Healing Families: One Woman at a Time
“Female Prison Population Surges,” reads the headline on the front of the July 21, 2009 issue of
The Indianapolis Star. This is bad news for a prison system that is already at 99 percent capacity, not to mention the rising number of mothers among this rapidly growing population. Is there any support for these women as they transition from incarceration back into the community? Is there a way to educate them and help them to find a better way of caring and providing for themselves and their children? The answer to both of these questions is yes. Volunteers of America of Indiana’s Theodora House in downtown Indianapolis is bridging the gap between incarcerated mothers and their children, bringing them back into the community through its award-winning Healing Families program—and that’s good news.
The Indianapolis Star article, accompanying the stark headline above, reports the number of women in Indiana prisons rose 61 percent from 2000 to 2008, more than twice the national rate of increase and significantly higher than the rate of men. Why is this happening? Most experts believe it is a combination of factors including mandatory drug sentencing laws for low-level drug offenses, such as possessing drugs and paraphernalia, instituted in Indiana during the past 15 years; a bad economy; and the rise of arrests related to prescription drugs and methamphetamines, which has almost tripled in the last nine years. In addition, these same experts say that “women tend to be more affected by changes in those laws because, in the drug world, they are more vulnerable criminals than men.”
Stephanie Covington, co-director of the California-based Center for Gender and Justice, and well-respected researcher and expert in the field of women’s corrections, states in the same article, “[These women] are not sophisticated drug dealers with a lot of protection around them. If they’re in the drug subculture, they’re there as somebody’s girlfriend.”
Covington speaks to the root of the problem. In many of these cases, women have witnessed firsthand the lucrative business drug dealing presents either through a boyfriend or acquaintance. Sometimes it takes little coercion for women to engage in dealing drugs as they view this activity as the shortest path to providing shelter, clothing and food for their children. As primary care givers, dealing drugs has become what they believe to be the quick fix for financial security, second only to writing bad checks. The result is 80 percent of the women in Indiana’s criminal justice system have children under the age of 18.
Almost 60 percent of mothers in state prisons lived with their children at the time they were arrested and entered prison. The majority of them look forward to returning to their role as a mother while finding a better way to provide for the family; and hopefully, never return to prison again. Volunteers of America of Indiana recognizes that a key factor to developing the appropriate family strengthening intervention is to involve the mother, child(ren) and caregiver in an active, interdependent process for addressing each family’s unique treatment issues; including trauma, substance abuse, parenting, housing, employment, education, coping mechanisms and self-worth. Theodora House makes this possible.
Theodora House
In 2005, there were more than 2.4 million children with a mother or father in jail or prison. More than 7 million children—approximately one-tenth of the nation’s young people—had a parent under supervision by the criminal justice system. Volunteers of America of Indiana had already opened its doors—and its heart—a year earlier to help the previously incarcerated transition back into the community.
“At the start, we were serving a maximum of 40 ladies in a coed environment and had done that for a number of years; but it was really tough for a lot of the ladies,” said Volunteers of America of Indiana President and CEO Tim Campbell. “They may have been felons, but they were also victims of abuse and throwing them into this type of atmosphere was problematic. All of the research that was emerging supported the need to provide gender-specific services for this type of program to be truly effective. So, we moved the women over to a bigger space and doubled our capacity. Based upon the trends, in a year from now we may be looking to expand.”
Volunteers of America responded to the nearly 96 percent increase in female offenders between 1997 and 2001 by creating Theodora House in 2004, where an innovative gender-specific, evidence based treatment model was born to meet the unique needs of women and break the cycle of recidivism. Today, as Indiana prison officials are preparing for more of the same—and also looking for longer term solutions—they turn to Volunteers of America as a trusted guide, leader and provider of community correctional services “It strikes me that in these types of economic times, what we are seeing in the field is a lot of other organizations going for the minimalistic approach to services,” said Campbell. “Their take on serving the population we serve is providing a roof over their head and helping them get a job. We’ve taken a different approach. We realize that the needs of the ladies are much more extensive during this temporary period, and we are trying to have a more comprehensive response to those needs.”
Campbell believes there is wisdom in taking this all encompassing approach to meeting the needs of the women at Theodora House. Reducing recidivism is at the top of the list. Women leaving Theodora House stand a better chance of success in reintegrating and becoming contributing members of the community. Volunteers of America is pursuing a better long-term solution; and part of that solution is the Healing Families program.
Healing Families
Named after the daughter of Volunteers of America’s founders, Maud and Ballington Booth, Theodora House serves on average 90 women at any given time. Many are single, low-income women who have suffered physical, emotional and/or sexual abuse. Just walking through the halls of Theodora House gives one the sense that something good is happening for these women who have experienced extreme trauma in their lives—and it’s called Healing Families.
