UBC study finds peer mentorship program for incarcerated women works
Credit to Author: Tiffany Crawford| Date: Tue, 18 Feb 2020 15:12:21 +0000
UBC researchers have found that a peer mentorship program that helps incarcerated women find support in the critical 72 hours after release from prison is effective and could prevent them from becoming repeat offenders.
The study, published Tuesday in the journal CMAJ Open, found that Unlocking the Gates, a UBC-based peer-mentorship program that aims to halt the repeating cycle of drugs, crime, and jail, helped nearly half the women (47 per cent) find a family physician within three days of release.
Researchers say this can be a life-saving intervention for these women. Having access to a physician can help the former inmates treat serious ailments they suffered while in prison, and could prevent them from self-medicating with illicit drugs.
It also found that most of the women (85 per cent) taking part in the program accessed at least one community resource, such as a recovery house, treatment centre or safe housing facility in the first three days.
The program was co-founded in 2012 by Mo Korchinski, who is known as the “Mother Teresa” of ex-inmates, for her hands on approach to helping women find medical help and access to recovery. The program was also developed by Dr. Ruth Elwood Martin and Dr. Patricia Janssen.
The latest study was authored by Katherine McLeod, Elwood Martin, and Korchinski at the University of B.C.’s School of Population and Public Health.
Between 2013 and 2018, women released from the Alouette Correctional Centre for Women were invited to take part in the program. Over that time, 172 women signed on, and at the end of three-day mentoring, 105 had completed the surveys. Of those women, 53 per cent were Indigenous, and 80 per cent had children. Sixty-one of the women reported that it was not their first time in prison.
The researchers analyzed survey and interview data and found that overall, 93 per cent of participants reported that their peer health mentor assisted them in accessing community resources, and 90 per cent said their mentor helped them achieve the goals they had before they were released.
A majority of women (63 per cent) required access to income assistance and of these women, 83 per cent reported that their mentor accompanied them to obtain it, according to the study.
The most commonly identified factors that women agreed would help them following release were: Money to buy necessities (87 per cent;) Someone to talk to about the things that worried them (86 per cent;) Housing (85 per cent;) Medical care (85 per cent;) and a real friend (85 per cent.)
The study also highlights the need for stable housing for women when they leave prison, which is one of the most challenging barriers people face when re-entering the community.
Korchinski says during the transition between prison and community, people are at an increased risk for poor health outcomes, harm and death.
Many who experience incarceration have histories of unstable housing, low education, financial insecurity and childhood trauma. They also have significant health challenges, conditions including mental illness, substance misuse, and acute and chronic physical health conditions.
The report concludes that peer mentorship provides “valuable and multi-faceted support to women during the transition from prison to community” and can minimize the risk of death, illness, and re-incarceration.
It’s believed the program will save the province money, as it costs $150,897 per year to keep a woman in a B.C. prison, and $19,755 per year to supervise parole.