You walk through the halls and at first glance you notice the color scheme and the many inspirational signs. You keep going and are brought through sprawling hallways of an old rebuilt building that looks as if a lot of care and attention has been strewed throughout. The first interaction with the "counselors" is one of wonderment as they call you "resident" as opposed to inmate. You are no longer considered a number as the staff begins to learn your name. The beds are spacious and more comfortable than the bunk you have been accustomed to for so long behind the wall. You are promised a course of therapy that will help with reintegration into society and for the rest of your life if you follow the program and its leaders.
That is when you first enter Talbot Hall and its spacious halls and question silently if it would've been better behind the wall. That is when reality hits and you go to bed starving every night because food is scarce. That is when you long to see the sun because outside recreation is limited due to lack of staff and you get a demerit just for looking out the window. That is when you see the program in action and wonder who in their right mind came up with this form of rehabilitation. That is when you realize that the staff is there only for a paycheck and you really are just a number in their checkbook. Your name and everything about you seems to fade again as it did behind the wall.
Groups are half led and the counselors seem disinterested as they are quick to point out that they are very happy only saving one "resident." Most groups do not come close to running their full time unless there are "visitors" touring the facility. Then you are herded to your rooms for hours on end while those "visitors" are only shown minute portions of the cleaned up facility. These "visitors" are hoodwinked into believing that the facility is clean and run the proper way, without realizing that the maintenance staff has just worked 20 straight hours to clean, paint and spruce the place up for their guests.
That is when they then assess you and transfer you to the next facility after giving you a completion of treatment when you haven't done or learned a damn thing for three months except not to look out a window. That is when they transfer you to another CEC facility that is run by more criminals and is even filthier than the one you just left. That is when you shower in mold-ridden bathrooms and eat in a lecture hall set up with dirty tables and no kitchen. Food is brought to you from the next door facility and served on dirty trays with no sink or soap to wash them. That is when the "counselors" really have no ability to teach you much but how to take count and go out for smoke breaks. That is when you finally realize the big business that is the NJDOC and their halfway house facilities.
CEC, otherwise known as Community Education Centers, is a big business enterprise that houses inmates in a halfway house setting that is supposed to prepare for reintegration into society. The staff is made up of its share of those that have spent some time or another in prison themselves and knows the criminal mind. They are quick to point out that they too have recovered in their life from drugs, street life and trouble with the law. The problem does not lie in the fact that the are underpaid and undermanned for the amount of residents each facility houses. The problem lies in that their program simply does not work because of the falsehoods that are seen every day.
How does a program work if groups are cancelled because the degreed counselors are too overloaded to lead them? How does a program work if the credo is not followed by the same ones who wrote it? How does a program work if there just is no life within the signs on the wall? How does a program work if the ones who are leading are the very ones who are setting the bad example? CEC gets their money for every bed filled in their facility. The sad part is tat if that bed is filled four times within that year, CEC gets paid four times for that same bed. That is the nature of how they make their money and the root cause for turnover in halfway houses. That is why they give demerits for small infractions like looking out windows that add up and send a resident back to prison.
The inmate population sees the process and the cycle and is hard willed to follow this "program" that teaches serenity and change and truth. The leaders of CEC can not mask their lies and therefore have a difficult time with their residents because, for most going through the prison system, they have been lied to their whole life. Now here is another person asking them to believe in something that they themselves do not fully believe in. It's a sad cycle for most that roam those halls and there does not seem like there is an end to this cycle.
All anyone can ask is that a proper look into this system is erected because all that have come before have clearly failed. NJDOC and any other correctional system does not want the recidivism rate to go down because it is a big business that needs to survive. Why rehabilitate when all we will be doing is losing money? Politicians such as Gov. Chris Christie will not even respond to questions about CEC because he has backed them for so long. We need to call out Christie to stop the lies of CEC and their credo to help the recidivism rate in the state of NJ and any other state they occupy. CEC controls the only two assessment centers in NJ which determine which halfway house an inmate is housed. It is a monopoly that has been allowed for years and they can easily skew their numbers to send only what they deem as the best quality of inmates in order to make their facilities look good.
This can no longer be allowed. An inquiry must be made and a promise must be followed up on in order to improve the quality of life for reintegration in the state of NJ. Do not turn your back any more Gov. Christie. Face the cameras and go in to these facilities unannounced in order to see the real quality of life that is happening in those walls. Do not let the population of inmates suffer anymore as there are many with great talents "behind the wall" that are only looking for a chance. As most inmates go through reintegration, those chances are lost in those that simply do not believe or don't want to take the time to care. Do not let CEC stand for Criminals Entertaining Criminals anymore. Change must start at the top before others will follow.