Healing Families is a haven for the women who reside there, offering a continuum of services based on five core pillars of programming: treatment, family reunification, education, social and life skills, which includes self-improvement. There is a foundation and culture of belonging, safety, openness, participation and empowerment, reflecting the program’s gender-specific, best practice model. But it is up to the residents to choose to be a part of the healing magic this program offers—and more than 90 percent of the residents do just that.
“Our ladies come from different locations and under different contracts that we have with the Bureau of Prisons, Indiana Department of Corrections and Marion County Community Corrections,” said Michelle Luallen, LCSW, Healing Families coordinator. “Many women come from state prisons to lower risk security facilities, transferring from several different locations before they make it here to Theodora House; most often without any family support system nearby. Every Tuesday and Thursday, Healing Families holds an orientation to explain our program to them. What is different about our program from the corrections side is this is strictly voluntary. We explain we offer family counseling, individual and group counseling, but it is up to them to choose if they want to sign up for anything. We always leave the door open for them; they are always welcome to join at any time.”
The Healing Families goal is to provide strengths-based, client-centered and family-focused interventions to each woman in an environment that instills a feeling of hope, empowerment, positive change and community involvement. Individually-developed case management, treatment and evidence-based curriculum promote a successful transition and family reunification for the ladies of Healing Families. When the ladies are ready to move on from the program, they may apply for “Barrier Buster” funds to assist them with their first month’s rent and deposit or any other necessities to get them back on their feet again. An after-care program follows the ladies for a year allowing them to step back in for help when they need it.
“We provide a very valuable link in helping women make that transition from prison back to the community,” said Mary Leffler, division director of community engagement. “When an individual is incarcerated, the entire family is affected, so we work very hard to stabilize the family structure to make their reentry back home as easy and as smooth as possible. When we first began to put the program together, I met Stephanie Covington while training in gender-responsive principles. I’ll never forget, when we opened Theodora House, Stephanie said, ‘Mary, it takes more to open a women’s center than to rip out the urinals and paint the walls pink. You’ve got to change cultures and shift peoples thinking, change their attitudes.
Leffler played an integral role in the development of the Healing Families program. After the women were moved to Theodora House, leaving the earlier program’s coed environment, Leffler and her colleague, Shannon Schumacher, division director of clinical services, took charge of Theodora House. The two professionals brainstormed ways to create gender-specific services for their residents. They read, researched and talked with experts like Covington to develop the most comprehensive program possible, careful not to leave out the critical elements necessary to helping these women heal.
“We built the program from scratch,” said Schumacher. “We didn’t base [Healing Families] on any model—just the facts. Women in corrections have a high degree of mental illness, trauma, addictions and many are unable to support themselves. So, we created a program to meet those needs beginning with one trauma group and built it out from there. The goal is to help them have a successful transition back home to live with their children in an environment that is pro-social, healthy, and free of crime and abuse.”
That was five years ago. Since then, Healing Families’ program offerings have expanded to include anger management, healthy relationships, Beyond Trauma® (an 11-session curriculum created by Covington), substance abuse education, grief counseling and parenting. Collaborations with local agencies fortify the program by offering on-site assertive case management for clients who are affected by mental health issues to services for persons living with HIV/AIDS. In addition, social work interns from Indiana University and counseling psychology interns from the University of Indianapolis are assigned to the program to enrich their studies. These types of community supports are priceless to Volunteers of America programs.
Peer Support Through Peer Leadership
As the Healing Families program evolved, so did the residents it served. When a few of the women came to the counselors expressing their desire to form a group—a group that would represent the Theodora House residents and any concerns they may have—the idea was whole-heartedly accepted by the staff. Today, “Leadership” is a group of women who give voice for the majority, provide inspiration and support, publish a monthly newsletter, and sponsor activities for the women and children.
“The Leadership ladies are considered the mentors of the facility,” said Greta Compton, Healing Families treatment counselor. “The group helps to take away the intimidation that many new residents feel when they arrive. They have an immediate place to turn with issues, concerns and support.
”Shortly after their arrival to Theodora House, Corenthea Jackson and Jennifer Prince signed up for Leadership and were readily accepted after taking the required tests.
“We do a lot of volunteer work, help our fellow residents and provide activities for the kids like the summer camp we just held. Tonight is bingo night,” said Jackson, smiling. “I signed up because I thought it sounded great to be able to help others.”
“It’s hard being here sometimes and being able to talk to someone who is in the same position as you makes it easier,” Prince added. “Many of the residents come to us to talk about the conditions here or there, to have more stuff or less stuff, or what’s your problem or what’s not, whatever it is, it’s nice that we can talk to staff about that kind of thing. Leadership provides structure, relieves some stress and it’s away to have some fun.”
Prince, a certified medical assistant, started writing her own prescriptions and became addicted to pain killers while going through a messy divorce. She was arrested, sent to prison and returned several times for breaking her probation.
