From Probation To Prison – Challenging the Statues Quo

We baby-boomers believed we could change the world; and we changed a lot. The status quo was pushed aside by this huge wave of change-makers. Although we were young and oftentimes foolish, we ushered in a new spirit that was rooted in positive values: love, peace, humanity, justice and inclusiveness. Being the person I was (and still am), I was very active in this movement. 

Upon graduation I was hit with the hard reality that there were very few jobs. We boomers were so large in numbers we flooded the job market. It took me six months to find a job. When I finally found a job, I chose a very unlikely path. I became the first of two female probation officers to supervise adult male felons on probation, in Detroit, Michigan. I thought the way to make a difference in the world was to influence people’s lives person, by person. I still believe this is one of the most powerful ways to make a difference. However, I quickly realized that even if you offer hope, skills and new perspectives to people, if they are locked in negative and oppressive systems, it is difficult for them to change, grow and contribute. So my pursuit of attaining positions in management was motivated by my desire to be in a position to change systems and structures. I wanted to help break down the systems that limited people’s potential, dampened their spirit and damaged their self-esteem.

The day I got fired

I learned my lesson about trying to change systems from the outside, early in my career. Six months after I was hired something happened that jolted my conscience. I received a call at 2:00 AM from a man I had on probation who had been arrested. Whenever one of the guys I had on probation was arrested, I made it a practice to go to the precinct regardless of the time. It was important to me that I interview them while everything was fresh in their mind, because I had the responsibility of recommending whether they were sent to prison on a probation violation or continued on probation. This particular night, I abandoned my practice. I was tired and the man was locked up in the First Precinct, which was directly across the street form my office. I told the probationer that I would see him when I reported to work that morning. That decision cost him, and it cost me. 

When I arrived at the precinct, I was told that my probationer was in the Detroit Receiving Hospital. When I talked to him on the phone at 2:00 in the morning he was upset, but unharmed. I went to the hospital and found him in critical condition. He told me the officers had beaten him. This was an era in Detroit when there was severe tension between the Detroit Police Department and the community. Detroit had a police unit called STRESS ((Stop the Robberies, Enjoy Safe Streets). They had a reputation for extreme police brutality and had killed 17 civilians in four years. Even though I was a part of the law enforcement system, I was outraged and decided to do something about it. While on my lunch hour, a fellow probation officer and I developed and circulated a petition against the abusive power in the law enforcement ranks. As you can imagine, a twenty-one-year-old Black female who was a pioneer in the courts drew a great deal of attention for this decision. Within hours we were summoned to the presiding judge’s chambers and promptly fired by 13 judges. They fired me based on the Hatch Act, a law that prohibited state employees from participating in political actions. I was smart enough to know that my actions were community-oriented, not political and therefore I decided to fight their decision. I was fired on a Friday and was back to work on the following Monday. 

Now I had been in the spotlight before this incident because I was a female in an all male profession. I realized that after challenging the system, I was would be under a microscope and any mistakes I made would be highly visible. My parents always taught me to find the silver lining in any adverse situation so I also realized at that level of scrutiny, they could also see my skills and potential. Three years later I was promoted to lead a halfway house for female offenders and received an outstanding letter of accommodation signed by all thirteen judges. The other good news was that the Stress Unit was eventually branded a disgrace and disbanded – some went to prison.

My Work with Women in Prison

My new assignment was leading the Detroit Womens Correctional Facility, a halfway house for female inmates on their way to being paroled. This assignment brought tremendous challenges. Female inmates were far more difficult to supervise than men and we had far less resources to help them. The halfway house had no budget to develop programs; the leadership position had been vacant for over a year and, we were located in one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in Detroit. My team and I got together with the inmates and engaged in thoughtful dialogue on what they needed to grow and develop into contributing members of their communities. We also discussed how they could become supportive, active mothers while they transitioned form prison to parole. I discovered these women wanted what we all want: the ability to work, to nurture their families and to be treated with dignity and respect.

Since there was no budget to develop program to support the women’s transition so we had to become very innovative. Like many large cities the rich and the poor live in close proximity, yet worlds apart. Less than five blocks away from the halfway house there was an affluent neighborhood that had a Saks Fifth Avenue store. I went to Saks and explained that we had 50 women in need of their help. They responded beautifully. Once a week Saks sent a hair stylist and manicurist to teach and help the women with their outer beauty. 

I also called on my boomer friends and asked them to donate their skills. One friend was an employment counselor; she came in and taught job search skills. Another friend was a nutritionist; she taught the ladies to create low cost nutritious meals. The Elliatorian Business Women’s Club, hosted picnics for the women and their children so they could began to rebuild their bond. A church group from Gross Pointe conducted a gift drive at Christmas so the women could give their children Christmas presents. 

The women were hungry to learn and grow. Because we treated them with dignity and respect, they not only blossomed on the outside, they began to take pride in themselves and their work. Not every women was successful, however in the two and a half years I was there, I saw many women transform their lives. I also grew to understand that regardless where we come from or what we have been through, human beings have far more in common than we differ.

My Leap into Prison

In my ongoing quest to change systems that were oppressive and inhumane, I spent nine years in the Michigan Department of Corrections. My last two and a half years, I worked as the first female deputy warden over programs for rehabilitation in a male prison. I directed the prison’s school system, medical and psychological services, recreation, and religious services and the inmate classification system. The prison was brand new. Ironically we converted a Catholic monastery into a prison, which gave us the opportunity to hire all new staff. This also gave us the rare opportunity to create a vision of what kind of environment we wanted and then hire people who were aligned with that vision. 

The prison population was young men between the ages of 18 and 25. Although this is a highly volatile age group, it is also a time when young people have a lot of energy and can still find hope.  We created a highly participative “Responsibility Model”. The more an inmate demonstrated responsibility, the more opportunity they had to participate in the design of the treatment programs.  We recruited 169 community volunteers to augment our treatment staff. We called them  “unpaid staff” and they went through the same rigorous interview process as the paid staff. The results were amazing! In partnership and collaboration, the inmates, treatment staff, and community volunteers we created viable and exciting programs. We had tutorial programs – every inmate who needed extra help with their schoolwork was paired with a community volunteer tutor – that was the inmate committee’s idea. We developed a creative prison theater, a robust arts program and a competitive recreation program. The recreation program was so strong that the prison basketball team was invited into the outside community intramural league. Of course the outside teams had to come inside the prison to play. 

I remember one day when I was in the process of interviewing for a prison chaplain and one of the inmate teams came to me with a proposal. They convinced me that it made more since to put the $28 thousand dollars I had to pay the salary for one Chaplin into programs that would support the men’s diverse spiritual needs. They came up with the idea to solicit community volunteers to deliver religious services and counseling. This resulted in our having every religious denomination available to the inmates - they rotated, providing services and counseling 24 hours a day. People were busy learning, growing and contributing. 

I found DreamMakers in this most unlikely place - a prison. These DreamMakers did not come from strong, healthy nurturing families like mine, more than often they came from environments that were nightmares.  But when they had the opportunity to mobilize around a shared vision that mattered to them, and were invited to participate in transforming that vision into reality - they became DreamMakers.

If people can change, grow and contribute under these adverse circumstances, imagine what we can do when we are free. I challenge myself everyday – “Am I learning, growing and contributing to my potential”

May all your beautiful hopes and Dreams come true!

Michele

www.dreammakers.org