Hello everyone
Just found this forum and its pretty awesome. I live in Calgary, Alberta and my son is currently incarcerated in British Columbia about a 15 hour drive from here. He has been in and out for the last 14 years and was just sentenced 3 weeks ago to another 6 years. He is a crack addict and all of his crimes are related to his addiction. He was out on parole, doing extremely well and went off again. Robbed a bank and got 4 years concurrent, 4 years consecutive, and he has 2 years from a previous sentence.
I've been around a few forums for a very long time and I have come to know and love some very special people I have met. I have laughed, cried, mourned, given support and received support. Frankly, I don't know if I would have made it through some days without the love and compassion I have found in these wonderful forums.
I'm looking forward to meeting you all and I'm sure hoping some Canadians come out of the woodwork lol.
Gillian

hi gilllian-
I am a long way from you now, but i used to live in NY and have been to Canada-is a beautiful place!!! (but very cold :))

I'm glad you are here! I can relate to a lot of what you are saying as all of ron's charges were related to his addiction--he too is a cocaine addict--in fact there are so many inmates with addictions who are incarcerated rather than receiving SA tx- and many of them that are in prison don't even get any SA tx in there! It is very disturbing because the entire focus of corrections now is punitive rather than rehabilitative- regardless of any mitigating factors like substance abuse or mental illness.

I am so sorry that your son is so far away-at least ron is only two hours from here-can he not put in for a transfer closer to home?

Anyway, just wanted to day hi and welcome! And I'm here for you if you ever want to talk

sherri

Sherri

Gillian...
Welcome from me also.... I have one question just out of curiosity... Has your son ever been in SA treatment? Do they offer a treatment program in the prison he is in? This is a topic of interest to me, since I have been a SA counselor and actually tried taking SA treatment into a prison.
Thanks for sharing your story and for being here.

