APPLETON, Wis. (AP) — Julie Angell was nervous. She was about to get out of prison, but didn’t have anywhere to go.
Even with help, the challenges faced by many people getting out of prison can be immense and it isn’t uncommon for some to end up homeless if they’re unable to afford a place of their own or can’t find somewhere willing to rent to them.
There is similar transitional housing in communities all over Wisconsin — 377 beds in 44 locations — meant to provide a stable place to live for people released from prison with nowhere to go and give them time to look for a job or save money to get a place of their own, the Appleton Post-Crescent.
Neighbors sometimes see transitional housing as a threat to their safety. In Oshkosh, neighbors of one such house have concerns about the choice of location and the overall management of the facility. They warn their children to avoid the people who stay there.
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When a sex offender moves to the house, neighbors get a notice about “the severity of their sexual offenses,” Kunde said.
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There is stigma to deal with too, she said. Most people tend to think anyone in transitional living is a sex offender, when that isn’t always true.
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O’Brien spoke at a workshop held in September by the Oshkosh City Council to discuss the issue. She said her daughter hasn’t played in their front yard for years and her son knows to be aware of the house “where the bad men are.”
“We are prisoners in our own homes,” she said.
The transitional living residence in Oshkosh was “sited with notice,” including notices made to “law enforcement, local government and the local newspaper,” according to the Wisconsin Department of Corrections.
“While no location is perfect, transitional housing greatly assists clients toward a successful transition,” said Aaron Sabel, a regional chief in the division of community corrections, in a statement to USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin.
I didn’t really see a pros and cons section as much as I saw people complaining about transitional housing being in “their” neighborhood. It’s fine for anybody else’s neighborhood but not for mine.
NIMBY! Its what they would always say about landfills and nuclear waste sites. Now the people that shout NIMBY mainly do so when referring to rc’s living near them. I really am ashamed of the direction this country is going, especially recently. I know the disgusting cancel culture movement is a huge deal right now, but what do they do with the people that they cancel or have already been canceled, like us? Sadly we stil llive in a throw away society and people are becoming a larger part of the trash heap everyday.
OSHKOSH WI,
Home this is of OCCI, THE LARGEST sex offender prison in the state. This prison holds over 6k and employs some 300+ guards, faculty and administration. The city rakes in a good bit of economic advantage and activity from it being there. Oshkosh Correctional is classified as medium security but most of the folks there- all men- will be eventually released although sex offenders are classified ” track 8″ meaning they’ll serve out all of their time. Wisconsin statutes have a requirement for assigning a mandatory release date referred to by cons as “M. R. date.” Naturally MR dates can be extended if WI can catch a convict up in criminality, or breaking a rule, or failing a piss test. In the 90s they tried every trick in the book to keep me and others in. I took 3 piss tests in the two months before my MR date. I had to take none in the first three years and two months. I know of one man who was held there more than 4 years beyond his MR, and he won a settlement based on that. Obviously transition is important but you’d think successful transition would be a priorty, but i think it is not so much that they’re interested in as much as playing CYA to the public’s perception.