Reimagining Corrections
● Moderator: Hon. Phil Caroom, Chairman, Maryland Alliance for Justice Reform
● Speakers:
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- Tyrone Walker, Georgetown Prisons Justice Initiative
- Dr. John Hart, Vera Institute of Justice
- Tonya Roberts-Johnson, MSW, LCSW-C, Office of the Public Defender
- Lieutenant Temesghen Andermichael, Correctional Officer, District of Columbia
Department of Corrections
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Before speakers’ introductions, Judge Caroom noted that as of July 1 of 2022, there were 1,365 young people under the age of 25, many first incarcerated as young teenagers, in Maryland prisons. These account for about 9% of the total prison population. Those between the ages of 18 and 25 are labeled by neurologists as “emerging adults” (Hochberg & Konner, 2020).
Why should we give any special attention to these “emerging adults”? Science tells us two
important things:
1) Being young makes them a higher risk to get in trouble again; their brains and capacity for judgment aren’t yet fully developed.
2) The flip side of that is positive. They also are more capable of maturing and changing to make better choices in their future, which would make them less risky for new crimes.
Common sense tells us another important thing: Being young, if they get locked up again and again, they will cost Maryland taxpayers more than any other age group at the current, average cost of more than $40,000 per year per person. But if they can be changed, that change will save taxpayers more money! So, they are worth our special attention for all three reasons.
What is the theory behind emerging adult programs?
Dr. Hart held that we can make the biggest impact in reducing mass incarceration by focusing on young adults. Emerging adult programs are designed to restore human dignity, mimicking life outside, and to empower young adults. These programs, similar in some respects to college dorms, also train staff and mentors on the history of the U.S. prison system and toxic jail cultures since, in order to change the future, you need to understand the past.
Many emerging adult programs follow successful models developed in Germany, Sweden, and Norway. The Vera Institute of Justice has implemented programs in six states: Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Massachusetts, North Dakota, and South Carolina. If South Carolina can implement a program like this with its limited resources, Dr. Hart challenged, why not Maryland? “If you take away human dignity from children who are incarcerated, then what is left they can use to succeed?”
Emerging adult units that provide respect, increased services. and increased responsibility for young residents, have proved effective in achieving huge reductions of prison assaults and infractions, as well as substantially improved outcomes upon reentry. A randomized control trial funded by the National Institute of Justice assessed the impact of innovative young adult housing on reducing violence. It found that participants had a 46% decrease in disciplinary charges, a 66% decrease in violence charges, and a 64% decrease in the odds of any new conviction (Shanahan et al., 2023).
The D.C. and state programs have found that, once established, both correctional officers and prisoners greatly prefer emerging adult units to placing this age group in the general population. A lower correctional officer staffing level is required, due to the reduction in assaults and other infractions. In the 2023 study cited above, correctional staff rated their
experience of safety at one unit as 68% positive.
Mr. Walker, who represents the Georgetown Prisons Justice Initiative, stressed that “every incarcerated young adult from ages 18 – 25 needs to be in some sort of therapeutic unit.” When behavioral issues in young adults are criminalized, he stressed, the system becomes
dysfunctional.
The District of Columbia has implemented its own program, Young Men Emerging (YME).
While the D.C. program was unsuccessful when first launched, the second time it used peer mentors from the prison population, many of whom were lifers. They were indispensable to increasing younger residents’ acceptance of the program and achieving a reduction in assaults and other infractions. The peers were able to create a trusting and open environment in which young men could open up and share freely. Mentors could often detect an issue brewing and intercede before a problem occurred. They then dealt with those involved within a restorative justice framework.
YME was begun for a minimum security unit, expanded to a medium security unit, then offered at a maximum security unit. All three levels experienced success. Lt. Andemicheal, a Correctional Officer active in the D.C. programs, said: “We believe your past does not determine your future. We create a conducive environment through counseling, education, and mentorship, following up when they leave.” He cautioned, “When you kill a human spirit, there is nothing left.”
Ms. Roberts-Johnson, a social worker with the Maryland Office of the Public Defender,
cautioned, “These inmates are not just a number. We need to humanize them.” She said, “When I look at the records of these young adults in the system , I see the gaps where we missed something, where they fell through the cracks.” Traditional prisons expose young adults to trauma day in and day out. One 16-year-old was placed in solitary confinement for two years. Seeing someone once to give them a pill doesn’t work, she said; we need to take the time to offer effective services. This includes making sure that each person has a real home plan when he or she comes back from jail.
