Norton Sound Health Corporation (NSHC) has received two grants worth $25,000 each from the State to reduce recidivism, or the rate of inmates returning to jail over time. One is an award to be used for services offered this year, such as facilitating counseling therapy for Anvil Mountain Correctional Center inmates.
Lance Johnson with Behavioral Health Services at NSHC says the second grant, also worth $25,000, will be used in fiscal year ‘17 to provide something this area has never had before.
“Because actually there are two different, if you will, grants. One that provides services, one is building the coalition to see what service gaps there are in our region. It’s a study for over 2 ½ years to do community assessment in all of our sixteen villages here, including Nome,” explained Johnson.
This new community coalition is in the beginning phase; the members just met for the first time last month.
Johnson says as the coalition develops and completes the study, the State assesses their work and decides if it will contribute more money to re-entry services in the region.
“I want the State to know at the end of this, here’s what we are lacking, here’s what we are clamoring for, here is what would reduce recidivism over time if we only had resources going in this direction.” Johnson reiterated, “I want to help them know exactly what they need in these rural communities, much like ours. So I’m hoping that, in their wisdom, and if our report is successful, they will say, ‘okay, we’re going to re-direct funding this way.’”
Even though it will take the full two-and-a-half years to identify service gaps and re-entry needs in the region, Johnson says he knows of three important factors that need to be addressed in Nome.
“The basic necessities of getting adequate treatment, while you have adequate positive housing, and you have gainful employment: those three things right there go together, hand-in-hand. There’s a sense of hopelessness when you don’t have a home or if you’re in a home that doesn’t support your sobriety. There’s a certain sense of desperation when you don’t have a job, you don’t have any income, but you need to eat,” said Johnson. “So, this leads to certain choices; sometimes, that continues to make those recidivism rates go higher and higher.”
Members of the re-entry coalition include employees from the City of Nome, Nome Public Schools, and other agencies who all have full time jobs and are volunteering their free time.
Sandra Martinson, the Superintendent of AMCC, is one of the coalition members. She expects this community group will have a significant and positive impact on the region.
“This will give local community members a really good opportunity to develop a re-entry coalition that fits our region versus borrowing something from a more urban location like Anchorage or Fairbanks. So it will give all of us stake-holders a really good opportunity to give feedback and tailor the services to the needs of our communities,” emphasized Martinson.
Through the first $25,000 grant, NSHC is providing more assistance at AMCC, such as on-site mental health services and substance use services. Johnson believes having these on-site services makes a difference in recidivism rates.
“Again, the absence of some of these services in the corrections system lead to higher rates of recidivism, I truly believe it. If you have nothing, if you have no mental health services, if you have limited substance use services, then you are highly more likely to get outside and come back in, because the behavioral patterns have not been addressed,” said Johnson.
Altogether, through the coalition development grant, the $25,000 award going towards services at AMCC, and other existing programs, NSHC expects to see some positive strides in reducing recidivism.
