Family & Corrections Network

VOICES & VISIONS: THE FAMILY & CORRECTIONS

Proceedings of the First National Conference on the
Family and Corrections, April 24-27, 1988, Sacramento,
California

© Copyright 1989, Family and Corrections Network

PART II PROGRAMS AND WORKSHOPS

New York State Department of Correctional Services
Family Services Programs

Marion L. Borum

It is a privilege to be present at this First National Conference on the Family and Corrections. I have been impressed with the workshop topics and the committment expressed to improving the family ties of offenders. I must congratulate the conveners of the conference, especially Mr. Mustin, for a job well done. To have attracted such a large number of committed individuals to a first conference is indeed worthy of praise.

The purpose of my addressing you today is to extend an invitation on behalf of the New York State Department of Correctional Services and its Commissioner, Thomas A. Coughlin III, to convene for the Second National Conference in New York at its capital city in Albany. New York State, I hope you have learned so far, has an abiding commitment to the family as an essential part of the correctional process.

New York, along with other States, has experienced tremendous growth in its prison population. Over the last three years we have added almost 10,700 bed spaces at a cost of 550 millon dollars and, over the next eighteen months, we will add 7,000 spaces at a cost of 386 million dollars. This kind of expansion, as you can imagine, receives prominent attention in the media around the State, and well it should. An expenditure of about a billion dollars in public money in about five years should be scrutinized closely. But there is another story - that is what New York State is doing inside its prisons. How successful we are with this other, perhaps less tangible and sometimes less quantifiable, story may be pivotal in determining just how much more we will need to spend in the future to incarcerate felons.

As you know, there is a popular contemporary debate in the field of correction which focuses on the issue of whether or not rehabilitative treatment within the prison setting has fulfilled its promise or has instead reached its demise. The arguments on both sides of the issue are well known. We in New York State believe that well planned and implemented academic, vocational, and drug and alcohol treatment programs continue to be important. But, in my view, no program is more important than maximizing the maintenance of family ties. All of our research points to the relative success of our family programs. Some years ago, Holt and Miller in their work, Explorations In Inmate Family Relations, stated: "No restriction should be allowed to remain whose only reason is the limited of space. Space must be found. If some new correctional technique were invented tomorrow whose effectiveness were equal to family contacts, there would be a rush to find space for implementation even if it meant using the Warden's Office."

While we have not begun to use the Warden's office, we have made great strides. As an indication of the genuineness of our efforts, allow me to briefly describe some of the strides we have made:

1. At most of our facilities, visiting hours are flexible enough to enable friends, relatives and family members to manage trips to the institutions without significant disruptions in their lives.

2. Family education and relationship programs are provided. Some are contracted to outside agencies such as the Single Parent Resource Center, The Osborne Association, Catholic Charities, Planned Parenthood and Family Dynamics Inc. These programs involve not only inmates, but their spouses and other family members. They have added significantly to our efforts and have further humanized the system.

3. Our Family Reunion Program allows extended (36-44 hour) visits by immediate family members in residential settings located on facility grounds. This program began at one facility in 1976. It now serves ten facilities and with the new budget year, three more facilities will be added.

4. Family service personnel have been placed at fourteen facilities, which experience frequent visiting, for the purpose of upgrading the physical and social environment of visiting rooms. This includes the provision of areas to meet the special needs of infants and children visitors.

5. Our free bus program, initiated in 1973, provides transportation from New York City to correctional facilities across the State.

6. For a number of years, we have also provided opportunities for families to be together through a multitude of special events and family picnics.

As I've stated, this is a brief review of our Family Services Programs. You have heard and will hear more from Sister Elaine Roulet about the Children's Center at Bedford Hills. We are proud of this program. In many respects, it has been a flagship.

I am reminded that not so long ago a Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court said: "We take on a burden when we put a man behind walls and that burden is to give him a chance to change. If we deny him that, we deny his status as a human being and to deny that is to diminish our own humanity and plant the seeds of future anguish for ourselves."

There is much more to be done. The task is difficult and the challenge is urgent. Conferences such as this give inspiration and allow us to persevere. We eagerly await the Conference in New York and the opportunity to build upon this one.

