LIFE AFTER PRISON

Prison changed my life

Despite spending 24 years behind bars, Leon Ivey has no regrets and sees himself as a changed man whose imprisonment has given him a new lease on life.

“Me nuh shame of myself and me nuh regret going to prison because since I go there, there is good and bad to it. I have learnt so much and maybe if it wasn’t for prison, I wouldn’t sit back and humble and look within my life,” said the former bank teller.

He was arrested in 1998 and sentenced in 2005.

Released last March after serving a little over 17 years of his sentence for accessory to murder, Ivey had engaged in several different initiatives and ended up acquiring HEART/NSTA Trust certification in data operations as well as courses in entrepreneurship and data services.

Despite the horrors, sadness and pain that incarceration sometimes brings, Ivey was able to find purpose behind bars through his involvement in the prison’s radio station, academic pursuits and his work as a librarian and computer lab technician.

The self-reformed ex-inmate, who surrendered his life to Christ while at the Tower Street Adult Correctional Centre (General Penitentiary) in Kingston, also dabbled in mass communication while there.

“We had a radio station there and I worked there. I read the news and sports from time to time and I also had a radio show name Society Interaction that I co-hosted,” Ivey shared with pride with The Sunday Gleaner last week, noting that the opportunity not only boosted his confidence but helped him to become more fluent in English.

“I truly enjoyed the experience with the radio station, as at one point I had low self-esteem, not so much wanting to be in the limelight or crowd. I also did emcee duties which I truly enjoyed as well, as we had concerts which I helped to organised with Ms Carla Gullotta (executive director for Stand Up for Jamaica), the mother of all inmates,” he said.

Last month marked a year since the 50-year-old gained his freedom following his 2005 conviction. The ex-inmate said on that fateful evening in 1998, he was taking home two friends when one of them shot and killed a man. He, however, acknowledged that while he did not support what his friends did, he had no control over the situation at that time.

TRANSITION EASY

But unlike many other ex-inmates who struggle to reintegrate, Ivey said his transition back into society has been easy.

“Oh, gosh man, it nuh difficult, cause the mere fact that me jump out and me acquire a job then, actually me change two jobs already,” said Ivey, who secured his first job a month after his release.

He is now working in the construction industry after securing two previous driving jobs, noting that he believes his honesty about his past worked in his favour.

“One thing me learn, you have to be honest in going forward. Is just one of two things – they can either accept or they can reject you,” he said.

“Me never believe inna the rejection part so me tell meself say better going come and it going happen for the best.”

Besides the difficulties with finding a job, housing is also a challenge for ex-inmates, but Ivey said he was able to overcome that hurdle by resuming living with his mother though he is hoping to secure his own place soon.

Ivey, who is focused on remaining positive and productive, said he is hoping that more inmates will embrace the opportunities that rehabilitation initiatives afford, noting that although there is room for improvement, he believes the rehabilitation programme is good and gradually improving.

The ex-offender, who described himself as a role model for inmates and officers alike, now counts himself as being among the fortunate ones who are rehabilitated.

“You faltered somewhat and you try to draw up youself and say, ‘hey, where do I go from here’. Me already inna da situation yah and the only way out of it a fi do my time so what me try in every way is to do my time to the best and try fi leave and when me leave this place, me nuh think me a return unless in a positive aspect wey me can come lecture,” he said.

Being released from prison was truly one of the happiest moments of his life.

“Oh my goodness, it was such a joy stepping out with my flowers that I nurtured for so many years. It was just like me flying or me a float, I felt so light going through that gate and not wanting so much to even turn back me head fi even look back around cause me nuh waa fi see the prison gate, cause it brings back so much bad memories,” he said.

Among those awful memories, he recounted a painful flashback of an incident when an inmate’s mother fell outside the prison and died. That memory, he said, hurt more for him as his mother, too, had fainted outside the prison but luckily for him, her spell was not fatal.

For now, Ivey plans to remain in the construction industry, which he finds more lucrative.

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Rehabilitation starts with the right mindset

For 34-year-old Felesha Dixon, who is in the fifth month of her freedom, having served seven years in prison for occasioning grievous bodily harm, her incarceration has also been a blessing in disguise.

The opportunities gained in prison have helped to make her reintegration easier.

The aspiring nurse not only secured seven Caribbean Secondary Education Certificates (CSEC) subjects and new vocational skills, but also found her passion for nursing while serving her sentence at the Fort Augusta Adult Correctional Centre.

Dixon, who was forced to drop out of high school due to financial difficulties, obtained a grade one in Principles of Business, grade two in English Language, Human Social Biology, Food, Nutrition and Health, and grade three in Electronic Document Preparation and Management, Principles of Accounts and Social Studies.

