Life on Parole

>> NARRATOR: Tonight on Frontline, hundreds of people are put on parole every day, and many of them wind up back behind bars.

>> It is not unusual for parolees to come back once or twice once they're out.

They didn't commit a new crime, but they're violating the rules of their supervision.

>> Like, right now, even going in this store, I can get, I can end up back in jail.

And I'm only getting a coffee.

>> NARRATOR: But many states are trying to break the cycle.

>> He's given me every reason to lock him up, and I'm still working with him.

>> Really didn't know it was that serious... >> It's extremely serious.

You're also going on GPS today.

>> NARRATOR: Filmed over a year and a half... >> Why would you do this to somebody?

My life is pretty much ruined for the next (bleep) three years.

>> NARRATOR: ...with unprecedented access to parolees and their supervisors... >> ...matter about your family members?

>> I only care about you.

>> You don't care about me.

>> The...

I'm in charge of your supervision... >> Then say that, don't say you care about me.

>> NARRATOR: ...and the make-or-break relationships between them.

>> Do you understand what you've done.

Seriously, like, I'm here trying to save your ass, but I don't even know if you understand what you've done.

>> Some people think that being on parole is, you're free.

You're not.

>> I have to believe that she is going to do good.

I make a living on second chances.

That's what parole is.

>> NARRATOR: Tonight, in collaboration with the New York Times, "Life on Parole."

(birds chirping) >> NARRATOR: For a year and a half, we followed four people in Connecticut as they left prison and were put on parole.

>> I've been incarcerated for a little over eight-and-a-half years.

The judge gave me ten years, I thought it was the end of the world, and here I am, ten days I'm going to be walking out the door.

Starting my life over.

>> NARRATOR: The state is trying to use parole as part of an effort to reduce its prison population.

>> When I get out, you know, hopefully I get out of here and stay out of here.

I've been here before, so it's easier said than done.

>> NARRATOR: It is now giving parole to more of its prisoners than ever before.

>> What are you going to do differently to stay out?

>> Is abide by all the rules.

(laughs) >> Always good, all right, good luck.

>> Thank you.

>> You're welcome.

>> NARRATOR: The challenge is how to keep them from returning to prison.

>> I'm proud to be graduating the prison drug program today because I did it with all you gentlemen.

(applause) I've been waiting for this day for the past 21 months.

Next stop outside.

So, pretty sure I'll see you there.

(woman sighs) >> I just want him home.

I've been waiting for this for too long.

>> Open, open!

>> When Erroll was coming home, I was more than excited.

We were waiting for him to get out on parole and to come home.

When you love somebody and you want to make a future with them, you kind of feel like all that is on hold.

(woman shouts and squeals) >> NARRATOR: Erroll Brantley is being released from prison early, after serving 20 months for drug possession and burglary.

>> Hey!

>> Oh my God, it's been so long since I had a hug.

I got a bunch of hugs from everybody.

>> To just be able to put your arms around somebody is a huge thing.

>> I got to go to parole.

>> Do we know where that is?

>> 100 Sheldon Street, Hartford, Connecticut.

I don't even feel like I woke up in prison this morning.

You know?

I've been coming to prison since 1999 now.

And I've been in and out of jail 11 times.

(sirens wailing) This time I got out was the first time that I was on parole.

>> Brantley.

>> I was definitely frightened.

I didn't know what to expect.

>> Released from Carl Robinson, correct?

>> Yes.

>> Parole sentence of a little less than four years?

>> NARRATOR: Erroll's parole officer is Mark Pawlich.

He's been a parole officer for 18 years.

>> So what was your crime over there?

>> Burglary.

>> Burglary, is that kind of your thing?

>> No, not at all.

I was... for drugs.

>> And drug of choice is?

>> Heroin.

>> Mr. Brantley, you could just read, had a long, long history of opiate addiction.

And if you're in this business long enough, you know the chances are at some point it will rear its ugly head.

So, now he's on your watch, so you got to make sure you're dotting I's and crossing T's, that's for sure.

So what we're gonna do today is I'm gonna have you review these conditions now.

So what I need you to do is read every one and make sure you understand each condition and then sign at the end.

>> NARRATOR: Among the conditions of his release, Erroll will have to undergo mandatory drug testing, and he's barred from contact with prior victims, which includes his girlfriend, Katherine.

>> And is long-term planning with your mom at that address?

>> No, I want to go back home.

I don't live with my mom, I actually live with my girlfriend Katherine.

>> That's why I'm asking.

>> But there was a problem at the jail.

They said that she was a victim and they took her off my visiting list after, like, 17 months.

>> Who's the person?

>> Katherine Eaton.

>> Was she a victim or not?

>> No, she wasn't.

>> What are they saying she was a victim of?

>> Burglary.

>> Did you ever burglarize your own house that she lived in?

>> No, yeah, I took my TV to the pawn shop.

>> All right.

The Department of Corrections has a policy.

When an offender is released, they can have no contact with previous crime victims or co-defendants.

She called the police on him, she got him incarcerated and at least got him sober-- or cleaned up for a while.

But she then created a... the situation in the department's eyes that she was a crime victim because he took her TV set.

