Many inmates find that the hardest day of their term is the one after their release - the moment they integrate back into society.

Which is why the Sunshine Halfway House in Chaoyang district was established two years ago.

As the first "community correction institution" in China, the 200-bed facility, which is formally known as the Sunshine Community Correction Service Center, helps prisoners prepare for the outside world. It is an institution that has been replicated dozens of times nationwide since it opened.

Zhang Shun (not his real name), 62, is living a quiet life in the facility, where he devotes much of his time to his antique collection.

Zhang, who is serving the final two years of a 10-year stretch for fraud, says the groundbreaking institution is getting him ready for his eventual release.

"Were it not for the Sunshine Halfway House, I would be away from normal life and society and may return to crime after I am released," he said.

Beijing began working on the idea of community correction facilities in 2003.

More than 811 former inmates of Sunshine Halfway House have benefited and been released without committing crimes again in Chaoyang district, according to Rong Rong, director of the Justice Bureau of Chaoyang district.

"Community correction is a bridge connecting the offender's past with his future," said Rong. "It enables the offenders to get skills and knowledge necessary for a smooth return to the community and society."

Before the center opened, prisoners were released straight from maximum security institutions to the community and many went back to their old ways after experiencing problems that included difficulty in finding work, said Zhang Jingsheng, the center's chief officer.

To address the problems, the center provides transitional accommodation and a stipend from the Red Cross. Staff help inmates apply for low-rent housing and subsistence allowances.

And the center's labor education and assistance department helps offenders get the skills they need to find work, thanks to partnerships with professional skill training schools.

Throughout the training and rehabilitation work, the nine correction officers at the halfway house live alongside the offenders and help them with their day-to-day development.

Despite the good work done, many prisoners are not familiar with community correction centers and are apprehensive when they arrive.

Xue Mei (not her real name), 48, said she was "very uneasy" when she was told she would be transferring to the center in May 2009.

Xue, who was sentenced to 15 years in prison for misusing public funds, spent 10 years in a regular prison before transferring to the center.

Like all such inmates, she began with a three-day training program that included morning exercises, law studies and an overview of the skills courses that include hairdressing, stereo mixing and computer software design.

Xue took the software design course.

"Officers at the center eat the same food and live in the same dorm with me," she said. "They feel like my family and the center is my home."

Before offenders can take their training courses, they must first take psychological and physical checks.

Prisoners also get feedback on their efforts and praise when it is due.

"A quiet offender once picked up a piece of paper from the floor and threw it into the rubbish can," Rong said.

"We gave him a certificate of merit, which moved him to tears for a whole afternoon because he had never been praised before."

"I am happy to see the changes in these people," Rong said.

She said she often receives calls from former inmates who are doing well in the outside world.

"The greatest benefit that I get from the center is that I can live a normal life," said a man surnamed Ma, who is at the end of a five-year sentence for bribery.

China Daily

(China Daily 09/15/2010 page)