Recall the message given to a small community 2,000 years ago:
"Grow not weary of well doing, for if he faint not, he
shall reap in due season."
Thank you.

Salvation Army Correctional Services Family Programs

Major C. David Howell

The Salvation Army Correctional Services Department has been a leader and innovator in the provision of programs and services that meet the needs of individuals subject to the Canadian criminal justice system. The experience gained through on-going contact with offenders, victims and family members provides convincing evidence of the need to seek out new and productive initiatives that concurrently improve the effectiveness of the criminal justice system and respond to individuals in need.

In Ottawa, the Salvation Army Correctional Services Department has determined the need to move into an area of programming which revolves around the vital, central issue of "attitudes" - how individuals perceive themselves and respond to others. When examining the needs and problems of those involved in the criminal justice system - whether the individual be an accused, an offender, a victim or a family member - it can be reasonably stated that many problems center around an attitudinal issue. The Salvation Army Correctional Services Department believes that broad, long-term rehabilitation and successful integration with society can rarely occur for individuals who have been exposed to the process of justice or corrections without the elimination of unsuitable attitudes and/or the development of currently deficient attitudes and values which meet the standards of a law-abiding society.

One of the key elements of an individual's attitudes pertains to the relationships that the individual develops and maintains. The Salvation Army Correctional Services Department believes that, particularly within the federal corrections system, the maintenance of family relationships is imperative to the long-term potential for successful rehabilitation and re-integration. The positive rehabilitative and re-integration process, which can be developed through the formulation of positive relationships between offenders and family members and through the generation of attitudes which coincide with the norms of a law-abiding society, should be utilized to the fullest extent possible.

In Ottawa, we are currently developing programs to help meet these objectives and would suggest that the RELINK program effectively deals with many of the recognized needs of those who are involved in the criminal justice system and the distress encountered as these individuals attempt to cope with the complexities of the criminal justice system. The RELINK program is composed of four independent, yet interrelated components:

1. Transportation - provides a means for weekly visits to federal institutions at a cost which is affordable to family members of inmates, thus permitting the development or continuation of meaningful family relationships.

2. HOPE (Helping Organize Productive Experiences) - provides a women's support group and one-to-one counseling which addresses the needs of women and children who are coping with the incarceration of a male, loved one.
   The Transportation and HOPE programs are currently operational with the limited resources of the Salvation Army. Expansion and projected needs can only be realized when funding sources become available. The other programs are in the development stage.

3. Enrichment Retreat - provides an opportunity for couples to receive counseling in a non-custodial setting, thereby assisting in the preparation for re-integration into the community.

4. Life Management Workshops - provides group and one-to-one counseling and education in issues related to individual attitudes and the development of positive cognitive skills.

Relink Program Ideology

Traditionally, programs aimed at re-integrating offenders into the community have focused on addressing practical needs such as employment, housing and addictions counseling. While programs of this nature are a valuable component of the re-integration process, we are of the opinion that they fall short of addressing the less tangible areas of concern an offender faces in leaving an institution. How often have the words "This time I'm going to make it" been spoken, only to be met by failure again? Is it possible that existing re-integrative efforts have failed to recognize and address the root of what it takes to "make it" on the outside? Is it possible, through community programming, to tap into the attitudes, values and perceptions that influence the offender's ability to sustain relationships, maintain long-term employment, and develop a pro-social basis for decision making? In seeking to meet this objective, the Salvation Army Correctional Services Department in Ottawa is committed to programming that recognizes and values the pivotal role of relationships in community re-integration. The RELINK program is a natural response to this commitment.

Through the Transportation program we are able to provide a practical but vital link between the inmate and family members, allowing for regular, personal contact. The HOPE program is aimed at promoting personal growth for family members while their loved one is incarcerated by way of encouraging an active role in the inmate experience, breaking down negative perceptions rooted in limited information, and emphasizing the potential of individuals to act as agents of change. The Enrichment Retreat program provides couples with an opportunity to meet in a neutral setting prior to the inmate's release to the family home, strengthen marital ties, and take preliminary steps toward identifying and resolving potential conflicts. Finally, the Life Management Workshops are established as a follow-up to the three preceding components by offering seminars to couples, families, and individuals on the development of pro-social perceptions of self and others within their environment.