There's no staying overnight there, there's no nothing.

>> Yes.

>> All right, following you out.

>> NARRATOR: Erroll leaves and goes straight home with Katherine, violating the terms of his parole on his very first day.

>> I just wanted to stay close to the people that I love and feel protected, and I understand that parole, they have to do what they have to do.

But I was happy, I was home.

That's all I have up here, that's all I need.

Yeah, welcome home, absolutely.

It's a good place to be.

I've been trying to get here for a long time.

>> NARRATOR: For the past several years, Connecticut has been giving offenders like Erroll more opportunities to earn early release, and there are now almost 5,000 people supervised by parole here.

But about a third of all parolees end up violating the terms of their release and are reincarcerated.

>> ...sentenced to prison, and there's fewer people being released from prison.

If you're on parole, you're still sort of in the Department of Correction.

You're being monitored in the community by a parole officer but in any day, for any type of violation, they can take you directly back into prison because you're still technically serving your sentence, right?

>> NARRATOR: Mike Lawlor is one of the officials trying to turn this around and give parolees more chances once they're out.

>> It is not unusual for parolees to come back once or twice once they're out, right?

They didn't commit a new crime, but they're violating the rules of their supervision.

>> NARRATOR: One change has been the creation of a special unit devoted exclusively to the needs of women parolees.

Officer Katherine Montoya helped start the unit.

>> Women are a different population, they have different needs, their supervision needs to be different.

My ladies oftentimes are the primary caretakers of their children.

If they're not doing good, if I remove them from the situation, who's going to take care of those kids?

So, you know, it's... do a lot of thinking after hours whether the decisions that I am making are correct or not, so it's hard.

So, Jessica.

I haven't met her yet, but I read her case.

She came in when she was 18 years old.

She's going to be doing five years of parole with me.

This is a pivotal time for her.

She needs to make a decision right now whether this was just a one-time deal that happened in her life and she's going to move on from this, or whether she is going to be a returning customer-- someone who keeps coming in and out of the system.

>> I did ten years.

I was young, I was 18 years old.

I don't think I should be on nobody else's supervision.

I've been getting watched for ten years, okay?

People stripping me, all that.

I've been through it.

Like, I don't think that I need to be on nobody's parole.

>> NARRATOR: Jessica Proctor went to prison for slashing another girl's face with a razor blade.

>> I didn't kill nobody, but you would have thought I did kill somebody, though.

Ten years?

Five years parole?

I think that was a little bit excessive.

So I do hold some type of resentment.

>> NARRATOR: She got out of prison six days ago.

This is her first meeting with Officer Montoya.

>> So hi, Jessica.

I'm Officer Montoya, your parole officer.

How's everything?

So when you come here you have to clear the metal detector.

A lot of people think that being on parole is like you're free.

They're not free, but there's going to be a measure of freedom that is going to be afforded to you.

We're going to be together for a while, it's going to be five years.

We might not see eye-to-eye every single time.

But the point is that we have to work together, and the better you and I get along, the chances are your supervision is going to be successful.

Let's go pull a urine.

Jessica was young, got in trouble, went to jail for a substantial amount of time, came back out.

She really wants to reconnect with her son.

That's one of her biggest goals in her life, to get her son back into her life, to be a mother to her son.

>> So this is Donte's bio mom, Jessica, my cousin.

This is when she first went into prison.

>> NARRATOR: Jessica gave up custody of her son, Donte, and for now they are not living together.

>> I think for a long time he thought that I was his bio mom, until my sister got pregnant.

And he said, "I was in your stomach like that," and I was like, "No, papa, you weren't in my stomach, you were in Mommy Jessica's stomach."

And then from then on I would just tell him, "You're different than most kids, because most people only have one mom, and you have three moms."

>> When I was growing up the only thing I really knew was, like, she's locked up, and I'm like, "She's locked up, so, when is she coming out?

When can I see her?"

>> Reconnecting with family is so difficult.

Reunification with their kids, I always advocate for family counseling, for... not only for the offender but as a family, everyone together, because there's a lot of hurt feelings, there's a lot of anger.

And people don't have a lot of skills to be able to maintain a situation like that, so they'll go back to their behaviors, you know, which is like drinking or drug use.

>> Hi, Daddy!

>> Hi, Peanut.

What did you do today?

>> My math quiz that I have.

And I got 100%.

>> Wow!

Proud of you.

>> And picture day is tomorrow.

>> Yeah, I know, you gonna send me some pictures when they get developed.

>> Yeah.

>> NARRATOR: Rob Sullivan is beginning a month-long stay at this addiction treatment facility.

For many parolees, Connecticut requires intensive drug and alcohol treatment as a condition of their release.

>> Daddy's discharge date moved to May 7 now.

Daddy won't be in the halfway house.

He'll be home, home.

>> Yay!

>> Well, I'll call you at 8:00, and say goodnight.

>> Okay, I love you.

>> Love you, Chewey.

>> Bye, Daddy.

>> Bye, baby.

>> Daddy drew me this recently.

And then, oops, he also drew me this one.

