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Thursday, May 06, 2004

Prison ministers see political winds shift towards re-entry, training

By Val Hymes

ENS 050604-1

[ENS] News of a shift in political attitudes toward criminal justice reform
marked the 8th National Prison Ministry Conference, held April 29-May 1,
2004.

Nearly 90 lay and clergy ministers traveled to the gathering, entitled
Engage in Gods Mission: Serving All His People, held at the Camp Allen
Conference and Retreat Center in the Diocese of Texas.

The political winds are turning, reported Joan Burnham, executive director,
Texas Inmate Families Association.

Corrections officials from Texas--the state leading in executions--said they
now are convinced that rehabilitation and re-entry programs do more to
enhance public safety than treating inmates like caged animals, as critics
charge.

About 650,000 prisoners are released in the nation annually. Currently, more
than 60 percent return to prison within three years.

New buzzword: re-entry

The public is increasingly unsure that we--governors, legislators,
corrections authorities--are achieving what we want in prisons, said
Christina Melon-Crain, chair, Texas Board of Criminal Justice. Re-entry is
our new buzz word, nationally and locally.

Todays inmate is tomorrows neighbor, she added. The president has
dedicated $300 million toward a prisoner re-entry initiative.

President Bush said in January that the money would go to expand job training
and placement services and to provide transitional housing and mentoring,
including help from faith-based groups.

It was not all good news.

Chaplain Vance Drum, an officer of the American Correctional Chaplains
Association, said prison wardens are becoming more open to treatment and
rehabilitation, but substance abuse programs have floundered because of
budget slashing.

The longest-serving chaplain in Texas, Drum said his state has also cut the
number of chaplains from 144 to 91, adding, Its only because of the
volunteers that we can succeed. The programs they bring in serve as cocoons
for aftercare and re-entry. Those cuts are happening nationwide while more
prisons are under construction.

More than one speaker referred to the booming prison business that has
become an economic engine for some states. Chaplain Drum said, Theres a
nationwide growing movement of lay prison ministry to counter it.

But Boone Vastine, the vice chair of Texas Juvenile Justice Ministries, said
the church is failing its children by focusing on pro-life issues only for
the unborn.

Once a child is brought into the world, said Vastine, the church tends to
walk away. If they have value in the womb, why dont they have it in the
world? He said the cost of imprisoning a juvenile is $50-60,000 a year. The
faith community is uniquely qualified to teach at-risk children what love is
before they go to prison.

Real shot at influence

Many of the solutions to these problems are stalled in the nations capital.

Washington is so polarized now, we can win or lose an issue by just one
vote, said John Johnson IV, chief of domestic policy for the churchs Office
of Government Relations. There are only 10 Episcopalians in the Senate and 35
in the House of Representatives, almost evenly divided by party, he said.

But Episcopalians have a real shot at influencing national policy. We have a
lot to bring to the table--credibility, constituency and the ability to
pounce on an opportunity when it appears.

He cited bills to repeal mandatory minimum sentences as such an opportunity
because some conservatives and liberals and two Supreme Court justices are
opposed to them.

Death penalty legislation needs to be reformed before abolition is
possible, he added, by, for example, supporting good legal representation
for defendants, rather than going to the lowest bidder.

We need to form very deep and broad coalitions, he said, urging
Episcopalians to join the Episcopal Public Policy Network.
[www.episcopalchurch.org/eppn]

Made new by the way you treated me

The conference was hosted by Bishop Suffragan Rayford High of Texas and the
Rev. Jackie Means, director of Prison Ministry and Criminal Justice officer
for the Episcopal Church. It was chaired by Edwin Davis, coordinator,
Restorative Justice Ministries, Diocese of Texas. Musician Cindy Bishop
ministered to the conference and the Rev. James C. Morgan, chaplain and
rector, St. Stephens, Huntsville, Texas, led the worship.

Nearly 20 workshops described ministries focusing on prisoners, victims,
families, children, chaplains, prison officers, transitional care, addictions
and alternative sentencing. A Eucharist, Texas two-step dancing, and
networking rounded out the conference.

Meditations by Bo Cox, former Oklahoma prison inmate and author of God Is
Not in the Thesaurus, began and ended sessions.

I wasnt healed, delivered, restored, saved and redeemed by people telling
me about God. I was made new by the way you treated me. Can you show that
you care? If you can, then youre in the right place, said Cox.

--Val Hymes, editor of Prison Ministry Network News, is a member of the
Diocese of Maryland and coordinator of the Prison Ministry Task Force.

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