Nancy White

I always do this before I go on vacation. I wonder if everything is complete. Have I finished all my work? Can I leave work behind and just have a good time? Oh, I know work will be there when I get back but….

If you began working in your local city jail when I did you probably worked with men with alcohol problems. Over the years the population of our city/county jails has changed. In 1998, the Bureau of Justice Statistics reported there were an estimated 283,000 prison and jail inmates who suffered from mental health problems. That number is now estimated to be over 1.25 million. The rate of reported mental health disorders in the state prison population is five times greater (56.2 percent) than in the general adult population (11 percent). Women prisoners have an even higher rate of mental health problems than men: almost three quarters (73 percent) of all women in state prison have mental health problems, compared to 55 percent of men.

According to the Pew Center on the States, One in every 28 children has an incarcerated parent (3.6%) (2010): A quarter of a century ago, one in every 125 children had an incarcerated parent. The Center continues to say that the rise, of course, can be attributed to the implementation of harsher laws for lesser crimes; two-thirds of today’s incarcerated parents committed non-violent offenses. The above stat is one of the most disconcerting of all U.S.-related prison stats because common sense dictates that a child’s chances of growing up as a productive, law-abiding adult are greater when both of their parents play significant roles in their life.

The first woman I met, who worked as a street prostitute, was during my counseling practicum inside the Kansas City, Missouri city jail. (Regional Correctional Center, RCC). I remember her sad eyes, her beautiful but aged face, more importantly her dreams of a satisfying life and future for her and her children. She was a beautiful person, wanting the good life for her family and herself. Her words are as loud today as then when she told me “You don’t understand. The very worst has already happened to me. My father raped me. It does not matter what I do now.”

The U.S. has a greater percentage of its population locked up than any other country in the world. In the coming weeks we will look at why we think this is and how we, as counselors, can have an impact on our prison population. Here are some other startling facts about America’s prisons. - In 2009 there were 7.2 million people in prison and under official supervision like probation -- a larger population than the state of Washington. - According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics; Pew Public Safety Performance Project the national prison population tripled between 1987 and 2007. - Pew Center on the States reports that 4 in 10 prisoners return to state prisons within 3 years of release. - Pew Center on the States report that up to 1 in 30 men between 20 and 34 years is behind bars – up to 1 in 13 in one state.