The Smart Way to Help Ex-Convicts, and Society

Inmates at San Quentin.
Credit: Max Whittaker for The New York Times

By Robert E. Rubin

I recently gave a talk at the state prison in San Quentin, Calif. At the event, a former inmate said, “I don’t understand why over the 18-year period of my incarceration, over $900,000 was paid to keep me in prison. But when I was paroled, I was given $200 and told ‘good luck.’ ”