The Future of Family and Corrections in North America:
A Special Interest Workshop

Debbie SmithandCreasie Finney Hairston, Ph.D.

Introduction

The purpose of this special interest workshop was to identify the top priority challenges facing people who work in the family and corrections field and to find ways to meet those challenges. Several groups were formed 1) to identify common unsolved problems and 2) to generate solutions. Participants used a structured creative problem solving process to identify key policy and research issues and the types of support needed from Family and Corrections Network to effect change. The workshop was designed and presented by Georgeann Wilcoxson, a Charlottesville, Virginia, consultant and Jim Mustin, Executive Director, Family and Corrections Network.

Although groups worked independently during the workshop, their recommendations reflect several general themes. They include the need for diversified funding, collective efforts, public education, sound research, and dissemination of information to relevant audiences. Goals, action ideas, and Family and Corrections Network support recommendations for eight key areas are presented.

I. FUNDING

GOAL: Develop a short and long term funding plan for implementing family and corrections goals and objectives.

ACTION IDEAS:
A. Define a clear mission statement.
B. Identify funding sources.
C. Develop a marketing and sales presentation plan.
D. Lobby in the appropriate political arenas.
E. Have knowledge and expertise in grant writing.
F. Plan for diversified funding.
G. Conduct methodologically sound research and program evaluation findings.

FAMILY AND CORRECTIONS NETWORK SUPPORT:
A. Information on funding sources.
B. Assistance in grant writing.
C. Appropriate and practical lobbying.
D. Statistical information from research.
E. Evaluators for program plans and strategies.

II. PUBLIC AWARENESS

GOAL: Create public and political awareness of the needs of families in corrections so as to implement specific programs, policies and practices at the local, State, and National levels.

ACTION IDEAS:
A. Select a lobbyist and a coalition of constituents.
B. Unite voice of families of prisoners to vote.
C. Provide public education and initiate communication.
D. Conduct research to justify and build credibility.
E. Involve families and inmates in consultation.
F. Solicit legislative support.
G. Involve high school and college students.
H. Build relationships with Department of Corrections administration.

FAMILY AND CORRECTIONS NETWORK SUPPORT:
A. Build a national community justice coalition.
B. Disseminate "success stories."
C. Obtain positive media attention.
D. Provide a clearing house of positive information and examples of how coalition bring in more money together rather than alone.
E. Challenge legislators to respond to the needs of families.
F. Undertake a mutual planning process involving all of the constituents.
G. Evaluate research data to support effectiveness.
H. Identify common goals/interests with people and organizations outside the criminal justice system.

III. RESOURCES

GOAL: Develop the resources, including human, funding, planning, research, and evaluation tools, needed to move from a reactive to a proactive mode.

ACTION IDEAS:
A. Human Resources

1. Network among clubs, churches, agencies.

a. Letters and phone calls to the above.
b. Speakers bureau to acquaint the above.

2. Get community service institutions and in community based groups.

3. Use radio/TV community calendar announcements as well as newspaper feature articles and ads.

4. Network among inmates, ex-offenders, and families of offenders via newsletters.

5. Provide volunteer training, including consciousness raising meetings and orientation.

B. Funding

1. Obtain grants from foundations and private individuals.

2. Conduct fund-raisers.

3. Lobby legislators.

FAMILY AND CORRECTIONS NETWORK SUPPORT:
A. Expand newsletter to include ideas that work, current research, etc.
B. Assist with development of videos, tapes, newspaper ads, etc.

IV. COOPERATION AND COMMITMENT

GOAL: Obtain cooperation from corrections and the community.

ACTION IDEAS:
A. Public education.
B. Discussion groups from all sides.
C. Support from persons with influence and power.
D. Consistent presence.
E. Family and/or offender involvement in the process of identifying needs.
F. Communicate goal compatibility.
G. Sensitivity to the importance of the interrelationship between the system and agencies.
H. Improve public relations skills.

