Today’s Good News: Prisoners Find Careers As Drug Counselors
NPR’s Weekend Edition uncovered a great program that sounds like it should be happening everywhere. At California’s San Quentin prison, a new peer-counseling program is turning prisoners into certified drug and alcohol counselors.
A couple of years ago, a psychotherapist started volunteering at the prison and was shocked to find there was no substance abuse program. (She shouldn’t have been - only about 15% of prisoners with substance abuse problems get treated in prison.) She hooked up with a local college and got them to come in to teach their counseling curriculum. She got the warden on her side, who said “it’s easy to underestimate these men,” but who realized they’re not necessarily stupid, lazy or beyond hope, and gave it a try. The college instructors said they’d never had better students, and that (duh) the inmates’ life experience was very useful. So these prisoners will not only have a chance to conquer their own addictions, but also a chance for real gainful employment once they get out. Check out the story here
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