an article i thought you might be interested in
> Treatment Can Help Curb the Cycle of Crime Among
> Inmates
> 2/19/2002
>
> Feature article
> Reprinted from Alive and Free
>
> Treatment can help curb the cycle of crime,
> substance abuse among inmates. In America, crime and
> substance abuse are tightly enmeshed.
>
> Research by the National Center on Addiction and
> Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA) and
> the U.S. Department of Justice shows that 80 percent
> of the 2 million men and women behind bars today --
> some 1.6 million individuals -- are "seriously
> involved with drug and alcohol abuse." Not
> surprisingly, 80 percent of all inmates are
> incarcerated for drug-related offenses (i.e., either
> the offender was using alcohol or other drugs at the
> time of the offense, was committing the crime to buy
> drugs, or the crime directly involved the sale or
> distribution of illegal drugs).
>
> Despite the well-documented link between substance
> abuse and crime, few inmates receive any help at all
> for their addictive and criminal behaviors. "There
> is a profound lack of treatment opportunities for
> inmates, and that problem has worsened significantly
> in the last decade," said Susan Turner, PhD,
> associate director of the Criminal Justice System at
> RAND in Santa Monica, Calif.
>
> According to the Department of Justice, at most, 20
> percent of inmates with a substance abuse problem
> have received treatment, and only 40 percent of
> correctional facilities offer substance abuse
> treatment. "If you understand how people behave, it
> simply makes no sense to just push inmates out the
> door without the resources to function in society,"
> said Turner. "From a cost-benefit view, if not a
> compassionate standpoint, treatment makes sense.
> It's just very expensive to incarcerate people."
>
> How expensive? Costs vary among states, but on
> average, they fall between $20,000 and $25,000 per
> inmate per year-for an annual total of $40 billion.
> The CASA report estimates that providing
> alcohol/drug treatment and vocational and treatment
> aftercare would add approximately $6,500 per inmate
> to that amount. The savings gained for society as a
> result of successful treatment, however, far exceeds
> these costs. If only 10 percent of inmates with
> substance abuse problems were successfully treated,
> the economic benefit (in reduced crime; reduced
> arrest, prosecution, and incarceration costs;
> reduced health care costs; and more) in the first
> year after release alone would be slightly more than
> $8 billion. That total is more than the $7.8 billion
> it would cost to provide treatment to the entire 80
> percent of inmates with alcohol/drug problems. And
> for each year that treated inmates remain sober and
> employed, the economic benefits soar into the tens
> of billions of dollars-a return on investment to
> capture the imagination of any businessperson.
>
> But can treatment for criminal and addictive
> behavior work with this difficult population? After
> analyzing over 700 research papers on this topic,
> Paul Gendreau and Claire Goggin, researchers at the
> Centre for Criminal Justice Studies at the
> University of New Brunswick in Canada, found that
> "effective treatment programs" -- those which are
> behavioral/highly structured in nature and target
> the criminal attitudes, values, and behaviors of
> high risk offenders-lowered re-offense rates by 30
> percent. These programs did not necessarily address
> drug/alcohol problems; had they done so, Gendreau
> and Goggin believe treatment results would have been
> even more impressive.
>
> "From a clinical and policy perspective, the
> usefulness of [effective programs] is far from
> trivial," Gendreau and Goggin conclude. "The old
> myth propagated by 'nothing works' devotees -- that
> offenders are of such a peculiar psychobiological
> nature that they are beyond responding positively to
> interventions designed to reduce criminal behavior
> -- has finally been put to rest."
>
> The approach Gendreau and Goggin found most
> successful -- known as cognitive-behavioral-focuses
> on clients' thoughts and beliefs and how they affect
> behavior and on the clients' practice of new
> behaviors. That focus is right in line with the
> efforts of Hazelden and the Minnesota Department of
> Corrections, who have collaborated to develop a new
> program that treats both addiction and criminal
> behavior with cognitive-behavioral techniques. This
> comprehensive program will help inmates build the
> skills and support needed to live a sober,
> productive life outside prison.
>
> If a key goal of our criminal justice system is to
> reduce crime and rehabilitate inmates to become
> productive citizens, then for many substance-abusing
> and addicted inmates a prison sentence alone is
> simply not enough. "The need for more effective
> treatment is unequivocal," says Jeff Washington,
> deputy executive director of the American
> Correctional Association. "Providing prison
> populations with access to effective treatment
> programs that address the disorders of criminal
> thinking and substance abuse concurrently makes
> great sense and offers an excellent opportunity to
> give more inmates the help they need."
>
> Alive & Free is a chemical health column provided by
> Hazelden, a nonprofit agency based in Center City,
> Minn., that offers a wide range of information and
> services relating to addiction and recovery. For
> more resources on substance abuse, call Hazelden at
> 1-800-257-7810 or check its Web site at
> www.hazelden.org.
>
>
>
> Originally Published February 11, 2002
>
>
> ---
> Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
> Checked by AVG anti-virus system
> (http://www.grisoft.com).
be interested i

Hi Sherri
Thank you for the welcome. We don't have too much here in the way of drug treatment of programs. They do short term programs and then they are pretty much warehoused for the rest of their sentence.
Lee is so far away because he was arrested and his parole was revoked in British Columbia. He now is a prisoner of that province. We can put in for a transfer which could take a few years. His mother institution is currently under lock down as there was a huge riot and a murder there by other inmates. So I am thinking I'm glad he isn't there right now, although situations like this are all over the country.
Gillian

jdswifey
Hello and nice to meet you. Lee has been through drug and alcohol rehab on the outside 3 times. There are som programs inside but they are short term and they focus on handling your addiction on the outside. The programs take around 3 months to finish and then you are basically on your own for the rest of the sentence. The have CA inside but most of the guys choose not to go as they are afraid that things they say will be taken away from the meeting as then used against them. No win situation really.
Can you please tell me what SA stands for? Thank you.
Gillian

Sherri
Thanks for the article, very intersting.
Gillian

SA stands for substance abuse--

I think the problem with most of the short term substance abuse programs is that they do not consider the fact that addiction is a lifestyle--it is not just addiction to a particular substance--it is a way of life--people need a significant amount of time to change their way of life, their behaviors, their very way of being.. it is re-learning and that takes time--it would be more costly in the beginning to have the longer-term more intensive programs, but so much more cost effective better for everyone in the end--The relapse rate is SO much lower upon completion of programs like Delancey Street and TROSA (long term, intensive programs)