>> He even put his teardrops in there, which he's going to get taken off.

>> But that's what makes Daddy Daddy.

>> Yeah, no, Daddy's Daddy without the stupid teardrops on his face.

>> So it still makes Daddy Daddy.

>> He's more handsome with the teardrops off of his face.

She gets used to seeing him, talking to him, and then not... it's just, it's been, unfortunately it's been such a part of her life for her ten years that she's been here, that it's routine for her.

But yet he sees how old she's getting and he's tired of not being there and breaking her heart.

So it'll be like May 6 when he'll be home.

>> It means Daddy's going to be home sooner than we expected.

>> And for what?

>> For my birthday.

>> What a birthday present that's gonna be, huh?

>> He wasn't there for my tenth, but my 11th is still important, so all my birthdays are important, so he'll actually be here for my 11th.

And that's special to me.

>> It's hard, especially on a young kid, young girl that, you know, is going into her teenage life.

You know, a lot of children want both parents, you know?

Right now I'm trying to make it up to her, and that's by changing.

All this is stuff that I brang from jail.

My criminal record.

It's a mess.

I went in in '92.

I didn't come back in until 1998, and then I didn't get out till 2001.

I came back in in 2002, got out in 2003, came back in 2005.

The list goes on and on and on of how many times I've been in and out of jail.

With all these convictions and charges, it's going to make it almost impossible for me to find a job, you know?

And pay child support, which I haven't done in years.

I know I'm a scumbag in that aspect.

$53,277.

$26,156 and $25,935 for a total of over $100,000.

Where the hell am I supposed to get $100,000?

Win the lotto?

I have a real bad drug and alcohol problem, but it's cheaper for me to buy a beer some nights for two bucks and get drunk and forget about all my problems, and that's when I end up committing another crime.

Sometimes I do it just to go back to jail, because it's easier to live.

>> I'm 25.

And the first time I was arrested, I wanna say 16.

First time I ever been to prison though, went the full extent, was 18.

I grew up seeing people getting robbed, stealing, selling drugs, shootings, stabbings, fights.

When you grow up a certain type of way, it's a way of life.

>> NARRATOR: Vaughn Gresham is doing seven years on parole-- part of his sentence for an armed robbery.

>> That wasn't my first time-- doing the robbery.

It was quick, fast and easy.

Nobody ever really got hurt.

But if it got a little rough, we had bats, you know?

Yeah, we had bats.

>> NARRATOR: He's being released to a halfway house, where he must complete a 90-day program.

The rules are strict and the residents are closely supervised.

>> Halfway house's purpose is for guys to find employment, save money, and then return back to society-- hopefully in a successful manner.

Some make it and some don't, but the reality of the situation is, if it's not what they really want to do, they're just not gonna succeed and they're gonna go back through the cycle.

>> NARRATOR: Since being put on parole a year ago, he's been sent back to prison three times.

This is his fourth halfway house.

>> You know, I don't want to go back.

It sucks, it's boring, I'm fed up with it.

And my best chances of getting past this stage is keeping on the right path.

>> So you got seven years parole, huh?

>> NARRATOR: Connecticut is now trying to give parolees like Vaughn more chances after relatively minor violations.

>> Before, if you were a parole violator and got returned to prison, typically once you got back to prison you'd be serving sort of an arbitrary time sentence, like a year.

Now the amount of time you're sent back to prison for is a relatively short period of time while we sort of reboot them and get them back out the door again.

>> The default mode in the criminal justice system, at least in the United States, is one of control and punishment.

The big change in Connecticut is that the leadership is trying to make parole more about reintegration and less about punishment.

>> NARRATOR: Fiona Doherty runs a criminal justice clinic at Yale Law School and has recommended additional changes to the way parole works in Connecticut.

>> The conditions that are put on people who are coming out of prison to avoid going back to prison are very broad.

If we could all be sent to prison for being late, or occasionally having a glass of wine, or the other expectations and standards that are laid on parolees, we would all violate the conditions of parole.

>> NARRATOR: For Vaughn, those conditions will be enforced by his parole officer, Lisa Brayfield.

She's been on the job for a year, and her first assignment is supervising over a hundred men at two halfway houses in Hartford.

>> All right, Gresham?

Most of the offenders say, "I don't want to be here, I don't know why I'm here, this isn't right for me, I can't be here."

Maybe they see the structure and all the rules, and it may not be what they thought it was.

The main priority is going to be getting a job, because you won't be able to complete the program unless you're working.

The rules and regulations that are given to parolees are straightforward and they're all spelled out even before an offender is released from prison.

Maybe it's challenging for different people.

But I don't think it's hard.

If they want to make it work, they can.

>> You have any questions, concerns, issues?

Comments?

>> No, no, no.

>> Nice meeting you.

>> All right, have a good one.

>> And no drug use.

>> All right.

>> The key to reforming the parole system in Connecticut is changing the dynamics of the invisible meetings that happen all over the state between parolees and their parole officers.

If the atmosphere in those rooms is reflective of the reform vision at the top, then change in Connecticut will happen.

And if it's not, it will be very hard to make change stick.

