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David was in his late 50s when he first set foot inside Ottawa’s detention centre, day one of what would be nearly a year inside the province’s jails.
He quickly learned that toothpaste makes a good glue, working in the jail kitchen has its perks like french fries and pizza and that you never tell anyone you are sick because you’ll end up in medical segregation.
But his real education began the day he walked out of jail on early work release with little more than his canteen money.
“I had nothing. Zero,” said David, who was convicted of fraud and sentenced to 18 months in jail in 2012.
David went on Ontario Works financial assistance and lived in Toronto with a cousin for a while, but unable to find a job, moved back to Ottawa. He spent his nights sleeping in public places like the Ottawa airport and Tim Hortons restaurants, and showered in change rooms at hockey rinks and recreation centres.
“When you are carrying a bag with your belongings in it, no one even questions you at the airport,” said David, describing how his mental health slowly deteriorated to the point where he was suicidal. “I had no job, no place to live. I lived on the street.”
His despair eventually culminated in a lonely walk along railway tracks in Carlsbad Springs. He was carrying a kitchen knife when a police officer arrested him at gunpoint. But instead of going back to jail, the compassionate officer took him to the hospital where he received mental health help.
(Postmedia has agreed not to use David’s last name, as he’s afraid the stigma of his past will undo everything he’s done to try and get his life back after serving his time.)
It was only then that he was taken to the YMCA, where he met support workers who were able to set him up with the John Howard Society’s housing coordinator who helped him find a place to live.
“As sad as that is, there is nothing unusual in that story,” said Michelle Keast, director of the John Howard Society’s Centre of Research, Policy and Program Development.
In a new report released Thursday, the John Howard Society said there isn’t enough being done in Ontario to help reintegrate inmates back into society after they finish serving their sentences.
According to Keast, Ontario inmates are often leaving jails or prisons without appropriate discharge plans. Keast said every jail in Ontario has a discharge planner, but frequently inmates are receiving little to no assistance in planning for life after release.
According to the report, inmates who are released often don’t receive reintegration support, and struggle to find stable housing, employment or educational opportunities.
“We’re setting them up to fail if they are not connected to support services the moment they walk out the door,” said Keast. “They are really left to navigate this road to reintegration on their own and that can be a very complicated road to walk if you don’t have any social supports.”
Keast said she believes the province could benefit from more investment in a type of “one-stop shop” for reintegration services like the South Etobicoke Reintegration Centre. Located next to Ontario’s biggest jail, the Toronto South Detention Centre, it provides access to all the services reintegrating inmates need in one location.
For many people released from jail, their only options for housing may be “high risk” options like homeless shelters or rooming houses, said Wendy McHenry, director of reintegration services at the John Howard Society in Ottawa.
McHenry said those who are released may struggle because they can’t access to mental or physical health care.
“It’s difficult to get these services because they are not there or there is a long waiting list for them,” she said.
The concern is that a lack of reintegration services leaves former inmates, who typically are already marginalized as a result of poverty, racialization or substance abuse, more likely to commit new crimes and return to jail.
“On my range, I believe I was one of three people that were first time visits to the system. Everyone else had been in the system before,” said David. “You need to prepare. These people are coming out.”
David said he wasn’t told – and didn’t know – where to find help when he was released.
“It goes by the old rule in a provincial jail. The door slams shut today, it will reopen. You are not there for an eternity,” he said. “There has to be a program available to the inmates who are coming out to help them.”
aseymour@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/andrew_seymour
查看原文...
He quickly learned that toothpaste makes a good glue, working in the jail kitchen has its perks like french fries and pizza and that you never tell anyone you are sick because you’ll end up in medical segregation.
But his real education began the day he walked out of jail on early work release with little more than his canteen money.
“I had nothing. Zero,” said David, who was convicted of fraud and sentenced to 18 months in jail in 2012.
David went on Ontario Works financial assistance and lived in Toronto with a cousin for a while, but unable to find a job, moved back to Ottawa. He spent his nights sleeping in public places like the Ottawa airport and Tim Hortons restaurants, and showered in change rooms at hockey rinks and recreation centres.
“When you are carrying a bag with your belongings in it, no one even questions you at the airport,” said David, describing how his mental health slowly deteriorated to the point where he was suicidal. “I had no job, no place to live. I lived on the street.”
His despair eventually culminated in a lonely walk along railway tracks in Carlsbad Springs. He was carrying a kitchen knife when a police officer arrested him at gunpoint. But instead of going back to jail, the compassionate officer took him to the hospital where he received mental health help.
(Postmedia has agreed not to use David’s last name, as he’s afraid the stigma of his past will undo everything he’s done to try and get his life back after serving his time.)
It was only then that he was taken to the YMCA, where he met support workers who were able to set him up with the John Howard Society’s housing coordinator who helped him find a place to live.
“As sad as that is, there is nothing unusual in that story,” said Michelle Keast, director of the John Howard Society’s Centre of Research, Policy and Program Development.
In a new report released Thursday, the John Howard Society said there isn’t enough being done in Ontario to help reintegrate inmates back into society after they finish serving their sentences.
According to Keast, Ontario inmates are often leaving jails or prisons without appropriate discharge plans. Keast said every jail in Ontario has a discharge planner, but frequently inmates are receiving little to no assistance in planning for life after release.
According to the report, inmates who are released often don’t receive reintegration support, and struggle to find stable housing, employment or educational opportunities.
“We’re setting them up to fail if they are not connected to support services the moment they walk out the door,” said Keast. “They are really left to navigate this road to reintegration on their own and that can be a very complicated road to walk if you don’t have any social supports.”
Keast said she believes the province could benefit from more investment in a type of “one-stop shop” for reintegration services like the South Etobicoke Reintegration Centre. Located next to Ontario’s biggest jail, the Toronto South Detention Centre, it provides access to all the services reintegrating inmates need in one location.
For many people released from jail, their only options for housing may be “high risk” options like homeless shelters or rooming houses, said Wendy McHenry, director of reintegration services at the John Howard Society in Ottawa.
McHenry said those who are released may struggle because they can’t access to mental or physical health care.
“It’s difficult to get these services because they are not there or there is a long waiting list for them,” she said.
The concern is that a lack of reintegration services leaves former inmates, who typically are already marginalized as a result of poverty, racialization or substance abuse, more likely to commit new crimes and return to jail.
“On my range, I believe I was one of three people that were first time visits to the system. Everyone else had been in the system before,” said David. “You need to prepare. These people are coming out.”
David said he wasn’t told – and didn’t know – where to find help when he was released.
“It goes by the old rule in a provincial jail. The door slams shut today, it will reopen. You are not there for an eternity,” he said. “There has to be a program available to the inmates who are coming out to help them.”
aseymour@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/andrew_seymour
查看原文...