Good luck with your situation and hope he is able to eventually get transferred

take care

sherri

Thanks for volunteering info about treatment. When I tried to run a treatment program in a prison, I was amazed at how many guys had never had any treatment at all, when I worked with addicts on the outside at a treatment center who had been through treatment 7 or 8 times and had never been in prison. If you think about it, prison really is the place to have a long-term treatment program, because it is MUCH more cost effective than doing residential treatment on the outside. When I worked in a treatment center on the streets, residential treatment cost $225 a day... but so much of the cost was to provide the building, utilities, and food and support staff to provide 24 hr supervision... Well those things are already paid for in a prison. The problem I saw was that DOC wasn't at all supportive. How can you teach recovery and think that inmates will be able to learn and practice living recovery when the officers do their best to bring the street mentality out of them?? It is frustrating, but I still think that it is possible to learn and practice recovery on the inside, and that really is the only way to be successful once you get released. I understand why it is hard to want to "volunteer" for long-term treatment after completing a bit! I wish the very best to all of your loved ones who struggle with addiction and would like to be supportive in any way I can be!:)

I agree with you; it has also been my experience that many outside tx programs fail--I think the most clinically effective and cost effective programs are ones that are run by primarily by recovering addicts who have been through similar programs , like Delancey street--it is a program that teaches new life skills, vocational skills...link is below

http://www.grass-roots.org/usa/delancey.shtmlemselves-


We are fortunate enough to have a Delancey Street home right here in Greensboro , North Carolina. We need more of these types of programs.

I agree that inmates in prison are a captive audience for treatment (how could they not be?) But I also think that the same thing acould be accomplished on the outside through judges' court ordering these type of intensive programs in the community. Alternative sanctions are available. Prison is not the answer for addicts.

Sherri

http://www.delanceystfndtn.citysearch.com/

Hi Girl:

I have been reading your posts and it seems we have a lot in common. (Both Have sons in prison) Hope things are working out for you. I have not seen any new posts in awhile. Hope you have not givein up on us.

My prayers and Love to you

Donna

Hi Gillian,
I understand what you're going through. My husband is an alcoholic. A violent one at that. He's been in and out of Federal and State prisons since his teens, he's now 39. Best of luck to you all.
God Bless,
Cindy

Hi Donna
No I would never give up on y'all. I'm learning to speak American lol. I'm going to Texas in April so I'm practicing. Seriously though, I get quiet every once in a while, what a concept my friends say lol. I go through little depression bouts and tend to keep to myself. I read every day though and everyone is always in my thoughts.
Gillian

Hello Cindy
Very nice to meet you. I've been AWOL for a bit as I need to work through my own issues every once in a while. Is your hubby currently inside? My son just went back down for another 6 years. He is located a long way away so communication is not as good as I would like it. We are hoping to visit him in the summer. Look forward to talking to you soon.
Gillian

hi Gillian..Hope you have a great trip to Texas..If you are in the Rio Grande Valley area look me up I am in Mission, Texas..Just remember that THiS TOO SHALL PASS....you are in my prayers...be strong

Same offer in Houston, Texas (though I am moving to College Station). Still have a place in Houston and friends in Austin, Dallas, San Antonio etc..

Hi Gillian,
Yes hubby is in state prison in Va., we're 2 years and 3 months into a 10 yr (5 suspended) sentence. At one point he was 3 1/2 hours one way. Now luckily he's about 1 1/2 hours. Visits are the greatest feeling. I hope you get to see your son soon.
Cindy

Amelia
I'm sure I will have a great time. Thank you for the offer. I am going to Waller just outside of Houston.
Gillian

Put the kettle on David lol. I'm Houston bound. Seriously, if possible I'd love to hook up. I am meeting a few of my online friends and I'm so excited it will be fantastic.
Gillian

Cindy
Thats great that your man is now closer. Makes life a little easier doesn't it? Can you tell me what is 5 years suspended? Still learning your system. Thanks.
Gillian

The judge sentenced him to 10 years, he suspended 5 years, which means that in Virginia, he has to serve 85% of 5 years. While he's doing his 2 years of probation after, if he messes up he has to serve the other 5 years.

Thank you Cindy. If my math is correct, your man should be coming home in around 24 months. That is fantastic. Here you are sentenced and as a rule do two thirds of the time. Lee has 6 years so if all goes well his mandatory release date will be after 4 years. He will then be paroled out and have to be a law abiding citizen for the next 2 years until his full sentence is up. Make sense LOL ??? Took me a while to figure it out.
Gillian