>> NARRATOR: Today, Erroll has been called in to an unscheduled meeting with officer Pawlich.

>> This is my parole office-- 300 Sheldon St.

I always get nervous every time I go through this door, man.

>> All right, so, Brantley.

Why are we seeing each other today?

>> I'm not sure.

>> Yeah, you are.

I hold in my hand a lab report with your name on it.

Is that starting to drag you into remembrance?

>> No, it's... yeah, absolutely.

>> Okay, so why didn't you just tell us, say that off the rip, then?

How much did you use?

>> Um... three bags.

>> Just one time?

>> Yeah.

>> So you're going to piss clean today?

>> No, I'm not.

No, I did it on Friday.

>> Okay, then let's slow down here because the 14th, which was a week ago, you were dirty for opiates.

So you've been using consistently again?

>> No, I haven't.

No, not yet.

>> So, but you've used more than five total bags, though, in the eight days, correct?

>> Six bags, yeah, yeah.

But not more than, not a bundle.

>> It's hard, it's a hard balance.

I mean, you know, a lot goes into determining the levels of supervision.

You know, years ago, my God, if you had a dirty urine you'd go back to jail.

Guys are not going back to jail even for a dirty heroin right now, I mean, they're not going back the first time.

It's treatment, treatment, treatment.

If you don't let me know what's going on, then we're just going to be chasing our tail again.

>> NARRATOR: Though he could send Erroll to jail, he decides instead to enroll him in a drug counseling program.

>> So reincarcerate instead of treatment on a dirty urine, it's not gonna help that person move forward.

And with Brantley, he's probably been through rehab, you know, I don't know how many times.

And the unfortunate thing is you just keep trying until one of them works.

>> Okay, so, IOP is intensive outpatient treatment.

Three days a week.

>> All right, thank you.

>> You're welcome.

>> Appreciate it.

I do need more structure.

You know?

It's just... and I need the help.

I need... and they're willing to offer it to me, which is amazing.

To have somebody on your side, it went better than I planned.

>> NARRATOR: But Erroll doesn't end up going to the outpatient treatment.

He continues to use heroin and eventually checks himself into a detox center.

>> So here I am, I'm at ADRC, I'm waiting to get into the 30-day program.

I wish I could have been the success story.

I wish I could have shown you guys how amazing my life is, but it's going to take a little while longer.

>> NARRATOR: He doesn't tell Officer Pawlich, and misses his next appointment, another violation of parole.

>> All right, so here's our update on Mr. Brantley.

>> NARRATOR: It takes Pawlich almost a week to figure out where Erroll is.

>> On the 31st he was due in to report to me, and he didn't show up.

Unbeknownst to us, the day he came in here he had rendered a urine dirty for cocaine and opiates, so, he left part of the story out.

Phone's going straight to voicemail.

He's using.

He checked himself into a detox program.

I give the guy credit for going to detox and going into a program, but the way he handled it was completely wrong.

So basically his violations are the dirty urines, not reporting to me that he's no longer living at his residence.

He's really hanging by a thread right now.

>> When we think about what we ask parole officers to do, we ask them to be social workers who help reintegrate people into society.

They're also supposed to be the police officers, they're supposed to be the people who catch parolees in any rule violation and then reporting it out.

The question is, should the person who's the parole officer be focused on helping somebody or should they be focused on catching them for any rule violation?

>> Gresham!

Staff office.

>> NARRATOR: Vaughn has been at the halfway house for ten weeks now.

He's going to a meeting with his parole officer with the hope of moving into an apartment.

>> They informed me, like, "Hey, all you need is an apartment and a job."

I got a job as soon as they told me that.

And the apartment was already ready.

She was just waiting on me to get out.

>> NARRATOR: Officer Brayfield has to approve his request.

>> We submitted his address, right?

>> Yeah, I mean, that's not going to go through.

>> I have another address.

>> I'm sorry?

>> I have another address.

>> Okay, well, we're not going to submit it yet.

>> No?

>> No.

>> Why?

>> 'Cause I just wrote you a misconduct-- you're not in compliance with the program.

You need to be in compliance with the program and working in order to be eligible to leave.

>> And how long's that going to take?

>> I don't give a time frame.

>> NARRATOR: Days earlier, Vaughn was late coming back from a job training program.

>> So what did you do when you left school?

>> I went to the house.

>> What house?

>> My house.

>> Okay, and were you authorized to do that?

>> No.

>> So public safety is our number-one priority.

Because if they're... have a history of using drugs and going out and burglarizing people or being violent, we need to make sure that we don't allow that to happen again.

So I have a misconduct for you.

You are going to have limited community access for two weeks and you'll have to complete ten hours of extra duty in the house.

You seem really irritated right now.

>> I am.

>> All right, so you're still working, right?

>> Mm-hmm.

>> Any drug or alcohol use?

>> No.

>> All right, so any other issues, questions, concerns?

>> Lot of issues, no questions, a lot of concerns.

>> Okay, do you want to elaborate?

>> No.

>> Okay, so two weeks starting today.

I'm all set if you are.

>> Swear to (bleep) God, yo.

(Bleep) this (bleep) look like, man?

