My fav pp has been in for 3 years and has less than 2 more with parole. He is non-violent, just drug related charges-so with State budgets I am guessing they will let him out. Anyway, do you think that he will need some kind of mental health help upon release? I do catch some phrases in his mail and phone conversations that he has definately picked up inmate language and phrases that are not used on the outside.

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Going by my own experiences and what others have told me over the years, I think every inmate should see a counsellor as soon after their release as possible. Many show signs of PTSD, and it simply isn't acknowledged.

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My invisibility cloak appears to be working again.

thanks sunray. I will bring it up "tastefully" in my next letter. He will be open to it though, does AA/NA in his new facility.

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There is so much they have to adjust to once they are released and sometimes it is really hard. The counseling gives them a place to release it all and deal with the things they have seen on the inside, adjusting to release and dealing with PTSD which is very common among released offenders.

It takes a lot of patience and determination, It can be done given you devote the time and energy into the relationship, not to forget love and not reading into things or making a mountain out of a mole hill.

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I think that one of the things those of us on the outside can do is to study the whole issue of so-called "institutionalization" so we understand what our friends/loved-ones will face upon release.

Very simple things that we might not even think about will have a major impact upon the newly released. For example, when you have been given only one colour clothing, one or two styles, ie T-shirt or with buttons and collar, for ten or fifteen years, can you imagine what your mind would do when faced with a closet full of clothing? Or how about sleeping on a mattress two inches thick for ten or fifteen years, then getting to sleep on one eight inches thick with foam and springs? Or, being asked what you want to have for dinner, when for ten or fifteen years what you eat, when you eat and how much you eat has been decided for you?

Even the simplest things can cause considerable emotional and mental upheaval for people who have been "institutionalized" by a DOC.

If we don't know about these things in detail and how to help our friends and loved ones deal with them in a positive way then we will be failing them. Yes, loving them and comforting them is important, but the practical aspects of rebuilding a life where someone else doesn't make all the decisions in your life is just as important!

Just my thoughts.

Tom

It's good to see ya Tom! Long time!

How's the wife and pp?

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All too ture . A post on all a person has to adjust to would be very very long.

There are a few books if some one looks around a internet search will bring them up .


PTSD is very common among released offenders Counseling and spending time helping them adjust to being free goes a long ways . Simple things can seem at first to be very difficult . I don't know if you ever fully get over many of the things you see inside.

It think it is hard to adjust to being out of prison that to adjust to prison .

Some one asked about what too look for in letters or other conversation

Usually you can see it in their letters conversations because they use prison terms for many things. That too is a long list that will vary from state to state .

One thing any one who is going to help a newly released offender is that you will end up providing some financial help maybe even a place to live . it is very difficult to find a good paying job with a felony conviction even after years unless your freeworld friends and family help you .

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Hello Skye!

Yes, it has been a long time. I have retired now. I'm spending my time writing, taking pictures and wandering around the world on cruise ships when Deb can get the time from work.

Deb is doing fine! She has gone back to university to do another Masters degree in Theology and will do her Phd. starting next year...I think...maybe it is two years.

Angie is doing fine also. As you know we have been working for almost three years now getting her a commutation of sentence. We have worked so hard....she as has worked very hard taking courses and learning trades. The brief we prepared to accompany the application is...if I may be so bold...a brilliant piece of work that covers every possible reason that the Governor and Cabinet might say "no" to her application. The only problem is that it now sits in a stack with thousands of other applications waiting to be processed. It is so frustrating, but I now am beginning to think that it is deliberate on the part of the government to keep the Commission understaffed so commutations and clemency applications simply do not get handled. She has 3 1/2 years left and I am thinking she will serve her full sentence at the rate the application is moving.

What is really frustrating is the fact that at a time when the state is on the edge of bankruptcy, the government is prepared to spend $250,000 over the next three years to keep someone in prison who clearly is ready to be back in the community. When I think of the hundreds, perhaps thousands, of others just like her, the amount that could be saved, and/or spent on more important things, must be in the millions! If I lived in that state I would be furious to find out how much of my tax money the 'bone-head' politicians are wasting on keeping people locked up who no longer need to be in prison.

For the time being I honestly believe she may be better off in prison. That may sound ridiculous, but the unemployment rate in the state where she is incarcerated is certainly among the highest in the US and she has three meals a day, a bed, clean clothes, free medical and dental, and finally free education right where she is! How many in the community can claim the same thing?

But we'll keep plugging away at it. When it is all over I am going to write a media piece and see if I can get it published in the state media. Such an article just might open some eyes.

Hope all is well with you.

Tom