From Inquest:
More than 600,000 people are released from prison every year, which means that many people will be transitioning home from a place where trauma, stress, and other hardships are commonplace. Reentry, as this transitional period is called, comes with huge barriers to housing, employment, and our well-being. We know this because we’ve experienced these hardships ourselves—include the anxiety of knowing that any misstep during this period could have landed us back in prison.
Of the more than 500 reentry facilities in the United States today, most operate under rules that mirror the prison environment, with punishment for minor infractions, abstinence-only policies that do not work, and the constant threat of being sent back to prison. This approach hasn’t worked.
Effective reentry requires that a person be in an environment that is supportive (not stressful), caring (not traumatizing), and where basic needs are met (not deprived). Current reentry housing programs deprioritize these basic human needs in favor of control and authority, and thereby perpetuate cycles of trauma and reincarceration over the long run. Continue reading >>>
|
|
|
|
