Addiction and the Criminal Justice System…

Interested in some facts about prison sentencing for addicts? Interested in some hope in remediation with God? There is hope with God inside prisons as well as outside the prison walls. I’d like to share info with you to offer support for addicted loved one in the case they are sent to jail for sentencing. So here are some grueling facts of addicts if your loved one is sentenced to incarceration…

The substantial prison population in the United States is strongly connected to drug-related offenses. While the exact rates of inmates with substance use disorders (SUDs) is difficult to measure, some research shows that an estimated 65% percent of the United States prison population has an active SUD. Another 20% percent did not meet the official criteria for an SUD, but were under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of their crime.

Click to learn more …Here’s a video with some questions asked about the prison criminal system….

COPING WITH INCARCERATION

Coping with the incarceration of a loved one can be overwhelming. Where do you turn for help? These resources will help you know what to expect after someone you care about has been arrested, and how to cope before, during, and after their sentence.

Always remember, a prisoner is someone’s hero…a child’s dad or mom. Every prisoner is someone’s son or daughter and especially loved by God our Father.

“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.”–Luke 6:37

Check your heart. Don’t get caught up in judgement you are having against any prisoner. They made a mistake but certainly they deserve forgiveness. As hard as it may be in our human flesh that’s what God expects of us. So find it in your heart to show them Jesus!

“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”–Ephesians 4:32

THE PROBLEM IN AMERICA’S PRISON SYSTEM

The United States imprisons more of its citizens than any other nation—currently nearly 2.2 million. While more than 600,000 Americans are released from correctional facilities annually, two-thirds are rearrested within three years. Each year, the nation spends over $80 billion to incarcerate and reincarcerate people. Beyond the financial impact, the cycle of crime and incarceration produces broken relationships, victimization, despair, and instability impacting families and communities across the nation. Clearly, something isn’t working.

I have to question how much of the Word of God is brought into the lives of these inmates?

Treatment plan in jail…

Decades of science shows that providing comprehensive substance use treatment to criminal offenders while incarcerated works, reducing both drug use and crime after an inmate returns to the community. Treatment while in jail or prison is critical to reducing overall crime and other drug-related societal burdens—such as lost job productivity, family disintegration and a continual return to jail or prison, known as recidivism. Inadequate treatment while incarcerated also contributes to overdoses and deaths when inmates leave the prison system.

Substance use disorders…

The recent National Academy of Sciences report on Medications for Opioid Use Disorder stated that only 5% of people with opioid use disorder in jail and prison settings receive medication treatment.¹³ A survey of prison medical directors suggested that most are not aware of the benefits of using medications with treatment, and when treatment is offered, it usually consists of only behavioral counseling, and/or detoxification without follow-up treatment.

Effective treatment of substance use disorders for incarcerated people requires a comprehensive approach including the following:

• Behavioral therapies, including:
  • cognitive-behavioral therapy, which helps modify the patient’s drug-use expectations and behaviors, and helps effective manage triggers and stress
  • contingency management therapy, which provides motivational incentives in the forms of vouchers or cash rewards for positive behaviors
• Medications including methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone to wean them off of narcotics and withdrawal
• Wrap-around services after release from the criminal justice system, including employment and housing assistance
• Overdose education and distribution of the opioid reversal medication naloxone while in justice diversion treatment programs or upon release.

Points to Remember…

• There are high rates of substance use within the criminal justice system.
• 85% of the prison population has an active substance use disorder or were incarcerated for a crime involving drugs or drug use.
• Inmates with opioid use disorder are at a higher risk for overdose following release from incarceration.
• Treatment during and after incarceration is effective and should include comprehensive care (including medication, behavioral therapy, job and housing opportunities, etc.)
• Despite the cost, treatment in the criminal justice system saves money in the long run.
• Research is underway to find better solutions.

