000 a year.

Clifton's customer base, however, was poor.

"It's not a rich-people drug," he said.

Even if drugs aren't present, the choice between committing a crime or losing necessities often persists. Conner said he earned his six-month sentence with a similar mindset as Nolan: steal high-dollar items from Walmart by "paying" for them with low-dollar bar codes, resell the items on the street and use that money to pay for necessities.

"Rent was due. I almost lost my house, almost lost my car, didn't want my kids to go through that. That's what really pushed me to do it -- keep everything so the kids didn't have to go without," Conner said.

Once a person has a felony record, finding a source of income becomes even more difficult, Smith said. Runion called these kinds of offenses "a wheel they can't get off."

And a felony conviction often contributes to problems that were already there in the first place.

"If you have to decide whether you're going to pay your electric bill or buy food for your kids or pay your fine, what do you do?" Runion said.

'Most of these grandparents around here are raising their grandkids'

Fort Smith residents are generally sentenced for crimes as adults, but people who are affected by recidivism and incarceration say those in the system are affected long before they are of age.

Thayer said "everyone" in her part of town has been in trouble "in one way or another." She attributed this to multiple things, including a lack of activities for children in poor parts of town.

"They don't have game rooms to go in to use without drugs being there," she said. "There's nothing for them to do to keep them busy except work or get in trouble."

Fort Smith Boys & Girls Clubs Director Jerry Glidewell said poverty is "a big factor" in children entering the cycle of recidivism and incarceration. There are four Boys & Girls Club locations throughout Fort Smith, which hold a membership of around 3,000 youth ages 6-18 -- roughly 3.4% of the city's entire population. The clubs provide activities for youth outside of a school setting and also strive to give them a support network.

If they're able to join, that is.

"There are a lot of kids who are either not participating or don't have the means to participate," Glidewell said. He said he sometimes has to give scholarships to address the $20 cost for youth to afford their memberships.

Glidewell said the likelihood that a youth will eventually be convicted of a crime is heightened when one or both parents are absent -- a scenario sometimes attributed to incarceration. He said there are youth in his Boys & Girls program whose parents are currently in prison.

"Most of these grandparents around here are raising their grandkids," Thayer said. "That's all I see anymore."

Thayer said she believes youth in Fort Smith -- particularly those living in poverty -- need mentorship so they don't fall into crime. Glidewell agreed, adding that he would like to see mentor programs in every neighborhood in Fort Smith -- he said effective mentor programs provide individualized guidance to youth who might otherwise make poor life choices.

But Glidewell also said some problems will persist.

"Kids don't get to select which house they're in, whether they have a car or don't have a car, whether they have one parent or two parents, or if they're living with cousins or guardians," he said.

'It's like a revolving door for them'

A felon in Arkansas doesn't provide for anyone while in prison, but that doesn't mean the sentence doesn't continue to contribute to poverty after he or she returns home.

Lyons said there "aren't a lot of employers" in Fort Smith that will pay felons enough to keep them out of poverty. She also said people with felonies on their records often struggle with transportation, which causes further difficulty in keeping a job.

"Without a job, without employment, they can't maintain, and the cycle continues. It's like a revolving door for them," she said. Lyons is well-accustomed to helping people in these situations -- her Goodwill office on average serves 50 felons looking for work each month.

A felon's ability to get a job is also affected outside of whether he or she has to mark the conviction box on an application. These obstacles often come in the form of parole fees or ongoing court expenses.

With obstacles such as transportation and income, they often can't pay these expenses. This can turn into difficult situations if they do find work but have a warrant.

"If the police or sheriff's deputies show up at your place of work, chances are, you're not going to have that job," Runion said.

"Often times, we'll have an employer contact me and say, 'Hey, is there something you can do to get John Doe out of your jail? He's a great employee,'" Shue said.

Another dilemma felons face is housing -- some landlords won't take tenants with felonies on their records, Lyons said. And with their struggles for income, it can be difficult to afford rent if they do find a place.

Conner said he has experienced these dilemmas while attending classes through University of Arkansas Fort Smith and trying to find work. He said on Friday that he's behind on parole fees, has to pay off expenses connected to a traffic ticket in Greenwood District Court and is "a little behind on rent."

Much of Conner's future depends on the leniency of his parole officer even though he's "trying to do everything right," said 100 Families Director Karen Phillips.

"With the obstacles he's facing right now, he's on a string," Phillips said. "He's this close to going back."

'Working toward the same goal'

Fort Smith felons, officials and residents agree: more services are needed on top of initiatives to reduce recidivism that are already there.

100 Families, which began in February, connects families impacted by incarceration and poverty to services through law enforcement, higher education, nonprofits and other groups. The initiative designed to lower recidivism and foster care rates in Sebastian and Crawford counties has significantly lowered the number of families in the program in "crisis" by at least 15% in the areas of housing, recovery, food, employment, education and transportation.

Although she spoke well of her program's results, Phillips said Sebastian County needs more alternative sentencing. The county already has drug and veterans courts, in which more than 90% of defendants sentenced to these programs don't reoffend. The county could soon have a mental health court if a Department of Justice grant is given to them, which Shue estimates could have as many as 170 participants each year.

But these courts come at a price, Shue said.

"In regular court, when we plead a case, we're done with it. In specialty court, no -- it's the beginning. I have to have a prosecutor who monitors that case after the plea. There has to be a public defender, you've got probation officers, you've got the VA," he said, adding that he and the Sebastian County Public Defender's office "could use another" attorney for these courts.

Smith and Thayer both said Fort Smith needs more drug treatment that's affordable to those in poverty. Smith said people who use rehabilitation facilities like Harbor House and Western Arkansas Counseling and Guidance Center are often sent hours away to facilities that require insurance because of a lack of bed space.

"Those in poverty obviously don't have those resources, and the beds aren't available," Smith said. "We need to put more money into treatment. There's no doubt about it."

Phillips also said she would like to see area parole offices be more accommodating towards felons so they will be more willing to work with them. Conner said he would like more employers to hire felons if they are able.

On the front end, Glidewell said entities that interact with youth need to do "more programming and focus." He believes this kind of focus and collaboration with other agencies in the area would pay off in the long run.

Felons themselves are also ready to address the problem.

"My focus is helping (youth) make better decisions and not be a part of crime, not be a part of drug use, helping them not go down the road that I went down," Nolan said.

"They need someone who has been through it who says, 'OK, I know how you feel, I know why you feel this way, but what you're thinking is not necessarily true,'" Clifton said.

Runion said anything that causes even a minor drop in recidvism would be "huge" in Sebastian County, which commonly sees more than 13,000 jail bookings a year.

"It's going to have to be multiple disciplines, multiple agencies, working toward the same goal," Runion said.

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