The (bleep) what?

Man, I got a life to mother-(bleep) live too, I'm not about to stay in this mother-(bleep) every (bleep) all day, what?

Go back to work, come back here.

Man, what the (bleep) is that?

That's not even real life.

(bleep) is going on, man?

>> He was disrespectful.

It seemed like he had a little bit of an anger problem when I was meeting with him.

All right, let me see your phone.

...which is initially the reason really why I took the phone.

>> Is there anything in here?

>> Not really.

>> What do you mean, not really?

>> Just texting.

>> Texting?

>> Yeah.

>> Okay, I'm going to look through this, I'll give it to you in a little while.

>> Hmm?

>> I'll give it to you in a little while-- do you have any other passwords on here?

>> Yeah.

>> I can't see what you're doing here.

>> Taking it off right now.

>> All right, I'll see you in a minute.

Phones are a big tool for us.

It's actually pretty common that the offenders will like to show off their drinking or their drug use.

And they post these things to social media.

>> So once I took the phone, it was kind of the final straw where I saw pictures of him drinking in the house.

That's an automatic remand because they're creating a scene in the house, they're making it a lot harder for the other offenders.

All right.

Why are you so upset right now?

>> I was told I was gonna leave after I got a job.

I got a job.

>> Yup, if you were compliant with the program.

>> Yeah, I didn't think that was going to be a problem.

>> You know, there are so many different ways one can violate a parole condition, if someone's just looking hard enough, they're going to find something.

>> Widen your stance.

Widen your stance!

>> We know predictably from the evidence that the closer the oversight, the more violations you're going to find.

>> It can get a lot worse.

>> Get in the car.

>> There's going to be failures, there's people are going to make mistakes, and for some people it's going to be impossible, right?

No matter what you say or do, they're not going to get their act together and they're not gonna stop committing crimes.

Our number one goal is to reduce crime, not just to hold people accountable but to... you know, to do something to prevent crime.

After all, you know, they call it the Department of Correction for a reason, right?

>> NARRATOR: >> NARRATOR: Rob has now finished his treatment program.

He's living in a halfway house and gotten a job an hour's walk away.

But he's frustrated because the money he earns is controlled by the halfway house.

>> If I work 40 hours I'm allowed to have $40.

You get a dollar per hour of what you work to hold on you.

I've got to go back and fill out a budget sheet and show them my check, they copy it.

You know, most of it goes into savings.

But I can't touch none of it.

Sometimes I feel it's almost not worth it to work.

Like, my daughter sent me a picture.

She wants a pair of sneakers for basketball.

And I can't buy them.

I told her I can't buy them, I'm not allowed to touch my money.

Whenever Raeann has needed something, if I had the money, she always got it, no matter what it was, you know?

And it made me feel good.

At that point in time being on parole they were dictating to me what I could do with my money that I earned.

It was totally embarrassing.

>> NARRATOR: Rob also needs approval from the halfway house to go anywhere other than his job.

>> Like right now, even going in this store I could end up back to jail, just for going into a store to get something.

And I'm only getting a coffee.

You can't do anything without permission.

I would have to fill out a pass.

If I got caught in the building that's a stipulation, it's a violation of parole.

I could have went back to jail for that.

You know, last week I got to the point where I told the director, "You know what?

I'm better off sometimes in jail.

I don't gotta deal with all this bull(bleep)."

You know, when I was at the halfway house I couldn't see Raeann, at all, you know, my daughter, and it hurt, you know, it was hard.

I went to work and Kelly actually brang her to my job to see me, you know, for my birthday and to surprise me.

>> Hi, baby.

>> Don't cry.

>> It's like you have to be secretive, you have to be sneaky.

You know, even though you don't want to be, it's like you have to be.

I love you.

All right, let's drive down the street, okay?

>> NARRATOR: As the weeks go by, Rob is increasingly angry.

>> You guys wanna know how I feel sometimes?

Well, right now I'm pissed the (bleep) off.

I gotta please the halfway house so I can (bleep) go home.

I had to go to 7/11 and get me a coffee.

Even though I'm not supposed to.

'Cause I really don't give a (bleep) right now.

>> NARRATOR: After two months on parole, Rob has had enough.

He flees his halfway house and is declared a fugitive.

>> Friday, in the halfway house, I went to work, they told me they didn't need me anymore.

I got kind of fed up, and I wasn't gonna give them my last check and not be able to buy her Christmas gifts or nothing so I said, "(bleep) it," and I ran.

So tonight, decided to come get her some sneakers and take her out to dinner.

Because Thursday I plan on turning myself in.

And I told her, "Daddy messed up.” You know, when you do wrong you've got to pay up, right?

Right?

>> Yeah.

>> You know it doesn't mean I don't love you!

>> I know.

>> Come on, baby.

All right, ready?

>> Yeah.

>> ...and I won't be around for Christmas again.

All right, let's find them.

>> I want the silver ones.

>> Do you have 'em?

>> We got 'em.

>> I kind of got fed up with the rules and having freedom dangled in front of me and then being told what I can do and what I can't do.

I actually went out and bought a couple bundles of dope, thinking I'd... thinking I'd die.

