Dr. Wallace McLaughlin

President and Chief Executive Officer of Fathers and Familes Center

"In order for us to get over the fears and some of the stigma we have about helping our fellow citizens re-integrate and come back into our communities, we are going to have to change our perception of these men and women. First, we are going to have to recognize that they are citizens. I think that we are going to have to remind ourselves that they are part of our families; they are our brothers and husbands and wives and children. Once we humanize it, I think it would take away some of the fear of the stigma that we have against these men and women. I think we need to remind ourselves that we also have an obligation to fulfill a promise to society that, once you do your time and pay for the crime that you committed, that we would welcome you back into our communities and give you a second chance. And then I think we also have to recognize that we are all a part of the same human fabric and that they need us, we need them, in order for us to make a better society. . . . Whether the community is ready to assimilate the 5,000 or more who will be coming back into our communities is yet to be seen. I do not think the community is ready, only because the education has not been done. The information has not been put out there. People have not had meetings and gathered and come together to proffer a solution and how we’re going to do it together. So I do not feel the community is ready. But the interesting fact of the matter is, it doesn’t take much to get ready. Just a willing heart and a few willing resources and commitment – and you’ll be ready. It’s not mammoth work. It’s not something that requires a lot of study, a lot of conversation. Just commitment."