The Returning Citizens Program
I am very interested in attending this program after receiving an email from a former warden:
The Returning Citizens Program is located at Goodwill West Louisville Opportunity Center,every Wednesday.
“I was invited to talk to a group of men and women about returning to the community after release from prison. They taught me more than I could help them except some lame words that sounded hollow even to me. The obstacles these folks face would crush the strongest of us. I saw a parole conditions of parole as well as the Probation and Parole conditions of supervision. I doubt I could comply.” -a quote from a former Kentucky prison warden
Comments from a social worker/ prison educator:
“I was involved with a group who did reentry for many years. I really don't see how any of them could have made it without us - we took the ones mostly who had lots of years in prison, but who were pretty much rehabilitated already. We spent about $1000 the first three months (sometimes more) covering their costs on a decreasing basis as they took over. A group of intelligent, sophisticated people with contacts, and we were often at a complete loss for an answer to some of their problems. It was truly awful (especially if they were on the sex offender registry). There is nothing much to do for them. But most of them eventually were successful and many are still in touch with a couple of us. Again, I can't imagine how they make it without outside help. The places and "support" that DOC offered was actually negative, so we paid rent for some of the better Half-way houses. Got me started, sorry... Good for you doing that.”
Comments from a former Parole Officer:
The comments by the former warden echo my own thoughts. When I started working as a Probation and Parole Officer in 1972 my caseload was about 40. The work I did made a difference and community resources were available. Nine years later caseloads had doubled and community services were harder to access. It is worse today. Given their living conditions, I marveled that more people were not in prison. I burned out and transferred out of direct casework.
I still care about people ground down by a criminal justice system created by "tough-on-crime" politics and those who profit from harsh sentencing and high incarceration rates. The public's ignorance about "corrections" is astounding. All that most people know are newspaper headlines about the spectacular "crime of the day." I have followed Kentucky's jails and prisons for over 50 years and am working to educate citizens about the cost and consequences of corrections policy. Incarceration is getting worse and without public understanding, any reforms will not survive the next election. The numbers are amazing. Kentucky has 12,000 people in state prisons, 20,000 in county jails, about 60,000 on some form of probation or parole, plus 6,000 in federal prisons. If all these people were in one place, that city would be Kentucky's third largest. Billions are being spent on a system that does not make us safer.” - Kyle Ellison
I hope to attend The Returning Citizens Program soon.