There are distinct differences between what leads men and women to ending up behind bars, but over the weekend, many Washingtonians were able to see that no matter what the starting point was, the end result is still the same: there stands someone who wants a hand up, not a hand out.
On Saturday, Temple of Praise, located at 700 Southern Avenue, SE, was the site for a women's forum on re-entry. The event was filled with a full day of activities that range from a series of indepth discussions and workshops, life skills/mentoring support and remarks given by CSOSA Director Nancy Ware, and U.S. Parole Commission Chairman Isaac Fulwood, Jr., among others. Women tend to have a more extensive history of substance addiction, mental health issues, and may have been less likely to have been behind bars before, than men.
The day ended with a “Lifetime Makeover” dress for success showing for 24 returning citizens who were dressed in profession clothes and makeup done by CSOSA and the U.S. Attorney General's Office.
The event was co-sponsored by Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency (CSOSA), U.S. Parole Commission (USPC), the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the District of Columbia (USAODC), Our Place D.C., and the D.C. Healthy Start Consortium, Inc. (DCHSCCI), and served a two prong purpose: educating the Washington, D.C. community on women's re-entry and linking returning citizens to D.C. resources.
"I really enjoyed the event," said Shelia Pollard, "and I don't live too far away. I heard about the event on Thursday, and decided to go check it out." Pollard said she hasn't been in trouble with the law in about eight years, but wanted to go to the event because she enjoys meeting others who have been on the other side of the law and decided to get their lives on track.
"There were a lot of people who were there that didn't screw up their second chance at success, and I am proud to be part of that community," she said.
Roger Dixon, a D.C. resident who attended the event with his wife, was pleased to see the turn out. "There were about a hundred women who turned out to learn more about what the city has to offer returning citizens who are women," he said. "Many of the people who were there are making positive strives in transitioning from prison back to the community. It's true that some people go back to prison, but not everybody goes back. With faith in God and a desire to win, people can get out and stay out."
Dixon added that part of the problem is a lack of information
"CSOSA is here to show others in the District that there are services out there to give people hope," said Marcia Davis, Supervisor of Supervision Officers, and one of the direct organizers of the event.
"I supervise seven community supervision officers (CSOs) who provide supervision to female offenders who are on probation through D.C. Superior Court, or parole or supervised release through the United States Parole Commission," she said. "We monitor them and make sure they comply with the conditions of their release."
She continued, "Research shows that most of the women who are incarcerated have a high percentage of having suffered some sort of abuse. A recent study showed that in 2010, 113,000 women were incarcerated in the U.S., and out of number 73 percent of those women had mental health related illnesses. Out of that 73 percent, eight out of 10 of these women suffer from some kind of traumatic experience."
Davis said that these women are returning to the District with a lot of needs and a lot of unresolved trauma, so women who are released from the D.C.'s halfway house or come straight from the courts or prison, a RISK-NEEDS Assessment is conducted by CSOSA.
"We start off by doing a RISK-NEEDS Assessment. With that RISK-NEEDS Assessment we can first figure out what their risks are, and what are their immediate needs, " Davis stated. "The risk refers to their risk of re-offending. From that point we work on putting the lives back together. Sometimes those needs include mental health treatment, substance abuse treatment, housing, job training program, employment, life skills, and educational needs."
When asked about mental and physical health concerns, Davis replied, "While they are in the halfway house [or those coming straight from the prison] CSOSA's TIPS (Transitional Intervention of Parole Supervision) Unit evaluates each woman to determine where they will be assigned, and address their mental and physical concerns. The TIPS team investigates where their are going to live, their substance abuse history, look at their PSI and then comes up with a release plan before they leave the halfway house." Davis added that the release plan is only a recommendation that's given to her unit.
"Our gender specific unit takes it from there," she said.
Davis also gives a history of how the women's unit was established.
The stats show that women respond better when involved in gender-specific programs, so CSOSA has created a women specific re-entry program.
"First, CSOSA reached out to its internal staff and asked if anyone was interested in working with women offenders," she said, "and several staff members were interested, so CSOSA interviewed each person and selected the best of the best, because our female offenders come to us with a host of undiagnoised mental health concerns, and we work hard at trying to re-connect these women to services in the city."
She then said that CSOSA found a location at 25 K Street, NE. "CSOSA wanted to establish a location where we could meet the women and have a location where their services were housed. Our location on K Street, is where we have the supervision staff, a drug lab, treatment programs, and service providers all under one roof."
What if the female offenders screw up?
Marcia Davis said, "CSOSA has a graduated sanctions process. Our first and main concern is protecting the public. In our graduated sanctions program we sanction people for violations so we can keep them in the community, unless its a violent offense, you might not go to jail if its the offender's first violation."
She gave an example. "For instance, if someone misses a drug test, the sanctions could range from a CSO reprimand, or a letter of reprimand from the U.S. Parole Commission (USPC) letting the offender know that they could go back to prison. We also have community service, drug treatment assessment, GPS monitoring [paid for by CSOSA], and GPS monitoring with a curfew."
She said that could also get a halfway back sanction, where some offenders return to a halfway house setting. In many cases its the last sanction a person might get before they are returned back to prison.
"We also have sanction reprimand hearings with the USPC, and sometimes if the CSO wants to send them back, the USPC might overrule that, and vice versa."
What happens after probation?
"Sometimes while on supervision a CSO may identify that a female offender may have anti-social peers. The CSO might decide she needs some pro-social peers in her life, so we have a partnership with the D.C. faith-based community where women are pared with mentors by our faith-based advisior, Christina Kells," Davis said. "In many cases a friendship is forged and the mentor acts as a role model. Also, some of the job training problems will continue after they have completed their supervision. So not only do we hook them up with services in the agency, but we also hook them up with services in the community too."
If you would like to learn more about the event of about women's related re-entry, please contact: (202) 220-5320.
Our Place D.C. is a nonprofit that serves women returning to the community after incarceration.
According to DC Healthy Start Consortium, Inc.'s website, the organization helps to identify ways to increase healthier birth outcomes; Promote healthy babies, one pregnancy at a time; Serve as a voice for change to improve policy and services for women of childbearing age and their families in the District of Columbia.
Temple of Praise offers a variety of ministries. You can learn more about the their services here.
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