Be the Light…

“Christians are to be salt and light in the world … and that compels us to work for justice and righteousness amid the injustices of our society. … And when we do so, applying biblical principles to the tough situations confronting us in the prisons and the criminal justice system … it is a powerful witness to an often-skeptical world that the Gospel is not a benign, abstract philosophy but a life-giving relationship with the living Christ who has the power not only to change human hearts but to bring real hope to situations the world may deem hopeless … .”– Chuck Colson, Prison Fellowship founder

The brutal reality is –Jail can either wake them up and grow them up or bring them further down the path of destruction.

Regardless of your loved ones destination…there is always HOPE in Jesus Christ!…

Letters and inmates…

Your loved one and someone’s loved one in jail loves receiving letters …Receiving a letter from you would be like Christmas morning to them.

Write a prisoner…Change a life! Even if you don’t know a prisoner consider sending a letter to one in need of some encouragement. Why not be a prison Pen- Pal? Remember, these are children of God too and someone’s parent or child. They simply made a mistake but certainly deserve love and forgiveness. Imagine, how one act of kindness can change the course of someone’s life.

IN Prisoners Own Words:

“One cannot fully understand the therapeutic effects one receives from correspondence with his or her peers on the outside.” (M.J., Hagerstown, MD)

“In here a friend’s letter is worth more than gold. Although I’m surrounded by people 24 hours a day, I often feel as if I’m here alone.” (Q.B., Reidsville, GA)

“Mail is the only thing to look forward to in here…” (J.S., Camp Lejeune, NC)

“I’ve been in for quite some time now, 10 years to be exact, and it has been so lonely. My heart aches to care again, and I long to know that someone cares for me.” (T.V., Fox Lake, WI)

“At this very moment while you are reading this, I am trapped in my concrete cell wishing and hoping and praying that you’ll decide to write me. I am extremely lonely and I need friends.” (W.E., Atmore, AL)

“I’ve been down for 15 years on a life sentence for murder robbery that I committed when I was 18. At that time of my life I was very confused and used drugs and alcohol, trying to find myself. Because of all the choices I made, all those years ago, I have spent my adult life in prison. Aside from the few family members I have left, I have had little contact with the streets and would like to meet someone who won’t pre-judge me because of where I am and for the mistakes I made. I deserve to be in prison for what I did, but I am no longer the same person who did those things.” (T.Y., Hagerstown, MD)

“Prison has taught me the true meaning of loneliness – what it means to be separated from everything that’s real… My struggle is not to become a product of this environment…” (G.S., Malone, FL)

“It gets lonely in here at times. I thought I had a lot of friends. But when something bad happens, like going to prison, you come to realize those so-called “friends” weren’t friends at all…” (F.P., Long Beach, CA)

“I committed a costly mistake as a teenager which consequently led to my incarceration, and now my loneliness has become a prison within a prison.” (L.C., Raiford, FL)

“The worst solitude is to be destitute of a sincere friendship!” (R.L., Raiford, FL)

“I’m terribly lonely. Whenever the mailman passes my door, which is often, my heart sinks to new lows.” (R.V., Coalinga, CA)

“Throughout my life I’ve endured much, and have learned how to adapt and deal with most of it, but learning how to master loneliness has always found a way to elude me.” (M.W., Jackson, GA)

“My friends and family outside of prison have all disappeared. Everyday is a struggle to retain an ounce of dignity. I don’t seek pity. I ask you to remember that prison is a very lonely place. Having someone willing to listen, confide in and be an outside source of strength will help to make prison life bearable.” (T.C., Shakopee, MN)

“Prison has taught me to never take things for granted, and that, for me, starts with people, and real friendship. I am striving towards getting myself back in the real world and I could sure handle meeting some positive people on the right side of the fence (“the real world”) to help me stay positive.” (D.C., Crestview, FL)

“I often sit in this empty cell and reflect on life – life inside of these walls, life outside of these walls, and I fight the impossible battle of trying to figure out exactly where it is that I fit in. The fact, plain and simple, is that I need a friend to help me bridge this gap…” (W.L., Ely, NV)

