Last week, I visited the Mabel Bassett Correctional Facility run by my former legislative colleague Kris Steele, now director of the Education and Employment Ministry (TEEM) in Oklahoma City.
TEEM is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to breaking cycles of incarceration and poverty through education, personal development, and job readiness training. The Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy (OICA) is partnering with TEEM to develop a project to help reduce and hopefully end the group placement of foster youth in Oklahoma.
Kris regularly conducts these tours with guests. We sit down with inmates who are taking college courses to prepare themselves with the job skills or job educational requirements they will need upon release; some simply want to achieve a personal goal.
The courses are not “free” for inmates: they are paid for with minimal funds generated by work inside the barbed wire facilities, or with grants from foundations – including Sarkeys, Oklahoma City Community Foundation, Avedis and Inasmuch – to help to cover costs.
We heard stories of remorse for the crimes committed and sometimes frustration that they did not receive assistance that would have helped prevent the crimes they committed. One woman shared that she was a victim of sex trafficking when she escaped an abusive situation when she was a teenager, only to eventually fall into much worse situations. Another woman committed a violent murder while she was using methamphetamine and had spent decades at the facility; She shared how quitting drugs had changed her for the better.
I find it ironic that we call this system the “Department of Corrections” when most inmates do not receive adequate counseling services to help them correct the behavior or circumstances that led to their crimes. Make no mistake: each of these women hopes to one day be free and have a second chance.
One even suggested creating a program that would allow voluntary counseling between offenders and victims (or victims' families) to help both parties heal. Something like this would be exceptional, it would not only lead to rehabilitation but would also provide a source of hope for the families of offenders and victims.
Many of these “justice-involved” Americans have children and families who want to be reunited. This is statistically a good thing for children. American children of incarcerated parents are an extremely vulnerable group and are much more likely to have behavioral problems and physical and mental health conditions than their peers, including a greater likelihood of ending up incarcerated themselves.
According to a 2022 Prison Policy Initiative report, 47% of the approximately 1.25 million people in state prisons are parents of minor children, and about 19% of those children are 4 years old or younger. In total, incarcerated parents in the state reported 1.25 million minor children, a figure that accurately reflects the number of those incarcerated. Research indicates that children of incarcerated parents face formidable cognitive and health-related challenges throughout their development. This is creating a repeat of the cycle by stacking the odds against these young people.
OICA partners annually with the nonprofit Hoops 4 Heroes, which sends Oklahoma youth with an incarcerated parent to a three-day basketball-related leadership camp. Another local nonprofit, Oklahoma Messages Project, records a video of an inmate reading a book to her children and then provides the book and video so the child can read along with her parents.
As a society, we must do much more to provide opportunities for interaction with these parents and children. This can provide hope for successful rehabilitation, reduce recidivism and break the generational chain of crime. Rehabilitation and family support should be a higher priority than simply exacting revenge.
The Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy was established in 1983 by a group of citizens seeking to create a strong advocacy network that would provide a voice for the needs of children and youth in Oklahoma, particularly those in the care of the state and those who grow up in poverty. violence, abuse and neglect, disparities or other situations that put their lives and future at risk. Our mission statement: “Raise awareness, take action and change policies to improve the health, safety and well-being of Oklahoma children.