FAMILY AND CORRECTIONS NETWORK SUPPORT:
A. Promote community and correctional interaction through education and advocacy.
B. Provide a speakers bureau.
C. Promote a network that fosters consistency in corrections rules and regulations.
D. Improve community and correctional awareness of the needs of families.

V. COMMUNICATION

GOAL: Improve communication between inmates and their families and corrections staff.

ACTION IDEAS:
A. Visitor handbook.
B. Inmate on Board of Directors for visiting.
C. Support groups for staff.
D. In-service training for staff.
E. Newsletters.
F. Communication skills training.
G. Visitor liaison council/committee.
H. Correctional staff community relations officers. I. Inmate liaison committees.
J. Social activities within facilities for family members and inmates.

FAMILY AND CORRECTIONS NETWORK SUPPORT:
A. Promote consistency in visiting policies.
B. Promote the use of role reversal and role playing in training.
C. Suggest ways to reverse negative stereotyping and promote positive self-images.
D. Produce guidelines or manuals for correctional staff support groups.
E. Develop curriculum for in-service training.
F. Provide video, audio, or books on communication skills specific to the prison environment.
G. Publish information on this conference.
H. Publish a newsletter with input from corrections staff, inmates, families, and service/support groups.

VI. ATTITUDE

GOAL: Change the focus toward a collective responsibility for the needs of the community. Take the focus off the offender by educating the public, legislatures, and courts.

ACTION IDEAS:
A. Research family needs and accumulate accurate information for persons willing to lobby and/or help.
B. Issue public service messages.
C. Produce a documentary on families and their needs.
D. Write proposals based on research with accurate views from family members.
E. Use the media.
F. Diffuse the stigma associated with being the family or friend of an offender.
G. Enlist influential people who are empathetic or involved.

FAMILY AND CORRECTIONS NETWORK SUPPORT:
A. Provide a databank of contacts, resources, and experts, including working/not-working programs.
B. Provide information on programs of alternatives to incarceration programs.
C. Provide positive audio/visual materials and support public service messages.
D. Communicate FCN to universities, legislatures, communities, institutions, and friends.
E. Provide a research and resource database on institutions and programs.

VII. FAMILIES

GOAL: Increase family participation in the advocacy/lobbying process by reducing fear of retaliation.

ACTION IDEAS: A. Distribute self-help materials to families and offenders.
B. Establish a network of support through communication with like groups through the country.
C. Foster a relationship with community and support organizations sympathetic to the plight of families.
E. Develop a non-adverse forum through which families can increase understanding of their particular needs.
F. Reduce the fear of retaliation by enhancing families knowledge of the rules and regulations that govern correctional systems.

FAMILY AND CORRECTIONS NETWORK SUPPORT:
A. Make videos free of charge to families of offender organizations.
B. Help identify resources and like-minded groups and individuals in local communities.
C. Provide training in advocacy in order to allow families better control of their own lives and the lives of their incarcerated loved ones.
D. Provide the mechanism for those committed to an incarcerated person to speak out without the threat of retaliation against them or their imprisoned relative.
E. Understand and respect families' fear of retribution.

VIII. RESEARCH

GOAL: Conduct and disseminate the results of research on the family and corrections.

ACTION IDEAS:
A. Disseminate research report to libraries, professional organizations, service agencies, policy makers, educational institutions, etc.
B. Provide service organizations with research data which can be used to develop and improve programs and services.
C. Provide a means for ongoing contact among those who conduct research. Promote collaborative research efforts.
D. Provide consultation and technical assistance to agencies on program design, evaluation, needs assessment, etc.

FAMILY AND CORRECTIONS NETWORK SUPPORT:
A. Publish and disseminate family and corrections conference proceedings.
B. Produce a newsletter that includes a regular report on research resources and activities.
C. Publish a research directory.

Return to Proceedings page

Published by:
Training Resource Center
Department of Correctional Services
Eastern Kentucky University
202 Perkins
Richmond, Kentucky 40475-3127
Phone (606) 622-1497
Fax (606) 622-6264