But it didn't happen.

I love you.

>> I love you, too.

>> Don't cry!

Come here.

Why are you crying?

You know you can tell me anything, right?

Hey.

You can always tell me anything.

>> I know.

>> I will see you soon.

>> I know.

>> No matter where I go.

>> I know.

>> You can come see me.

>> I know.

>> I love you.

>> I love you too.

>> NARRATOR: A week later, Rob turned himself in.

His parole was revoked.

>> The business of living is very hard, and so when treatment ends and then it's time for them to start to try to get a job and do what they need to do, we often see sometimes they get in trouble then because they just... they don't know anything else.

>> [bleep] Christ, what's in here?

>> All the books for school.

>> NARRATOR: Jessica has been taking classes to become a nursing assistant and working on her relationship with her son.

But she's just tested positive for marijuana, and Officer Montoya could send her to jail.

>> So you understand what you've done?

Seriously, like, I'm here trying to save your ass.

But I don't know if you understand what you've done.

>> No, I do, I understood right after the situation happened.

I don't know, I think I was just stressed out and going through it.

>> This could be a small (bleep) up or it could be your descent into madness, and I need to understand if you're just gonna give this chance a try or you're just going to, like, keep (bleep) up?

>> No, I'm not going to keep (bleep) up.

>> Okay.

I don't want you to quit school, but if you find the school to be too stressful for you, if you need to take a break from school to kind of regroup, do that.

I am the one that holds the power to send her back.

And I have to believe in her.

I have to believe that she is going to do good, because I make a living on second chances.

That's what parole is.

They have to start over again.

It's hard for them.

If I was to lock up everyone that's run into Jessica's situation, I wouldn't have a caseload.

>> I'm going through the same thing with my son.

>> Okay, with your son.

It's a whole different animal.

>> My whole incarceration, he's been a second honors student.

And now he's messing up.

>> You have to understand, okay, you are the mother, but for the past ten years, you have not been his mother.

So for you to come into the picture and start calling the shots might be hard.

>> I know.

>> Sorry, Jessica.

Concentrate on the now, concentrate on the future.

What is happening with her is pretty common of women that come out.

They really put a lot of pressure on themselves.

There's always this, like, pressure to try to make up for lost time.

She'll do good.

I'm thinking she's gonna do good.

>> On one for the first down.

>> Six to 18, Jesus.

Well, when I went to my son's game, I was excited, I was emotional.

I was there for the first time and I should have been there his whole life.

So that was what was bothering me.

>> Number 24, I can't believe how big he is.

Oh, come on, what is y'all doing?

>> I think that's the driving force in Jessica.

She really wants to be a good mother.

>> Don, Donte, Donte, you good?

>> She wants to fix the mistakes of the past.

And I feel bad because she went in so young.

And she was denied the opportunity to raise her son.

>> I love you.

Call me later, okay?

He is not happy.

He's not happy about this game.

I'll just give him his space because he's just like me, so, you know...

When we angry we don't like to talk, we don't like to be bothered, we just need to be left alone for a little while.

>> NARRATOR: Katherine has just picked up Erroll from the drug treatment center he'd checked himself into, and they're heading to the parole office for the first time in over a month.

>> Want me to come in with you?

>> Yeah, I don't know if you can come in but we'll try.

Come on.

>> We didn't know what was going to happen because he just got out of a detox that was not sanctioned by his parole officer.

And I'm there for support.

>> Eaton?

>> Yes.

>> Thank you.

>> Brantley, so I'm clear, is that the person you're trying to get your residence with?

>> Yes.

>> Okay, understand that contact with previous.... >> I have to take this apart.

>> Don't start this (bleep) again with me.

>> I have to take this off.

>> I don't care about that thing right now, when I'm telling you something and you... you know what, go have a seat.

>> No, I'm ready man.

I'm sorry.

>> No, you're not ready now!

Don't friggin' tell me when you're ready.

He's given me every reason to lock him up and I'm still working with him.

He's not taking any of his supervision seriously.

He thinks it's all like a joke and he gets to control and manipulate what he does and how he does it, and so, he's going to get a rude awakening in about five minutes.

What happened out in the lobby raises my level of concern.

>> What did I do?

>> No contact with previous crime victims.

Everybody from your first crime to your current crime is a previous crime victim.

You can't see, stay, email.

>> The state... the state has broken us up.

She's my support network, Officer Pawlich.

>> I got guys that can't see their kids because the kids live with their crime victims.

They sure as hell have never walked them up in my lobby.

So today you're going to a halfway house.

You're due back in the house at a certain time every single night.

>> I just don't understand that it doesn't bother you that I don't have people in my life that I love.

>> I'm going to warn you one more time-- don't tell me how I think or how I feel.

Understood?

It's got nothing to do with this.

What I'm doing right now is managing somebody with about four or five misconducts right now that would land them in jail, and then to put the icing on the cake, walk their victim into my office lobby.

All right?

And put it right out there in front of everybody like, "I get to get supervised differently."

Well, you don't get to get supervised differently.

>> I really didn't know it was that serious.

