North Shore resident Louise Ridlen recently housed convicted criminal Jeremy, who has spent nearly half his life in prison, for 100 days, with heart-warming results.
Would you let a criminal stay in your home?
When Louise Ridlen’s daughter, Brittany, told her TV station SBS was looking for local families to house convicted criminals as part of a new show trialling a unique initiative to tackle recidivism in Australia, she knew she had to help.
Louise filled in the form for the ground-breaking documentary Life on the Outside, presented by Wentworth’s Danielle Cormack, ‘thinking she would never hear back from anybody’.
“And then one thing led to another and before you know it, we’re making a TV program,” she says.
Louise and her children, Brittany, 27, and Reggie, 24, were matched with Jeremy for the three-part series, a 41-year-old man who has been to prison 14 times, spending almost half his life behind bars.
The experiment placed formerly incarcerated people in households for the first 100 days of their release from prison as a circuit breaker, with the aim of turning their lives around.
“We’ve got a spare room downstairs and I thought why not?” says Waverton-based Louise.
“Jeremy was so open, friendly, and respectful, was really tidy and fit into the family really quickly.
“After only a week or two, we felt like he’d been with us forever.”
Billions of dollars are spent each year keeping people in jail in Australia, with more than 40,000 people currently incarcerated.
Research shows one in two will go back inside within the first two years of release. There is a clear connection between prison congestion and recidivism (or reoffending), with overcrowding impacting rehabilitation, educational and vocational programs, and linked to an increase in violence.
When it comes to matching former prisoners with families, the show’s producers enlisted psychologists and did extensive personality profiles.
“Out of the candidates, Jeremy was the perfect match,” adds Louise.
“He was super engaged and really happy to be part of the family and really involved in all our activities.
“He was open with everything and we had lots of deep and meaningful [conversations] where we’d sit and talk about what had happened to result in where he ended up.
“He’d got to a point in his life where he really wanted to change and was just like a sponge for information, particularly setting his business up.”
Jeremy was keen to set up a painting business, so the family helped him set up an ABN, insurance, design a website and business cards. When they presented him with his business cards, Jeremy cried because he was so overwhelmed and appreciative.
“Having the opportunity to make such a difference in somebody’s life, when it was really simple and easy things for us to do – like him staying in a room that was empty and helping him set up his business – was really rewarding,” Louise says.
Jeremy stayed with the family for another three months after his initial 100 days’ filming, and Louise jokes as a result, they ‘had more family dinners during his stay than they’ve had in the last couple of years’.
Jeremy says the family was incredibly supportive and ‘so damn terrific’ when it came to putting his past behind him.
“They said, ‘you know what, let’s judge him on how he is now’,” Jeremy explains.
“If more people were like Louise and her family, the crime rates would go down tremendously, the jails would be half empty and the world would be a much better place.”
Life on the Outside is now streaming on SBS On Demand.
Niki Waldegrave and Jess Clarke
