I know a lot of scary people.
Some did terrible things.
They are drug offenders, robbers, rapists and murderers.
But these scary people are also frightened people.
And their biggest common fear is their mailbox.
Their letterbox works as a trap after their release.
Prisoners should get a new start
after serving their sentence.
However, for many prisoners
the punishment really starts after leaving the prison.
The Red Cross project ‘Netwerk Na Gevangenisstraf’
has almost 14 years of experience
with serial offenders who dream of a normal life.
Almost all of them have debts.
It concerns unpaid rent, electricity, credit cards, fines …
the whole list.
The Danish researcher Annette Olesen has proven
that these debt problems increase the chance of relapse.
In a survey of us, prisoners placed economics
top of their list of concerns regarding their release.
Other researchers showed a close relationship
between debt problems and serious psychological problems.
The worst part is
that prisoners who are really trying to get their lives back on track
thereby being hit the hardest.
Take Robbie, a typical prisoner.
He had a difficult childhood,
has no education, no valuable assets and a lot of debt.
His network consists of drug users.
Robbie has thought a lot during his last sentence.
He is determined that this is the last time.
He gets addiction care,
various courses and programs in prison.
After his release he gets help to find a place to live.
Robbie is lonely, but he stays away from drugs.
It is very difficult to get a job
for a man with a criminal record and no resume.
But in the end he finds a job and does it well.
His sister is so happy for him.
But then the past takes it.
The creditors discover the change in income
and start bombarding Robbie’s mailbox.
She is full of letters with legal paragraphs
and threats with fines.
They are very difficult to understand.
But one thing he has fast:
he will never be able to earn so much money in a legal way.
Never.
Robbie does not know what to do,
so he throws the letters away and tries to forget them.
That is a completely normal, human reaction.
But then his income is seized
and he can no longer pay the rent.
Robbie’s head is running day and night.
“It makes no sense to work.
I will never be able to lead a normal life. “
After a time of extremely high stress, he has no hope.
People without hope make bad choices.
Robbie is looking for his old friends and fleeing drug use.
He will not work anymore and his sister can not reach him.
It does not take long before he is back in prison.
Robbie was well on his way.
But one important element was missing in the help he received,
he lost control and
debts ruined all efforts to get his life back on track.
Now let’s look at Peter.
When I first met him, he apparently did just fine:
he was a drug, he did well in his training
and was a loving father.
He had been in and out of prison for 15 years,
but he decided to break this vicious circle
when his girlfriend became pregnant.
This time he had to succeed.
But Peter was carrying a heavy load.
His debt problems gave him sleepless nights
and he was worried that his normal family life could not continue.
Why should we attract that?
Why can not offenders solve their economic problems themselves?
There are several reasons.
Prisoners are not allowed to work,
so they have nothing to offer their creditors.
They do not have access to the internet or telephone.
Solving a serious debt problem is complicated
and most prisoners have very little education,
struggling with difficulties in reading, writing and concentration.
Debt problems affect the mental health of the debtor.
Almost everyone would need help in this situation.
The interest rates rise while they are stuck.
While you are supposed to take a new start,
the problem has only increased.
And it is hardly easier to solve this problem
to solve outside the walls of the prison.
A criminal environment is a parallel world.
Many perpetrators are experts in things we do not know about
and they are terrified of things that are self-evident to us.
As a friend of mine said:
“I knew the value of 300 grams of gold, but not the price of a bottle of milk.”
That tattooed powerhouse might frighten you,
but he prefers to close a deal with a guy like himself
then receive letters that he does not understand
and with requirements that he can never meet.
In other words,
many perpetrators receive a lifelong economic punishment after their release.
Is anyone afraid of spiders here?
Suppose you have to be in a room full of spiders
and you do not see a way out.
What would be your dearest wish?
Maybe someone to lead you out by the hand?
For most perpetrators
is dealing with economics just a room full of spiders.
But they can find the way if you give them a helping hand.
They will still have to cover this narrow and difficult road themselves.
But with guidance and advice
they will feel safer, gain new knowledge.
