Center on Tacoma Tideflats helps federal offenders prepare for release

The new center for federal offenders on the Tacoma Tideflats feels more like a dorm than a prison.

And that’s the point.

The men and women who live at the Tacoma Residential Reentry Center are offenders nearing release, and the facility serves as a gradual transition from where they’ve been — federal prison — to where they’re going — home.

“We’re trying to get them to have everything in place, so that they can start out successfully,” said Joe Miller, the facility’s director. “We know that they need a time to get prepared to do that.”

That means the residents look for jobs and leave the facility during the day once they find one.

Pioneer Human Services opened the 75-bed co-ed facility at 1902 Milwaukee Way on Aug. 1. Pioneer declined to say how much it is paid per resident, saying its fiscal arrangement with the federal Bureau of Prisons is proprietary.

The Seattle-based organization started as a halfway house in 1963, and has become a nonprofit focused on helping people transition into society after incarceration. It has 60 locations in the state, and also helps those struggling with mental illness and addiction.

The group had run a 30-bed center downtown at South 10th and J streets since 2001 and moved after getting a federal contract in September 2014 to operate the bigger work-release center.

Downtown zoning didn’t allow for a 75-bed facility, so Pioneer needed to find a new area for the center, said Steve Woolworth, the organization’s vice president of re-entry.

Pioneer officials like the Tideflats location, he said, though it makes it harder for offenders to get to and from work. The center uses a van to get them to the closest bus stops.

“It wasn’t ideal in that we don’t have a bus that comes right in front, but it’s also a five-minute drive to get to the transit center,” Woolworth said. “There are a lot of employers on the Tideflats, and there will be more employers coming.”

Life at the center is a stark contrast to prison.

For one thing, it’s coed.

Rooms for male offenders are down one hallway, the women’s rooms are down another. They can mingle in a living space with a television and dining area.

Offenders who have their own vehicle can drive it to and from the facility. They also can have cellphones and order delivery food when they want, instead of eating the cafeteria food.

They keep valuables, such as debit cards and IDs, in a lock box in their rooms.

Once they get a job, offenders pay 25 percent of their earnings (an amount set by Congress) to stay at the facility and finish their sentences.

“As you get going, you have bills to pay,” Miller said.

Offenders can ask for time to visit their families at home and can go on family outings. They start with a pass to leave for 12 hours and get a 24-hour pass if the first one goes well.

After that, they get full weekend passes to visit family, though the 48 hours can be taken during the week, if they prefer.

Miller said he doesn’t really see offenders abusing the privileges. Being close to release, the incentive to follow the rules is high.

“They’re putting forth their best effort,” he said.

Tacoma police spokeswoman Loretta Cool said she used to attend monthly meetings at the center’s downtown location and that officers haven’t had any problems with residents.

“It seemed a place to transition back to freedom with a good oversight group to make it work for them and the community,” she said. “The staff has always welcomed law enforcement assistance and monitoring.”

The center is staffed at all hours, but Pioneer employees won’t stop an offender from leaving without permission. Instead, they would call the person’s probation officer immediately, and more than likely the offender would be re-incarcerated.

That’s also what happens if offenders don’t show up where they’re supposed to after they leave the center.

Pioneer staff members talk to employers regularly to track residents’ whereabouts. If they miss a job interview without a valid excuse, for example, the probation officer gets a call.

Residents are frisked when they return to the facility each day, and are randomly tested for drugs and alcohol.

There are 21 staff members, including resident monitors, case managers, a social service coordinator, an employment specialist, two food service workers, and the director and assistant director.

The new facility had 35 residents recently. Most came from prison and were preparing to go home. Another was awaiting trial, and four were sent to the facility after they ran into trouble on probation.

Another 28 people are on home-monitoring, meaning they live at home with oversight from Pioneer.

Offenders coming from prison on track to be released usually stay at the center for about six months. Someone who violated parole terms, such as by using drugs or alcohol, generally spends about four months.

A wide range of offenses can land someone in federal prison, including white collar, violent and nonviolent crimes. People convicted in all those categories are eligible for work release in the last 12 months of their sentence.

Lower risk offenders, based on their behavior in prison and their initial crime, typically go straight to home confinement, Woolworth said. Others spend time at the center.

The idea is to prevent recidivism by giving offenders a chance to move beyond prison life without going straight home.

Part of that transition is a five-week program called Roadmap to Success, which aims to get offenders thinking about the future. They practice how to talk about their criminal history during a job interview, and some work to get a driver’s license.

In the past, offenders at the Tacoma facility had to travel to Seattle for the class. The new center has room to teach it, as well as a food service class that can prepare offenders to work in a commercial kitchen.

Michael Wilson, 38, used to ride the bus to get from the old downtown center to the Roadmap to Success class. The trip took 90 minutes in the morning and close to two hours to get back later in the day.

He finished serving time for drugs and weapons charges in June. When he left the old center, he’d already been hired by Pioneer’s manufacturing division, where workers make parts for aerospace and other industries.

Wilson recently applied for a two-year apprenticeship to become a journeyman.

“I can see making a career out of the different things there,” he said.

Some workers find jobs within Pioneer, such as in manufacturing or food service, that they can start while staying at the center and keep after their release.

Others find employers in the community.

“You get good relationships with people,” Wilson said about his job. “Everybody is trying to re-acclimate themselves back into society. They want to get their lives back on track.”

Asked what was the best part of being at the re-entry center, Wilson said: “I think it might have been that bed.”

Pioneer’s beds, he said, were more comfortable than those at the prisons in Oregon, Indiana and Minnesota where he served his sentence.

Another plus about the center was that living there made it easier for Wilson to see his three kids. The youngest is in middle school, and the oldest is in college.

On trips out of the center, he’d walk with them to Peoples Park to play basketball, or sometimes to Wright Park. And he’d walk to a nearby gym to exercise.

“You’re free,” Wilson said. “You can come and go.”

The Tideflats location isn’t as close to those places, but the center’s van helps with family outings. A family recently wanted to go to the Museum of Glass and got a ride from the center to the bus stop they needed.

“They did their time,” Wilson said of the offenders who come through the re-entry center. “And they shouldn’t keep paying for it.”

This story was originally published November 13, 2015 at 6:35 AM with the headline "Center on Tacoma Tideflats helps federal offenders prepare for release."