A Community of Ex-Cons Shows How to Bring Prisoners Back Into Society
By ADAM COHEN

SAN FRANCISCO

Gerald Miller, a maître d'hôtel at the Delancey Street Restaurant here, could teach a tutorial on his craft. Smile at the diners no matter how annoying they are, he says. And when they have a complaint, murmur, "Sorry, sorry, sorry," while swiftly making it right. None of this is remarkable for someone trained in the restaurant trade. But until he signed on, the only jobs Mr. Miller had held were burglar, drug dealer and armed robber.

The Delancey Street Restaurant, with its staff made up entirely of ex-criminals, is a Bay Area institution, drawing enthusiastic crowds. It is also the centerpiece of the Delancey Street Foundation, where ex-convicts live together, run businesses and move to self-sufficiency. After three decades and 14,000 graduates, Delancey Street is at the intersection of two white-hot trends: the growing focus on "re-entry," the moment prisoners rejoin society, and "social entrepreneurship," using business to tackle social problems.

It is also well positioned ideologically. In a field overrun with liberal and conservative platitudes, it reflects the pragmatism of Mimi Silbert, who holds a Ph.D. in criminology from the University of California at Berkeley and who founded the group with an ex-convict in 1971. Dr. Silbert, who grew up in an immigrant family and worked on a kibbutz, drew heavily on both experiences to create an environment emphasizing hard work and mutual support.

Delancey Street's "third way" — neither harshly punitive, nor mindlessly permissive — has won backers ranging from Senator Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat, to George Shultz, secretary of state under President Ronald Reagan.

Now Dr. Silbert is trying to replicate her model nationally. Working with a foundation that has a federal grant, she is helping to create programs in Virginia, South Carolina and Alaska. She may face an uphill battle in an age when the biggest idea in dealing with criminals is "three strikes and you're out" laws, which can put even small-time repeat offenders away for life. But her efforts may help bring down the nation's record prison population, saving taxpayers significant amounts of money and reclaiming some of the people lost in the system.