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Samantha Hayes Reporting From prison to parole. Release day happens once a week from the Utah State Prison. But it's not always the much-anticipated taste of freedom you might expect.
We spoke to men, women, drug addicts, and sex offenders, on their first stop which is the regional Adult Probation and Parole office.
"Convicted felon" does not look good on a job application. Finding a place to live is difficult, too. And then there are the old habits, old friends. Some are able to start over, but many don't.
As his parole officer, she will know every step Vincent Thomas makes. He wears an electronic monitor around his ankle, and as a condition of his parole, he must check in every week.
Vincent Thomas: "I've got a job at a construction place. Start tomorrow morning."
Thomas will go through a transition program with other recently released felons. Counseling and education are part of that, and should decrease the odds he'll reoffend.
But first, police want to know where he'll live and what he'll be doing.
WVC Police Officer: "How do I tell my citizens in the community I work for that they shouldn't be afraid of you running out of a house and firing shots off?"
Thomas: "How do I convince you?"
This is the orientation line. Many offenders have stood here before, some will stand here again. People who have worked with them say there's no way to know who will reoffend and who will succeed.
Katherine Webber/ Parolee: "I've been in prison three times. Two parole violations, the first for distribution."
Nick Ringel/ Parolee: "Started getting into trouble at 18. By 20 I was in prison."
Parole officers say sometimes treatment programs in prison are an indicator of success.
Gena Caldwell/ Parole officer: "In Nick's stage, he's either going to say I'm sick of this. Or if he doesn't have that change in his mind, he'll go back and it will be quick."
If he-- if any of the 45 inmates released today-- can make if even just a year, it is considered a success.
Brent Cardall/ Adult Parole & Probation: "Forty-two percent will return to prison in the first year."
Sixty-five percent will return after three years. Utah has seen success with its treatment programs, something other states are modeling.
