"You treat me like an animal!" The speaker, a young man isolated in a windowless cell in a supermax prison, was pacing back and forth like a caged tiger in a zoo. He screamed his remarks as the TV camera captured the moment. "What do you think I will be when I get out of here?"

One of the major problems facing our communities is to try to answer that question. Unfortunately, not enough is done in prisons to rehabilitate offenders and prepare them for entry back into society.

Delaware has the fourth highest rate of imprisonment in the country. About 97 percent of those incarcerated, having served an average time of two and half years, are being released at a rate of about 1,000 per month.

Many offenders are released ill equipped. Many are unemployed, homeless, recovering from addiction or struggling with mental illness. Family support and health care are often lacking. In addition, they are stigmatized as ex-offenders, which adds to the difficulty of finding a job and reintegrating into society.

There are educational programs in prisons such as Alternatives to Violence, the Thresholds decision-making program and parenting classes that attempt to enable offenders to take control of their lives. Halfway houses let them back into society. One notable success, The Way Home in Georgetown, has a recidivism rate of only 22 percent for its clients compared to a national average of 40 percent.

The nationally recognized Key Program, a 12-month drug abuse treatment program, started in Delaware prisons. When treatment is continued for six months after release in the complementary Crest program, it was found that 95 percent of participants were drug free 18 months after their release. In comparison, only 35 percent of those who got no treatment were drug free.

One of the most critical problems is finding a job. According to one study, more than 250 job titles are off limits to returning prisoners. The nonprofit organization Stand Up For What's Right and Just worked to get legislation passed in Delaware to allow licensing boards to decide if an applicant's criminal record is "substantially related" to the profession they wish to enter. Before this legislation, felons, no matter what the charge, were restricted from getting jobs as accountants, landscape architects, podiatrists, electricians, plumbers, athletic trainers, geologists, barbers and more occupations.

In Delaware, released inmates not only cannot work directly for banks but they are forbidden to work for a company that does business with banks.

Prison Industries has a few work training programs but they are limited and engage in no industry that may displace or compete unfairly with private-sector Delaware workers.

Incredibly, recent research found that a major problem ex-offenders face is obtaining a state-issued identification document. Without it, they cannot get a job or even a driver's license.

It is much better to help ex-offenders succeed than it is to deal with repeat criminal behavior.

Criminal justice is not a well-coordinated system. There are many agencies such as prisons, parole, courts and those mentioned above working with offenders. The problem is huge and having numerous uncoordinated programs isn't making a serious impact.