From intake, to correctional facilities in Rockville and Madison, to Theodora House, Prince is a bright, thoughtful woman eager to return home where her mother is caregiver to Prince’s four daughters, ages 7 to 16.
“No one can tell you that you are being self-destructive when you are young, because you would never listen,” stated Prince. “I am never coming back. I have kind of grown out of it, I think.”
Jackson, too, is a warm, giving woman, eager to return to her 10-year-old daughter and 6-year-old son being cared for by her mother as well. “I started using drugs and writing bad checks,” she said. “I had a lot of family issues and marital problems, but I’ve been working on them here. That’s in the past.”
The roles Prince, Jackson and others have played through the Healing Families Leadership group have been cathartic for them and those they serve.
One Woman at a Time
The birth of 36-year-old Taramma Means’ second child, Cherish, put Means’ life into a spin.
During the delivery, baby Cherish experienced nerve damage which stunted the growth of her right arm.
This new challenge would be added to Means ongoing list of issues: a single mother with a new baby needing constant medical attention; one of her children’s fathers incarcerated and another not interested; no means to support herself or her family; and a rapidly growing stack of medical bills with no way to pay them.
“I just couldn’t hold a job,” Means said.“I kept telling my bosses I needed time off because Cherish needed therapy and surgeries. No one wanted to keep an employee that kept doing that.
”Means found herself falling into a bottomless pit of debt, which consumed her life with feelings of frustration and desperation. When approached by a “friend” proposing a way out of her financial troubles, she quickly said yes.
“I was trying to make ends meet,” said Means, “when this friend tells me he knows this guy who could print checks up on a computer. All I have to do is find someone who will cash them. I wasn’t supposed to do it myself. But as time went by, I couldn’t come up with anybody, so I put three different checks in my name.”
Each check was for $2,500 and it wasn’t long before Means heard there was a warrant out for her arrest. She was finally tracked down by the authorities, arrested, locked up and then released two week slater on a cold Thanksgiving morning.
“I wasn’t surprised when it happened,” said Means. “I knew I had done what I had to at that time because I felt I had no choice. I had three kids, and I couldn’t keep going to my mother for help. I needed an income, the kids’ fathers weren’t helping and I needed to take care of them.”
In January 2008, Means was sentenced to three years probation while she was pregnant with yet another child. After serving only seven months, she was released. Means felt she just couldn’t take another low-paying job, so she decided to go to school in the hopes of improving her future employment.
“I was taking courses in business management and I was doing really good—straight As!” Means said. “I was so proud of myself, a single parent and on the dean’s list. Then, my probation officer wrote me up for not having employment. She thought I should be doing both, but I couldn’t as a single mother. I mean, I have a support system, but not wide enough for me to be able to do all of it.”
In August, Means was back in court once again. The public defender informed her she had been written up for not one, but two, violations relating to employment. Means did not know until that moment about the second charge and she panicked, fleeing the court during recess. She didn’t want to have her baby in prison. On the run and out of work, Means did have the baby—Tyjuan Ezekiel, who lived just three hours. The hospital told her it was due to stress.
Soon after, the Indiana authorities initiated a sting operation to catch offenders who had managed to elude them. Unlike many others arrested that day, Means viewed her capture with relief.
“I am not a criminal,” said Means. “Yes, I did a criminal act, but that is not me, it’s not my nature to do wrong. I had been on the run for 10 months, so when I received a call to sign some legal papers for Cherish and I was arrested, I was relieved. I just wanted it over.”
This time Means faced a new judge who gave her a new sense of hope and an opportunity to succeed. “
You know, Ms. Means,” said the judge, according to Means, “you seem like two different people. I see the person before me and this other person on paper. I see you have been a positive peer in your community and active in your church; and I also see you were doing remarkably well in school. I do not believe that sending you to prison is the right choice, so I am turning you over to community corrections.”
When Means reached Theodora House, she was grateful for three things: that’s he had been spared incarceration at a state penitentiary; would have visitation with her children; and be able to attend church on Sundays.
“It’s still a hard thing to do,” Means said.“But doing my time here [in Theodora House] has been good for me. The first day I came in I signed up for Healing Families. The groups and meetings have been really good in helping me work out what I need to do when I leave here. I work the program—I don’t let it work me. I’ve learned I need to have more patience and find better ways to resolve my problems. The parenting program taught me how to set rules as a parent and put rules in my own life. I learned that there are better words I can use when talking
with my kids and I need to talk openly about things. I am so grateful that Volunteers of America’s Healing Families is part of the community corrections, because it has made such a difference in my life.” The residents of Theodora House voted Means “Resident of the Month” for June. Her advice to others, “Always remember to put God first, be nice to others, and find peace and unity with as many people as you can.” While Means is awaiting her release in October 2010, Healing Families will continue to provide the support she and each of the women in Theodora House so desperately need—treatment, family reunification, education, and social and life skills—one woman at a time.
