www.northjersey.com/news/opinions/91445229_Helping_female_inmates_reenter_society.htmlHerald News: Helping female inmates reenter society
Monday, April 19, 2010
Last updated: Monday April 19, 2010, 8:09 AM
Herald News
IN THIS nation, we think of prison as punishment. But most sentences aren't forever. And so prison also must serve as preparation, a place to pay one's debt to society while getting ready for a law-abiding future.
It rarely works that way — especially in neighborhoods where jail time is so common, people just say so-and-so is "away." Too often, inmates leave prison with fewer connections to work, school and family than they had before they were locked up. That sets up a quick return to criminal activity — and jail.
Such recidivism devastates families, frays communities and costs taxpayers dearly. The problem gained needed attention in Bergen County late last year, when Sheriff Leo McGuire launched a comprehensive "reentry" program for former inmates, enlisting government agencies and non-profits to offer counseling and create reasonable paths to housing and employment.
We're pleased to learn of a new effort in Passaic County that takes a similar tack, focused on women. FORGE, or the Female Offender Reentry Group Effort, helps connect former female inmates with job training, mental health and drug treatment services, parenting skills classes and academic assistance. The federally-funded program is also being introduced in Camden, and has been in Newark since 2004, Staff Writer Richard Cowen reported.
Female prisoners are more likely than males to have suffered physical and sexual abuse, be addicted to drugs, live in severe economic distress and have left small children at home. Once they are released, this constellation of challenges and responsibilities makes them less likely than men to complete community-based rehabilitative programs. But supervision and services can help. A Rutgers University study found two-thirds of women released without parole supervision committed new crimes. That percentage dropped to 48 percent among parolees, and to 42 percent if the parolees were enrolled in FORGE.
Camille Bundick, 39, of Passaic, is accessing various services through the new FORGE site in Paterson at the CUMAC building on Ellison Street. There, she can find clothing, food, job training and counseling — hopefully, the services she needs for emotional stability, employment and a reunion with her two children.
"That's the ultimate goal," she said. "But it can't be my first goal. I have to get me together first — because if I'm not together, I can't help them."
Indeed. It will take hard work and lots of support to rebuild lives that have included time behind bars. It is a sound investment. Healthy families and communities rely on the steady presence of loving parents and neighbors. We need programs like FORGE to give former inmates a second chance.
IN THIS nation, we think of prison as punishment. But most sentences aren't forever. And so prison also must serve as preparation, a place to pay one's debt to society while getting ready for a law-abiding future.
It rarely works that way — especially in neighborhoods where jail time is so common, people just say so-and-so is "away." Too often, inmates leave prison with fewer connections to work, school and family than they had before they were locked up. That sets up a quick return to criminal activity — and jail.
Such recidivism devastates families, frays communities and costs taxpayers dearly. The problem gained needed attention in Bergen County late last year, when Sheriff Leo McGuire launched a comprehensive "reentry" program for former inmates, enlisting government agencies and non-profits to offer counseling and create reasonable paths to housing and employment.
We're pleased to learn of a new effort in Passaic County that takes a similar tack, focused on women. FORGE, or the Female Offender Reentry Group Effort, helps connect former female inmates with job training, mental health and drug treatment services, parenting skills classes and academic assistance. The federally-funded program is also being introduced in Camden, and has been in Newark since 2004, Staff Writer Richard Cowen reported.
Female prisoners are more likely than males to have suffered physical and sexual abuse, be addicted to drugs, live in severe economic distress and have left small children at home. Once they are released, this constellation of challenges and responsibilities makes them less likely than men to complete community-based rehabilitative programs. But supervision and services can help. A Rutgers University study found two-thirds of women released without parole supervision committed new crimes. That percentage dropped to 48 percent among parolees, and to 42 percent if the parolees were enrolled in FORGE.
Camille Bundick, 39, of Passaic, is accessing various services through the new FORGE site in Paterson at the CUMAC building on Ellison Street. There, she can find clothing, food, job training and counseling — hopefully, the services she needs for emotional stability, employment and a reunion with her two children.
"That's the ultimate goal," she said. "But it can't be my first goal. I have to get me together first — because if I'm not together, I can't help them."
Indeed. It will take hard work and lots of support to rebuild lives that have included time behind bars. It is a sound investment. Healthy families and communities rely on the steady presence of loving parents and neighbors. We need programs like FORGE to give former inmates a second chance.