Navigating Rehabilitation Implementation within Correctional Facilities
● Moderator: Darrell Hale, Esq., Board Member, Maryland Alliance for Justice Reform
● Speaker: Dr. Brandee Izquierdo, Behavioral Health Programs, Pew Charitable Trusts
While recovering from substance use disorder, Dr. Izquierdo recalled when the Drug
Enforcement Administration (DEA) searched and seized her home, removed her children, and left her homeless. Within months, she was arrested and incarcerated (no other options were available). In March of 2011, with no support, she experienced her first day without a drug or drink in many years.
The following year, however, she was introduced to the concept of peer support. She learned that addiction was a disease and that she was not alone. A peer worker, she explained, is someone who uses their lived experiences of recovery from mental illness and substance use disorder to help others. In addition, the worker uses skills learned in formal training to deliver services in behavioral health settings to promote mind-body recovery.
After training, Dr. Izquierdo became a peer worker within the health department and drug court. As a peer worker, she felt isolated, uncertain, and undervalued. She highlighted
the challenges of peer worker integration, stating that peers can be seen as disruptive and are not always welcome. They provide innovative ideas that challenge the status quo and
reveal areas of need that are not being met.
Recent studies on public stigma related to substance use disorders have found that discriminatory practices such as segregation, coercion, and avoidance can be damaging in the context of employment. Individuals in recovery face an added layer of complexity associated with stigma and discrimination when sharing their lived experiences, making their work more challenging.
She said that people who openly report a history of substance use experience discrimination in the workplace; they may experience microaggressions and other environmental challenges. Stigma does not stop when you enter an organizational setting, she cautioned. Her recent study found that employees’ commitment to peer workers varies depending on whether they think integrating the worker is obligatory or desirable (Izquierdo & Bellamy, 2023).
Dr. Izquierdo pointed to the Sequential Intercept Model (SIM) as a valuable framework for
integrating peer workers into the criminal legal system. However, this framework does not
entirely encompass the criminal legal system. It leaves out a population – people serving long or life-term sentences. As mentioned earlier, peer workers behind the walls play an intricate role in the population. By focusing efforts to train peer workers behind the walls, specifically those serving long or life-term sentences, correctional facilities have an opportunity to build safer and healthier environments, decrease the likelihood of recidivism for those serving shorter sentences, provide a pathway for growth, and fuel a sense of purpose for those providing and receiving peer support.
Therefore, efforts to establish a peer workforce behind the walls would be beneficial in the
context of rehabilitative services. More importantly, criminal justice professionals should focus on individuals serving long and long-term sentences to build this workforce behind the walls. However, before doing so, the DPSCS should ensure that there are assessments of the organizational infrastructure, including employee assessments, that prepare the organization for peer worker integration. Assessing the infrastructure will mitigate barriers and challenges associated with the peer workforce and assist in successful and sustainable peer worker integration.