That is when you first enter Talbot Hall and its spacious halls and question silently if it would've been better behind the wall. That is when reality hits and you go to bed starving every night because food is scarce. That is when you long to see the sun because outside recreation is limited due to lack of staff and you get a demerit just for looking out the window. That is when you see the program in action and wonder who in their right mind came up with this form of rehabilitation. That is when you realize that the staff is there only for a paycheck and you really are just a number in their checkbook. Your name and everything about you seems to fade again as it did behind the wall.
Groups are half led and the counselors seem disinterested as they are quick to point out that they are very happy only saving one "resident." Most groups do not come close to running their full time unless there are "visitors" touring the facility. Then you are herded to your rooms for hours on end while those "visitors" are only shown minute portions of the cleaned up facility. These "visitors" are hoodwinked into believing that the facility is clean and run the proper way, without realizing that the maintenance staff has just worked 20 straight hours to clean, paint and spruce the place up for their guests.
That is when they then assess you and transfer you to the next facility after giving you a completion of treatment when you haven't done or learned a damn thing for three months except not to look out a window. That is when they transfer you to another CEC facility that is run by more criminals and is even filthier than the one you just left. That is when you shower in mold-ridden bathrooms and eat in a lecture hall set up with dirty tables and no kitchen. Food is brought to you from the next door facility and served on dirty trays with no sink or soap to wash them. That is when the "counselors" really have no ability to teach you much but how to take count and go out for smoke breaks. That is when you finally realize the big business that is the NJDOC and their halfway house facilities.
CEC, otherwise known as Community Education Centers, is a big business enterprise that houses inmates in a halfway house setting that is supposed to prepare for reintegration into society. The staff is made up of its share of those that have spent some time or another in prison themselves and knows the criminal mind. They are quick to point out that they too have recovered in their life from drugs, street life and trouble with the law. The problem does not lie in the fact that the are underpaid and undermanned for the amount of residents each facility houses. The problem lies in that their program simply does not work because of the falsehoods that are seen every day.
How does a program work if groups are cancelled because the degreed counselors are too overloaded to lead them? How does a program work if the credo is not followed by the same ones who wrote it? How does a program work if there just is no life within the signs on the wall? How does a program work if the ones who are leading are the very ones who are setting the bad example? CEC gets their money for every bed filled in their facility. The sad part is tat if that bed is filled four times within that year, CEC gets paid four times for that same bed. That is the nature of how they make their money and the root cause for turnover in halfway houses. That is why they give demerits for small infractions like looking out windows that add up and send a resident back to prison.
The inmate population sees the process and the cycle and is hard willed to follow this "program" that teaches serenity and change and truth. The leaders of CEC can not mask their lies and therefore have a difficult time with their residents because, for most going through the prison system, they have been lied to their whole life. Now here is another person asking them to believe in something that they themselves do not fully believe in. It's a sad cycle for most that roam those halls and there does not seem like there is an end to this cycle.
All anyone can ask is that a proper look into this system is erected because all that have come before have clearly failed. NJDOC and any other correctional system does not want the recidivism rate to go down because it is a big business that needs to survive. Why rehabilitate when all we will be doing is losing money? Politicians such as Gov. Chris Christie will not even respond to questions about CEC because he has backed them for so long. We need to call out Christie to stop the lies of CEC and their credo to help the recidivism rate in the state of NJ and any other state they occupy. CEC controls the only two assessment centers in NJ which determine which halfway house an inmate is housed. It is a monopoly that has been allowed for years and they can easily skew their numbers to send only what they deem as the best quality of inmates in order to make their facilities look good.
This can no longer be allowed. An inquiry must be made and a promise must be followed up on in order to improve the quality of life for reintegration in the state of NJ. Do not turn your back any more Gov. Christie. Face the cameras and go in to these facilities unannounced in order to see the real quality of life that is happening in those walls. Do not let the population of inmates suffer anymore as there are many with great talents "behind the wall" that are only looking for a chance. As most inmates go through reintegration, those chances are lost in those that simply do not believe or don't want to take the time to care. Do not let CEC stand for Criminals Entertaining Criminals anymore. Change must start at the top before others will follow.
No comments:
Post a Comment