>> It's extremely serious.

Nothing you've done so far, you've taken seriously.

You're also going on GPS today.

If you charge it every day like I instructed you to for two hours, you'll be fine.

So you're going to walk up and down the street, so we're trying to get a read on the GPS unit.

>> He put me on the bracelet and he's putting me in a halfway house.

And I can't see you because you're a victim.

I'm sorry.

This is not our fault.

>> I got, you know, 65 cases and one flaming ass-(bleep).

It's just aggravating.

She's a crime victim.

There is no contact with previous crime victims.

So some guys go straight to jail for that, right off the rip.

Never mind all the other nonsense that he's had.

>> Why would you do this to somebody?

I got one thing left in the (bleep) world that I'm close to and the dude (bleep) won't let me be there because he (bleep) he's got something to prove.

I seriously, I wish he would just violate me, I just wanted to keep talking and go back to jail.

So my life is pretty much ruined for the next (bleep) three years.

>> In the past, parole officers felt that their main responsibility was to keep on top of the offender and if and when they violate the rules of parole or commit new crimes return them to prison, and that is changing.

The goal is to figure out what we need to do to ensure that this person begins moving in the right direction.

>> This is my new room.

It's very small.

Home sweet home.

The Cheyney House was my first time in a halfway house ever.

I was crestfallen, needless to say.

I was very, very hurt when I saw the neighborhood that the halfway house was in.

Because it was the neighborhood that I bought heroin in.

So this is the neighborhood they put a recovering heroin addict in.

Here are some heroin baggies that litter the streets here.

This is one of many heroin locations in this end of town.

And it's not that I'm tempted, but it would make it a lot easier for me to violate my parole and get this whole thing over with.

Because right now, going back to jail and finishing my time seems a lot easier than the prospect of jumping through hoops for people that don't want me to be happy.

>> Putting him in the halfway house, he is going to always see as punitive.

I don't care if he was happy or not, or thought it was punitive or not.

It's an opportunity.

Structure, supervision, money management, assistance for whatever, you know, they need is kind of all right there.

Having that structure and supervision right in his... kind of in his face every day.

So... some guys respond to it.

They're never gonna admit it but some respond to it, so at least it's not jail.

>> NARRATOR: Seven weeks into his stay, another parolee overdoses on heroin inside the halfway house.

>> I just got home from work, and parole is here, and this is what I come home to.

Because of the overdose and the death here today, parole came here and trashed my stuff.

>> NARRATOR: The day after Vaughn was sent back to jail, Officer Brayfield arrives to serve him his papers.

>> So I have your notice of parole violation, so we'll go over it together?

First part is going to be the charges that we have against you, so the condition that you violated is your release direction.

On 9-7-16 your phone was searched, which produced a number of pictures of you consuming alcohol in the Watkinson House program.

Based on your actions you were in violation of your parole condition and your continued supervision in the community is no longer compatible with welfare of society, okay?

Unfortunately, Vaughn is not a unique case to me, supervising offenders in halfway houses.

You know, remanding him, he comes back out to a halfway house, remand again, he comes back out to a halfway house.

That's common.

>> I love the way you're so nonchalant about it.

>> Like I said... >> I love it.

>> Like I said, if you did what you were supposed... it's... this has nothing to do with me whatsoever.

>> No, just your attitude.

>> Absolutely.

My hands are tied.

>> It's just like it's nothing for you to send people to jail or anything like, (bleep) 'em, you know?

>> Well, when guys are drinking in the house, right.

>> People drink on the street.

>> I don't... >> People smoke on the street.

>> Okay, let me say this.

I don't care what other people are doing on the street.

>> So you have family members that don't smoke on the street?

>> I only care.

It doesn't matter.

>> It don't matter about your family members?

>> I only care about you.

>> You don't care about me.

>> I'm in charge of your supervision.

>> Then say that, don't say that you care about me.

>> Okay, so I'm only concerned about what you're doing in a halfway house.

>> Okay.

>> So when I see pictures of you drinking with other offenders in a halfway house, it's blatantly clear that you're drinking, I need to do something about it.

>> Mm-hmm.

>> Okay, any other questions?

Concerns?

Comments?

>> No concerns.

No comments.

>> Okay, this is your copy.

>> So after this, I ever gotta deal with you again?

>> I don't know, it's not up to me.

You may be released to another halfway house.

I'm not sure.

Okay?

>> You know, I'm fairly easygoing.

I do what's asked of me.

And one little... you know, I drink.

That doesn't even cause any harm to anybody.

But basically brings hell upon me.

Like, what...

I don't understand that.

I don't understand that.

>> NARRATOR: After six months on parole, Jessica is close to finishing her nursing assistant program.

>> I wanted to go to school because I knew that if I came home, I didn't have no job history.

When I was younger I wanted to be a doctor, so the best thing for me to do right now is to do CNA.

I came home with a plan and I actually stuck to it.

I didn't let little minor setbacks throw me all the way off.

They docked me off a little bit and I got right back up and kept moving.

>> Jessica walked to school or took the bus almost every day.

It's not like she had people giving her rides or, you know, backing for everything.

