things i learned last night

1. The Vermont Department of Corrections has some really model programs, and some really big problems, and some really wonderful people working for it (and, undoubtedly, some not wonderful people working for it).

2. 80% of incarcerated males in Vermont have not completed a high school education. I dare you to try and convince me crime isn't a class issue.

3. Active listening and asking open-ended questions is really hard. I knew this one already, but I was reminded.

4. There are no substance abuse treatment programs other than Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous offered in the Vermont prison system (and other states' systems? I'm curious...) because if there were mandated programs, SO many more people would have to be sent to prison, because SO many crimes are drug-related. Fascinating.

5. It's particularly tough to be a female prisoner in Vermont (and probably most states) because most women are sentenced to less than a year in prison, which sounds like a good deal but actually sets them up really well for failure. See, men are generally sentenced to a minimum of two years in jail, and therefore have time to integrate into an AA or NA group, to get some education or vocational training, etc. Plus, the last year or eight months of his sentence he's probably working with a caseworker on a re-entry (into the community) plan, finding a job and a place to live, all that stuff. If a woman isn't even in prison for a year total, she doesn't have a chance at any of that. So she gets out and has few options but to fall back into old patterns, because the system has not offered her any ways to work on changing those patterns. Female recidivism rates are much higher than males. Again: fascinating.

6. Life after prison is a paradox - the chicken has to come before the egg has to come before the chicken. This is the thing that just kills me: for most people coming out of the prison system, there is simply nowhere to start and nowhere to go. They might be really ready to turn their life around, but most of society actively thwarts their efforts. Few people will give them jobs, though often they have to have a job as a condition of parole (or they go back to prison). No one will rent them an apartment if they don't have recent rental history, but there's no way to get recent rental history if no one will rent you an apartment. Halfway houses are closing left and right because of lack of funding, and many shelters are already overcrowded and turning people away, and won't take people coming out of prison. What are they supposed to do?

Explanation of why I was learning all this: I'm volunteering for a program with the Brattleboro Community Justice Center called Circles Of Support and Accountability (COSA). We had two nights of training over the last week in order to begin to understand some of the issues facing recently incarcerated folks in this area, and how COSAs and other restorative justice programs try to help break down the barriers. We met two people who have come out of prison and gone through the COSA program, and frankly, hearing their stories made me feel ashamed of myself for anything I've ever complained about or found challenging in my life. I think being part of a COSA is going to be awkward and frustrating and challenging. I can't wait.