Muskingum Re-Entry Coalition Helps to Keep Zanesville Safe and Strong

Guests from across Ohio were invited to hear from the Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections about efforts being made in Zanesville to keep the community safe and strong.

One program that has been vital in this success is the Muskingum Re-Entry Coalition, a program designed to help prison inmates transition back into society successfully.

Gary Mohr, Director of the Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections, informed us, "First of all we have 50,800 people in prison in Ohio, and about 20,500 people come to prison every year. This means about 20,500 are released back into Ohio. The question is we want the folks released from prison back in the communities to be better then then they were when they came in."

Nation-wide 79.7% of ex-inmates will return to prison within three years of their release. Thanks to programs like the Muskingum Re-Entry Coalition, that number is lowered to 27.2% in Ohio.

"Well, it’s very common to run into guys that were in my facility when we’re out in this community, and I’ll stop and talk and say,’ I’m doing great, I’m doing this, I’m following up with my mental health issues, with substance abuse,’ so we hear from them on the streets talking to them about their success in the community," said Tim Buchanan, Warden at Noble Correctional Institution.

It is up to the inmate to decide whether or not they would like to participate in the program.