|
||
|
In 2008, Washington, DC had the fourth highest incarceration rate in the United States. By 2010, DC had climbed number one. What’s going on?! For answers, join Family and Friends of Incarcerated People this Wednesday, May 29th at the K Street Busboys and Poets for the following panel discussion. The event starts at 6:00 PM.
For more on this subject read the Justice Policy Institute’s July 2010 report A Capitol Concern: The disproportionate impact of the justice system on low-income communities in D.C.Many citizens of the Washington, DC Metropolitan Area who have paid their dues to society are forced to pay them over and over again because of the antiquated polices and unrealistic expectations placed on them by the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency (CSOSA). Chancelin Matthews shares some of his concerns about prison and life after his release. Valencia’s It Is What It Is Mobile talk show is dedicated to ensuring that these important stories are told. If you or someone you know would like to speak out on the devastating effect of the correctional system, please contact us at iiwiitalkshow@yahoo.com, because IT IS WHAT IT IS. “People are just not reaching us where we are at. We want to be reached.”– Washington, D.C. focus group youth participant.
By Melissa Neal, DrPH The mental well-being of our youth is crucial to achieving progress and prosperity in our communities. In Washington, DC, youth face particular challenges as disparities in resources and risks vary drastically in just a matter of miles. I wrote JPI’s report, Mindful of the Consequences: Improving the Mental Health for DC’s Youth Benefits the District, to show that current prevention and treatment services do not match the level of need and many youth are at risk for contact with the justice system due to untreated mental problems. To illustrate this, I mapped where arrested youth are coming from: predominately areas of low income and high rates of risk factors that impact mental well-being.
The general attitude toward youth living in these areas (both with and without juvenile justice involvement) has been fear and blame. However, as I prepared to begin writing this report, I came across a few quotes gathered from a focus group with youth on the various challenges that come with growing up in D.C. These youth commented on what they needed… “If they gave different programs to fit the criteria to why you were locked up, services that help you specifically, maybe even invest in psychologists.”
“Guidance and someone there they can look up to that is on the right path.
Support other than tutoring, someone they can talk to sometimes if they have a problem.” I was struck by the fact that these kids know they are not getting the help they need. They are discerning of what their problems are and what they need to begin recovery. What lingered in my mind was “…maybe even invest in psychologists.” Sadness pervades their words: they can be helped but it seems to be too much trouble. These youth are not demanding what they need – they seem to hardly believe they deserve it. But, they do. They deserve an investment in psychologists. They deserve a system that understands the challenges they’ve faced. They deserve a community that cares and will provide the support they need to recover and thrive. Mental health problems are treatable. Whatever the challenges youth have faced that have resulted in poor mental health, they can still be helped into becoming citizens of pride and productivity. Some D.C. leaders will criticize this report citing the millions of dollars being spent already on mental health – as if that should be enough. My challenge to D.C. leaders is to admit that what is being done is not enough. Too many children are suffering from poor mental health while not receiving the attention needed. Too many youth are being misunderstood when their cry for help looks like aggression. Far too many are being penalized and channeled into a lifetime of involvement with the justice system just because it was too expensive to…invest in psychologists. Melissa Neal, DrPH, is Senior Research Associate for JPI.
Ms. Bennett’s eldest son is 48 years old. She has not touched him since he was 14 and 1/2 years old. He is incarcerated in Texas. Ms. Bennett’s son was instructed to plead guilty to a charge over thirty years ago by a public defender. He was only supposed to get two to five years. After he began to serve his term he was subjected to vicious abuse by correctional officers for years. His abuse led him to defend himself, which resulted in him being charged with murder. He has obtained a degree in prison and is an accomplished portrait artist and poet. He is currently looking for avenues to publish his poetry. Ms. Bennett made an impassioned plea for her son. She said she had been waiting for a chance to speak out about her son, and asks for prayers for him. Many parents are dealing with the heartache of having a child incarcerated with no hope of finding help or a voice for them to speak out. Ms. Bennett’s story will be heard. Many families have been shattered by the incarceration of juveniles and the stigma attached to it. The most common thought is that “they weren’t raised right”. This family is an example of how wrong those preconceived notions are.  Comments are closed  Justice System, Pathways to Prison  incarceration, Mother, Prison System, Valencia's It Is What It Is Mobile Talk Show, Youth Grace Ebiasah is an organizer for Different Avenues, a DC nonprofit working to change, improve, and protect the health, rights, and safety of women and girls in the region. She spent an afternoon at the Boys and Girls Club of Washington, Number 14 on Benning Road in Northeast. While there, Grace took the opportunity to survey some of the program participants about the budget cuts to social services that the city and federal government have been making in response to the down economy. One of the questions explored was why the government continues to cut programs such as for mentoring and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) that would help young people while continuing to increase funding for policing and youth rehabilitation. Results of that portion of her survey are in the following video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tn4uaoX05w4In the video, one of the participants asks, “Why is the government putting more money into locking up youth? How does that help our economy?” I asked Different Avenues director Kelli Dorsey if indeed locking up youth helps or hurts our economy. Her response was that it depends where you fall in the economy. Progressive organizers like Dorsey claim that the commonly-held belief that imprisonment will fix problems brought on by a lack of positive opportunities in low-income communities of color encourages government to put more money into policing those communities than it does in providing for their needs. Companies like Victoria’s Secret, which uses cheap prison labor to produce their products in California, or Bob Barker Company, Inc., America’s leading detention supplier, make plenty of money via the prison industrial complex. Youth and others who are locked up in prison do not profit from these relationships. While Different Avenues works to change a system that would use youth in communities of color as a potential source of profit rather than as citizens worthy of support, they are also aware that young people need direction to help them keep from getting caught up in the prison-industrial complex. To that end, Different Avenues organizer Jasmine Archer has created a guide for youth who are stopped by the police. HEY GRRL! What Time Is It? Time To Know Your Rights!!! is geared toward youth but is useful for anybody who gets stopped by the police. Different Avenues is currently looking for funding to publish and distribute this guidebook. In the meantime, feel free to download and distribute it at will. |
||
|
Grassroots DC | 202-239-2949 | info@grassrootsdc.org Powered by WordPress & Atahualpa |
