PERRY COUNTY, Pa. — After 18 years of weaving through heroin addiction and 11 stints in prison, Perry County woman Kim Wynings was tired.
“I had just felt defeated going in and out of jail, the constant paranoia that I was going back,” said Wynings.
A string of petty theft and drug charges kept sending her back. Now 47, she had struggled with addiction since the age of 18.
In 2019 she asked a court for the one thing never previously offered to her: drug rehab. Wynings attended rehab and has been clean for more than three years.
She was then finally free from addiction, but not the criminal justice system. With no car, a low-paying job and several minor children, she still had to pay fines, restitution and ongoing parole fees of $70 per month. By 2023 she owed $12,700.
In Pennsylvania, technical violations such as not paying fines can result in further prison time.
“Some of my violations, as simple as a curfew violation, I went back 16 months. Non-payment of fines, back for months and months,” Wynings said. “Sometimes you just get stuck.”
In May another Kim stepped in to help—celebrity Kim Kardashian. She and businessman Michael Rubin paired with nonprofit REFORM Alliance to pay off the balances of more than 50 mothers across the country in situations similar to Wynings’.
“The blessing that I got from receiving that is surreal to me. It has helped me,” Wynings said. “I had such a fear of going back over fines and restitution it didn’t even make sense.”
Staff at REFORM Alliance, which advocates for criminal justice reform, said Wynings’ case was far too common in Pennsylvania. Two thirds of people released from prison in the state return within three years, according to a report from the Department of Corrections.
“The problem with the system is that rather than being set up to support people, to provide services, to coach folks through being successful in the community, getting back on track, it really has ended up being incredibly punitive and serving as a trap door to incarceration,” said Erin Haney, REFORM Alliance’s senior director of policy and law.
A bill soon to be voted on in the state Senate would reform the system by rewarding good conduct with shorter probation. The bill would require mandatory probation review conferences at regular intervals, with a presumption that probation will be terminated unless the individual does not qualify.
“We want to create a mechanism for them, if they have good behavior, if they’ve pursued education, for them to get a chance to eliminate their probation sentence,” said the bill’s sponsor, State Sen. Lisa Baker (R-Luzerne/Wyoming/Susquehanna/Wayne/Pike).
The bill passed out of committee on June 22 and has broad bipartisan support.
Wynings is scheduled to end her probation in April 2024, but would likely be eligible for an early termination should the bill pass. Now that her financial obligations have been paid off, she has requested to be taken off supervision, but hasn’t heard back yet.