Associated Press / news@whmi.com

Michigan is helping people who were detained at the Wayne County jail obtain driver’s licenses or state identification cards, a move advocates say will increase the odds they land on their feet as they return to society.

It’s an expansion of a program Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson first launched at state prisons in 2020 and more recently expanded to jails in Kent, Ingham, Genesee and Washtenaw counties.

“People deserve to be able to move forward after serving their time. Having an ID is a critical first step,” Benson said in a press conference. “You need an ID to apply for a job. You need an ID for housing. You need an ID to enroll in education and training programs.”

To date, the program has helped roughly 20,000 people who were incarcerated get a driver’s license or state ID upon their release, according to Benson’s office.

The jail in Wayne County, the state’s largest county, typically holds between 1,300 and 1,500 people on any given day. About 60% of the people incarcerated there last week did not have a valid state ID, according to Sheriff Raphael Washington.

“We’re looking forward to changing that,” he told reporters at the press conference.

Experts say identification is often a first step toward stability, which in turn lowers the chances of recidivism, or committing another crime.

A study published by the National Library of Medicine found that one in four people on probation started without stable housing. Even among those with housing, many relied on family or friends. More than half ended up back in the system, often due to drug- or property-related arrests.

Families feel less burdened when their loved ones come home with those documents, because without them, they’re far more likely to end up back in the system, said Hakim Crampton, government legislative liaison for the Citizens for Prison Reform.

“If they’re not able to get vital documents, for example, that … reduces their chance for success but increases their likelihood for recidivating,” he said.

Michigan’s current recidivism rate stands at 21% — the lowest rate on record, according to the state Department of Corrections, which has partnered with Benson to provide IDs to people leaving state prisons.

Those IDs reduce “some of the psychological burden that comes with reintegration back into society by simply taking a couple things off the plate, that didn’t need to be on there to begin with,” said Adam Grant, chief executive officer of Brighter Way, an organization that helps formerly incarcerated individuals reenter society in Washtenaw, Ingham and Jackson counties.

Not only does having proper identification help recently released individuals get a job and housing, but it also ensures that they are able to vote.

In Michigan, anyone with a felony or misdemeanor conviction can register to vote as long as they’re not currently serving time in jail or prison. People held before trial or sentencing are also eligible to register.

Michigan is one of at least 17 states to provide identification at reentry, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The Michigan Legislature last year gave final approval to a bill that would have written the state’s current program into law by requiring the Department of Corrections to apply for an ID or license on behalf of people set for release.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer vetoed those bills on technical grounds, however, saying they were written in a way that would have inadvertently undone other recent changes to state law.

In her veto letter, Whitmer told lawmakers she “ fully supports ” the underlying policy. “I look forward to working with the current Legislature on passing this important criminal justice reform issue in the near future.”

This story was originally published by Bridge Michigan and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.