They will learn to recognize and avoid the poisonous spiders,
and develop skills to cope with the others.
This was the idea behind the ‘Debt Project’,
started in 2012 by Netwerk Na Prison sentence.
Peter was one of the reasons why we started.
Fortunately, it did not last too long
before we had an agreement with its creditors
that turned out positive for both parties.
They received payments for the first time
and agreed to cancel the remainder of the debt after five years of payment.
The bombarding of Peters mailbox stopped,
he saw the light at the end of the tunnel
and could focus on his work and family.
Thanks to the many volunteers and partners,
together with the cooperation of the correctional service,
we can provide long-term assistance to both prisoners and former prisoners.
We inform them about the public support system and attend meetings.
We teach about everyday economy and debt management.
The participants are offered individual advice and assistance
to negotiate and make repayment agreements.
Our volunteers are well aware of it
that this challenge consists of more than dealing with numbers.
They must earn the trust of the debtors,
to overcome their shame
and at the same time be honest about what is expected of them.
We also give lessons to employees and prospective employees
in the correctional system.
I am so glad that so many of them want to participate.
We have made a book, a film, two brochures and a website
to explain how debt collection is done,
how to get an overview and how to deal with it.
This material is distributed in penitentiary services throughout Norway.
This is a very small investment with a potentially very high return.
Peter was lucky.
He had just been released when we started this.
We were fortunate enough to follow him on his new path.
He did most of the work himself
and in the meantime developed many useful skills and a new attitude.
I remember he showed up with a brand new toy,
a helicopter with remote control,
while he could not pay his rent.
But now he knows where he can find the cheapest diapers.
But the drug dealer, the thief, the rapist, the murderer –
does that really deserve help?
For someone from the Red Cross it is the obvious answer
that people deserve a second chance once their sentence is served.
Most prisoners are not dangerous.
Prisons around the world are full of resourceful people
with good intentions and with families and friends who love them.
Most of them face many big challenges
and economy is probably their most concrete problem.
Professor Arne Holte from the University of Oslo is clear about this:
debt counseling is a very effective way
to reduce psychological problems and their costs.
Olesens research and show our experience
that debt assistance has a positive effect
on the chances of perpetrators to stay away from drugs and crime.
This leads us to the vision of Netwerk Na Prison sentence:
the correctional service must be required
to provide information and courses
about everyday economy and debt management.
Motivated prisoners with more than six months of punishment
are entitled to assistance in getting a debt statement
and a plan for their next chapter.
To serve a prison sentence is hard,
but it is also an opportunity to learn useful skills,
to prepare you for life after release.
Structured and close cooperation
between the corrective service, the support system
and voluntary organizations are needed.
Perhaps not everyone agrees that the perpetrators deserve help.
Have they not done terrible things and caused human suffering?
Have they not already cost society enough money?
Let’s take a look at it from the point of view
of the taxpayer and the concerned citizen.
Nobody likes wasting tax money.
And we all want to feel safe in our neighborhoods, right?
Crime costs the small country with low crime, Norway,
€ 10 billion per year.
That is three times more than is spent
to development and research in the government budget,
more than seven times the amount spent on culture.
According to the analysis agency Vista we can
save around € 100,000 per year on every typical prisoner
who becomes a taxpayer.
Peter has been working as a truck driver for many years.
He pays € 15,000 in taxes each year.
Train prison staff and only, for example, € 1,000 in additional resources
for every motivated prisoner money is very well spent.
€ 1,000 is less than the cost of five nights in prison.
Peter spent more than two thousand nights alone in a cell.
Now he spends his time and energy on his work, his family
and attending sports competitions.
He now has three children aged 10, 8 and 3 years.
They grow up in safety.
Their father is no longer selling drugs in your neighborhood.
Instead, he invites his neighbors to barbecues.
Prisons around the world are full of Peters.
They dream of a normal life.
They must be able to leave their door to their mailbox
without the fear that their past is taxing them,
ruined their new goal.
They deserve to succeed.
Their children deserve it that they succeed.
We all deserve it that they succeed.
So let’s show them the way out of that spinning room.
Thank you.
(Applause)
”
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