Prison Reform

I am finding it very difficult to find successful prison reform, which saddens me greatly. What I am looking for are programs that are working. What I have found is information about what will work, but not anywhere where it IS working aside from prison ministries which do not address key elements for reform, but do have a great impact.

I am not totally discouraged, because knowing what will work is part of the process.

What will work? It seems that education, job training, drug treatment and mental health treatment will work in prison and in poor neighborhoods.

The problems are: prisons produce and exacerbate a large population of mental illness, the continued and growing use of drugs, gang activity and violence. And the problem is not just with the prisoners, it's also with the guards and prison employees. Of course there are exceptions, but the entire community should not be overlooked.

Part of the solution is eliminating criminal activity before prison especially in the low income neighborhoods which are mostly Afican-American and Hispanic.

Prison ministries are effective for some prisoners and I applaud them. But, what about the mentally ill and those who are on drugs or who refuse prison ministry help?

Although I applaud prison ministries, it's just not enough. A new paradigm is needed to stop the insanity of solitary confinement, incarcerating the mentally ill, cowering to gangs and on and on.

Ok, enough soap box. I'll do a special post on current prison ministries and the few prison related organizations that shed light and do some good.