Jessica did everything on her own.

>> Okay, guys, it's the last night.

I'm going to sit with you one at a time.

I'm going to give you your grades and your packet that has your résumé and your physicals and all that information.

Jess, I'll take you.

Okay.

Here we go.

These are your test grades.

Your test average was an 88%.

>> Wow.

>> That is B+.

Very nice.

That's your grade before clinical.

>> 94.

>> Congratulations.

>> Thank you.

>> That's a super job.

Your résumé copies on résumé paper.

>> Thank you.

>> All about being a nursing assistant.

And your physicals.

So you are ready to go get a job.

Okay?

Do you have any questions for me?

>> You are good.

(classmates laugh) That's a good grade.

Okay?

>> The whole point is for the offender to learn to do the right thing on their own.

When they first come out, you're like this.

You have them.

And as the offender starts doing good, and then you just let go.

It's hard work, but I think it can be accomplished.

(unamplified electric bass being slapped) >> NARRATOR: Erroll spent three months at the halfway house.

>> I love this bass, dude.

>> NARRATOR: He stayed sober, found a new job, and got an apartment of his own.

>> This became my place from my friend Tammy.

And she said she had a basement for rent.

She only wanted 100 bucks a week, she would do me a favor.

She sponsored me and helped me to get out of Cheyney House.

But it's got plenty of space, you know?

Like I said, I have the biggest room in the entire house, which is nice.

And it's private.

You know, I can come and go as I want through the back door.

I am headed to my first day of work at Ruby Tuesdays as a manager/kitchen...

I'm not even sure.

They want me to become a manager.

>> He's got a skill set.

He's a smart guy.

So there's hope.

You just could never say, "Whoa, look at this case, this guy's got no hope-- put him in your no-hope pile."

It would be very hard to do this job 40 hours a week, you know, month to month, year to year, decade to decade, if you just really had, like, a no-hope pile.

I don't have a no-hope pile.

>> NARRATOR: Because of his turnaround, Erroll was finally given permission to have contact with Katherine, though they were still not allowed to live together.

>> That was our first summer together.

We decided we were definitely going to get married.

Just more recently we decided that we'd like to have a family.

So it's all I look forward to.

(crowd cheering) >> NARRATOR: After nearly a year on parole, Jessica Proctor is graduating and spending more time with her son.

>> Jessica Proctor.

>> Some kids, they'll never get to see their mom come out and do so well, finish school, and walk across the stage to get their diploma.

I pretty much love her, I love her to death.

I'll do anything for her.

>> He was proud to see me come home and not go back.

That I was actually making a difference in my life and going somewhere.

So that meant a lot me.

>> NARRATOR: Rob Sullivan finished his prison sentence.

>> Today I'm free.

I didn't have parole to look after me anymore.

Only I look after myself.

It's like a sense of relief.

>> Here she comes.

Yeah, I love you, I missed you.

>> I love you too and I missed you too.

>> NARRATOR: He's coming home just in time for his daughter's 11th birthday.

>> High.

>> I don't want to go that high.

>> NARRATOR: Vaughn Gresham is being released to his fifth halfway house, after seven months in jail.

>> Parole is a noose that you tighten yourself.

You want to play?

That noose is always gonna be there.

But as you go farther away from the path, it's going to tighten up.

>> We have your conditions, which you've signed a few times already.

>> You stick to the path and you do what you gotta do, you will be able to breathe.

You're not going to kill yourself.

>> And these ones also?

>> Yep.

>> NARRATOR: He has a new parole officer.

>> C'mon, Gresham, you should know this.

>> NARRATOR: And five years of parole still ahead of him.

A little over a year after Erroll and Katherine were given permission to be together, Erroll started using heroin again.

They got into a fight about going to rehab.

And she called the police.

>> I feel ashamed for you to have to come and see me here because, you know, I was doing so well.

And it's just... it's an absolute and total regression.

I don't know if it's apropos, if it's bittersweet, if it's going to help to tell the story, you know, I don't know.

(sniffling) >> NARRATOR: He's been charged with violating the conditions of his release.

And now Connecticut must decide whether to keep Erroll behind bars... or give him another chance at life on parole.

>> NARRATOR: Next time on Frontline... >> We're in the post-antibiotic era.

>> NARRATOR: Untreatable infections.

>> They had asked me to sign the papers to let her go, and I did.

>> NARRATOR: Drug-resistant superbugs.

>> He had some bugs that they had never seen before.

>> NARRATOR: Frontline investigates.

>> We are seeing the emergence globally of bacteria that are untreatable.

>> NARRATOR: "Hunting the Nightmare Bacteria."

>> Go to pbs.org/frontline for additional reporting from our partners at the New York Times... >> ... read every one, and make sure you understand each... >> Read an interview with Connecticut governor Daniel Malloy about the push to reform parole... >> ...give somebody a chance who's been incarcerated, they really appreciate it.

>> Explore Frontline's reporting on criminal justice in America, connect to the Frontline community on Facebook and Twitter, then sign up for our newsletter at pbs.org/frontline.

>> For more on this and other Frontline programs, visit our website at pbs.org/frontline.

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