The former budding singjay found herself on the wrong side of the law after she threw a corrosive substance on a neighbour. The ongoing dispute, she said, was between her family and the victim as well as other persons in the community over a house that was given to them.

Since her release, Dixon has managed to secure employment with a fast-food restaurant chain and was interviewed a week after she started job hunting.

Dixon said she dropped off several applications and went on two interviews, one at a call centre and another at a supermarket, where she was shunned after being candid about her criminal record. But, luckily, those were the only instances where she encountered stigmatisation.

She now considers herself fully rehabilitated.

“Rehabilitation starts with the mindset. You could be in a situation where there is everything, and every measure is put in place for you to be rehabilitated, yet still you are not rehabilitated, because you don’t have the mindset,” she noted.

“So, rehabilitation comes from within. The person has to tell oneself that listen, ‘the situation that I’m in previously will not define me, so I am just going to make the best of it’.”

Noting that the vast majority of the inmates did not participate in the rehabilitation programmes, Dixon said she strongly believes that it should be compulsory for all inmates.

She is also urging more corporate companies to give inmates a second chance and prevent recidivism in society.

“Persons can be rehabilitated and persons can have a different perspective of life, so just give them a chance to show their true potential. You know that if they have something to focus on, something that is positive, to go to every day, they would see things in a different light, they would know that ‘ok, I don’t have time to waste cause I have eight hours to put in, I have my service to give cause I know that fortnightly, weekly or monthly I will be paid’. Even if it is not the full pay, half a loaf is better than none,” the ex-inmate said.

A major challenge for Dixon in reintegration, she said, is housing, as her pay is not sufficient to stretch towards rent. However, she said, her family has assisted her greatly with a place to stay and has been a constant source of support.

She is imploring the Government to put greater focus on offering timely and efficient assistance to ex-inmates, sharing that she is yet to receive the inmate rehabilitation grant of $50,000 that is being provided by the Government, although she applied for it months ago.

She intends to use the grant towards pursuing a nursing course.

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Government hypocritical to have policy against employing ex-cons but asking private sector to do so

Kaheem George*, a 52-year-old parolee and inmate scholarship awardee, believes not enough is being done to rehabilitate and reintegrate inmates into society.

“The prison in its current form is an absolute waste of time. You can’t divorce the lack of rehabilitation from what inmates encounter when they come out,” said George, who served time at St Catherine Adult Correctional Centre.

“If the Government was doing such a good job at rehabilitation, the Government would have been the first stakeholder to employ inmates,” said the ex-offender and trained educator who was paroled in February.

He served six years and eight months out of a 10-year sentence for having sex with a person under 16, although he maintained that he was only guilty of touching the child.

Pointing to the mission statement of the Department of Correctional Services – “We contribute to national security by securing, supervising, rehabilitating and reintegrating offenders as productive and law-abiding citizens” – George stressed that security is their only priority. Rehabilitating, reintegrating and supervising inmates are placed on the back burner, he said.

The ex-inmate said since his release he has been primarily focused on completing his associate degree in business administration from the University of the Commonwealth Caribbean (UCC) later this month, and as a result has not been job hunting in earnest.

However, he said since the start of the month, he started sending out several applications but has avoided government institutions which he knows have a ban on employing persons with a criminal record.

“I find it hypocritical when the Government is asking the private sector to employ us but is not employing us,” George said.

“Government is aware that it is not rehabilitating offenders so what happens now is that they are passing the buck on to private sector mek dem deal with whatever issue an offender will do in their company but not in the government entity,” he added, calling on the Government to lead by example.

In the meantime, the ex-inmate said while he is currently seeking a clerical job, his goal is to get funding to start his own business.

At present, he resides at his family home and is living off his savings along with assistance from relatives and friends. George also earns a little from online tutoring.

Noting that he won’t be able to apply for the Government’s rehabilitation grant until his parole ends in September, he lamented, “So right here and then you are out here as a parolee to the mercy of the world because you don’t get any support. Even when you go to the parole officer you are not enlightened on what benefits you can get, you just know that you must report when they tell you to report and every time you go they will ask you if you’re working but no effort is being made on their part to help you.”

Not all ex-inmates are lucky to have strong family support, he said, so those who are facing difficulties with reintegration will be forced to return to a life of crime.

“So, until they get their thing accurate, which is to balance security with supervising, rehabilitation and reintegration, people who come out a prison a go be at a loss same way; their lives going to be a living hell,” George declared.

[*Name changed to protect identity]

tanesha.mundle@gleanerjm.com