a clear need
People convicted of serious and violent crimes now make up more than three quarters of California’s prison population; of those individuals, 35,000 are serving life sentences with the possibility of parole. In fact, more than half of all those incarcerated in California are dependent upon the parole board in some way for their release from prison.
Most people in prison have experienced trauma prior to incarceration, but despite the parole board’s focus on a person’s ability to understand trauma, few opportunities for this work exist in prison, and those serving lengthy sentences are often the last to receive access to the programming that does exist.
a new approach
Home After Harm represents a critical opportunity to implement meaningful, trauma-informed programming for those preparing to appear before the parole board in California. With existing support from the City of Oakland, the Home After Harm pilot program seeks to create therapeutic communities at the yard level, in which participants serving long sentences for serious and violent offenses will have the opportunity and support to revisit their traumatic histories, develop new self-understanding, be accountable, and adopt coping skills.
LEADING BY EXPERIENCE
The curriculum is being developed by formerly incarcerated individuals; the team is staffed with formerly incarcerated and system-impacted people; and the program trains people who are currently incarcerated to do the counseling and guidance work currently undertaken by lawyers, social workers, and other therapists at UCL. If scaled statewide, this pilot program could ultimately make UCL’s innovative model available to all those eligible for parole, and would represent a major culture shift inside state prisons.
