A second chance Former inmate succeeds with re-entry program
Rachel Kint and her fiancé, Benjamin Buchanan, are expecting their first child in December.
Rachel Kint fills water glasses during the lunch rush at Boulevard Pub & Kitchen in Southpointe.
Rachel Kint places an order at Boulevard Pub & Kitchen in Southpointe.
Rachel Kint in front of Washington County Correctional Facility in Washington Thursday
Diana Irey Vaughan
Before sipping from a mug, the blond-haired woman with piercing blue eyes considered the obstetrician-approved indulgence.
“I can have one coffee a day,” said Rachel Kint, indicating the barely perceptible swell of stomach under a floral dress.
The expectant mother grinned while discussing the Dec. 27 due date of her child, whom she said she is dedicated to keeping safe and healthy. The baby is her priority, but it wasn’t so long ago that the 2006 Bethlehem-Center High School graduate cared for little more than how she was going to buy heroin for her next fix.
“I wasn’t using to get high. I was using to live. My life – it was a 24/7 job,” Kint said. “I would go to the store, take clothes and return them. Sometimes, I would pawn gift cards. … That was my life. Now, being clean, I see that when I was using, I didn’t care.”
Kint was released Feb. 29 from Washington County Correctional Facility, where she was doing time on convictions for theft and receiving stolen property. It was her second incarceration. She’s confident it will be her last.
“Jail changes you,” she said. “I know I want to stay clean. I don’t put myself where the drugs are. I look at other women who are in and out (of jail). I don’t want to be like that. I’m completely done.”
The former surgical technician spent years in and out of rehabilitation facilities. She stole from her loved ones to support her addiction and lost jobs because of frequent call-offs.
Now, she works as a waitress in a Southpointe eatery, saving up for her baby. Eventually, she wants to become a certified recovery specialist.
Kint credits a re-entry program led by Washington County Commissioner Diana Irey Vaughan for aiding her recovery.
“Thank God for Diana Irey. She comes in and helps inmates find jobs, talks about goals and relationships,” Kint said. “You can tell she really cares.”
Once a week, Irey Vaughan volunteers with female inmates, hosting a six-week course preparing them for success outside confinement.
Irey Vaughan, who said she was reluctant to take credit, called transition programs “one piece of the puzzle.”
“We’ve got to break the cycle of breaking the law,” she said. “If we want (inmates) to change their lives, we’ve got to offer some services to them so they have a chance for success.”
The average cost of caring for each inmate per day at the jail is $45. Irey Vaughan said re-entry programs help reduce recidivism, or relapses into criminal behavior that lead to probation violations or further jail time.
“No matter which way you look at this, it makes sense,” she said.
Topics change based upon inmates’ needs, but Irey Vaughan incorporates discussion on self-esteem, ambition and devising plans for spending, time-management and education.
“A lot of them have never set goals. They’re merely existing day to day,” she said. “I had a 21-year-old (female inmate) who said, ‘I just want to die.’ Some of them don’t even know what’s possible.”
In 2015, Irey Vaughan and other county officials launched a re-entry conference for men and women.
“The more time I spent in the prison, the more I realized when (inmates) walked out of jail, they had nothing organized to break down barriers to succeed,” she said.
At the first conference in May 2015, Irey Vaughan hoped for 30 participants. When reservations reached 125, registration had to be closed. Two subsequent events also were well-attended.
Former inmates receive information on just about everything, said Irey Vaughan – health care and driver’s license reinstatement, directions for paying court fees, community service options, legal aid and housing services.
Employers willing to take applications and previous offenders who have worked to turn their lives around also are present.
As with Irey Vaughan’s jail program, all of the costs associated with the re-entry conference are donated.
“The best thing that came out of me volunteering in the jail is that people seem to become a little more interested in helping (former inmates) to live independent and law-abiding lives,” Irey Vaughan said.
The inmates she helps – the women, especially – “want the same things as anyone else.”
“They want their families together,” Irey Vaughan said. “They want to be safe.”