CREDO:
“Seeking protection of society through humane and
effective treatment and supervision”
Individuals convicted of criminal offenses face, while incarcerated, significant risks to their personal safety, health and well-being, daily assaults on their dignity and self-respect, and limited opportunities for rehabilitation and education. Additionally, they face substantial legal, political, economic and social barriers to reentry and reintegration upon their release from prison. These issues are compounded when the convicted individual suffers from a mental illness, disability or disorder. They are compounded exponentially when the individual has been convicted of a sex offense.
Individuals convicted of sex offenses have suffered documented physical, psychological and emotional abuse from custody staff and from other inmates while incarcerated. Additionally, they have been subjected to vigilante justice upon release into the community. Reintegration programs for such individuals are virtually non-existent and State-created barriers to reintegration (housing, employment, family reunification, social reintegration) have proliferated with new, draconian laws that do little to protect the public but which continue to stigmatize and harm those attempting to fulfill their end of the social contract by becoming productive members of society.
