Life after prison. The number of men and women behind bars in Kentucky is growing at one of the fastest rates in the country, but if Elizabeth W. Mc. Kune, Ed. D, has her way, once inmates are released they won. As assistant director of the Division of Mental Health and Substance Abuse for Kentucky. Among her biggest changes: adding programs that help inmates find housing, health services and employment and re- establish positive relationships with family and friends after their release from prison. She is also implementing statewide training for probation and parole officers and classification and treatment officers in the facilities to identify offenders at risk for repeat crimes and help them get treatment ahead of time that can help them ease into their new life. And perhaps most important, Mc. Kune is helping inmates maintain their sense of community while behind bars by creating opportunities for carefully screened and trained inmates to build confidence and help fellow inmates through work in hospice care and assisting with suicide watches. Research also shows that offenders fare best on the outside when they run through some of the sticky situations they. Department of Justice and Kentucky. This year, 8. 45 parole, probation and classification and treatment officers in the state completed training on the online risk- assessment tool, which is used to gather and track whether these inmates have a source of income, housing, health benefits for themselves and dependents, and if they have lingering mental health or substance abuse problems that local community health agencies could help with. The training, led by Mc. Kune, helps identify individuals at risk of recidivism. Many inmates are then targeted for participation in the newly implemented National Institute of Justice- designed curriculum called Thinking for a Change. With a grant from the Greater Cincinnati Health Foundation, she developed a program that prepares inmates at the Kentucky Correctional Institution for Women for post- prison life six months before their release. The program walks them through finding housing and employment, provides them with toiletries and other supplies, and helps them set up checkups with physicians and get mental health treatment. The grant also funds a treatment group that addresses trauma. The grant also allows staff to track and help these women for two years post- release though support groups, parenting classes, and an emergency fund to help with bills. Also thanks to Mc. Kune, the women. Mc. Kune helped develop the state. Inmates serving their fourth or more commitment to prison, including commitments from any other state or federal correctional agency. 36 months of their earliest tentative release date for the community-based residential transition program (pre-work release). The Joyce Foundation’s Transitional Jobs Reentry Demonstration (TJRD), also funded by the JEHT Foundation and the U.S. Department of Labor, is testing employment programs for former prisoners in Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee, and St. Paul, using a rigorous.After Martin collapsed after failing to run a 1.5-mile lap. 7 Faith-based prison programs. The biggest experiment in religious prison programs may be in Florida, which operates three “faith and character-based institutions” – entire prisons that provide religious. Trained as a health psychologist, Mc. Kune was intrigued at the thought of working in a new health- care setting. Having inmates close to health and mental health services offers more options than many providers have because no one worries about how to connect clients with services.
Another bonus: working in a prison, by its nature, also keeps her work and personal life in balance. Colleagues marvel at her drive and energy. As a warden, that made me feel like, . Training prisoners to sit with suicidal peers and look for warning signs, such as a dramatic mood changes or aggressive behaviors, bolsters those inmates. Chandler admits he was a tough sell for giving inmates such a huge responsibility. Programs like this one and a similar program Mc. Kune supports at the nursing home to train inmates to do hospice care.
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