“I’m in a place where friends are hard to come by… I thought I could do time by myself, but I was wrong, so now I’m reaching out in the hope of finding someone who can take away the loneliness.” (F.P., Ely, NV)

“I refuse to accept this graveyard of broken promises and rusting dreams as a way of acceptable life for myself… and as I stand looking out through these bars, again I feel the loneliness and frustrations which are the constant companions of men inside these walls. Just another nameless statistic?” (L.S., Corcoran, CA)

“Despair, disappointment, anger, frustration, hopelessness and heartache wake us up in the morning and put us to sleep at night. We have become the forgotten, the faceless, the overlooked, the unwanted, and the unloved.” (H.S., White Deer, PA)

“Corresponding helps me shrug off the dark mood of despair which threatens to beset my spirit.” (A.M., Raiford, FL)

“If it wasn’t for WriteAPrisoner.com, I would not have a life to go out to when my time is up here…” (G.G., Manchester, KY)

“I received an email forward from someone very important in my life who I haven’t heard from or seen in years (and I do mean years) – and this email was from my father. He found me on your site and I am so spellbound that I still haven’t found the words to respond to it.” (R.A., Rahway, NJ)

“I wanted to thank you and all who helps us that are locked down reach out and be able to feel life a little more though your site.” (U.W., Ione, CA)

“I’ve 2 pen-pals now and it has been good to get mail from positive people.” (V.T., Soledad, CA)

“Thank you so much for your positive and uplifting influence in my life. You have helped me become a better, happier person. You are so appreciated!” (V.G., Pocatello, ID)

“Thank you for making my life almost worth living.” (C.A., Corcoran, CA)

“Living one’s life in prison is a very unpleasant thing whether a person is actually guilty or innocent of whatever offence(s) that they’ve been alleged to have committed.
Some of us have loving and caring family members who give that needed support to help us cope with the storms within our incarceration, and some of us don’t, but everyone needs a friend…For corruption, hatred, ignorance, sin, crime and violence is everywhere in this world no matter where we are. But even more so in prisons which is a totally different world… However, there are some truly caring people in this world. For there are no words that can express how good it feels to know that there is someone who cares.” (D.S., Angola, LA)

“Having someone to write to and talk to in prison can make all the difference in the world.” (D.P., Schuykill, PA)

We all need to be shown Jesus…

Bibles are needed desperately in America’s prisons.

Across the country, many prisons remain closed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. But we can reach prisoners with the hope of Jesus Christ by sending as many Bibles as we can, as quickly as we can.

Will you help with a generous gift today to send Bibles to prisoners?

Any gift you give will be matched dollar for dollar up to $5,000, thanks to a generous grant.

That means every $8.25 you give will put a Bible into the hands of a waiting prisoner.

The demand right now is unlike anything we have ever seen. Prisoners are crying out for the Bible, and there is nothing short of a revival happening behind prison walls!

That’s why I hope you can help by giving your best gift to send Bibles into prisons today. Thank you for remembering those in prison as we go through this tough time together.

Prison Fellowship is established on the biblical belief that all people are made in God’s image with inherent dignity and potential, Prison Fellowship takes a restorative approach to those affected by crime and incarceration.

They have a belief Jesus Christ heals broken people and systems. I agree fully in this myself. Through restoration in Him, their programming equips men and women for productive futures, replacing the cycle of crime and incarceration. Join us in God’s call to “remember those in prison,” caring for those incarcerated and creating safer communities both behind and beyond the walls.

God is patient in giving us second chances—and not just one, but continual second chances. Micah 7:18 says, “Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy.” God savors opportunities to offer second chances and is eager not to punish us when we truly seek forgiveness for our sin (Joel 2:13).

“The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him.”—15Daniel 9:9

Let’s show prisoners the love and compassion as Jesus would.

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