Stepping Stones: Job Assignments & Programs….
When you first arrive at Perryville, it can feel like the ground has disappeared beneath you. Everything is unfamiliar, every rule is new, and the life you knew on the outside suddenly feels a million miles away. But what I have learned, both from living it myself and from walking alongside other women and their families since, is that a prison sentence is not one long, unbroken stretch of time. It is a series of stepping stones, small milestones that mark progress, even when it does not always feel that way.
Looking back now, eleven years has passed from my own experience, I can see this clearly. But at the time, I had no idea. I remember feeling frustrated with some of the assignments and programs I was placed in, wondering why I had to do them or what the point even was. It was not until much later that I understood, every single one of those assignments was a stepping stone toward my release. In retrospect I utilized them as such.
The first stepping stone is simply arriving. You are there now, and the reality of it hits differently than anything you imagined beforehand. You are confused, anxious, and unsure of what happens next, and to make matters worse, nobody hands you a roadmap. You are left to figure it out as you go, one uncertain moment at a time. The second stepping stone comes when you are finally placed on your permanent unit. This is when things slowly start to come together, you begin to understand the rhythm of daily life, and for the first time since arriving, there is a small sense of stability.
Once you arrive at your permanent unit, you begin settling in, unpacking your things, establishing your space, and building a relationship with your cellmate. Soon after, your money becomes available on your inmate account, and you are able to shop for the first time. In the beginning, there are spending restrictions under what is called phase one, and as long as there is money on your books, you can get most of what you need. Then comes another major stepping stone, when your family or loved ones successfully complete the visitation or phone call applications. Once those are approved, you can finally hear a familiar voice or see a familiar face again, and that moment changes everything.
From there, in no particular order, come job assignments and programming. Sometimes you apply for a job yourself, and other times DOC assigns you one. Either way, having a job gives you a routine, and that routine becomes essential, it helps time move, and it gives your days structure and purpose. Alongside work, there is programming, and there is more of it than most people realize. Women's recovery groups, parenting classes, college courses, nightly meetings, and church groups, all of it offers a way to fill your time with something meaningful instead of simply waiting it out.
Every six months, inmates have the opportunity to reclassify based on their behavior. Good behavior allows you to phase up, and each phase brings more freedom. After the first six months, you can move into phase two, which comes with more visitation, more phone call allowances, and a higher spending limit. Six months after that, you can reach phase three, the highest phase, which allows unlimited phone calls per day, extended visitation time, and the highest spending allowance available. Each phase up is not just a policy change, it is proof that time and effort are paying off, another stepping stone quietly bringing you closer to release. In the dormitory style units, phase twos and phase threes are also rewarded with their own individual cubicle bed space, a small but meaningful upgrade in privacy and comfort that comes with those higher phases.
Good behavior can also affect your custody level itself, allowing you to reclassify downward, from maximum to medium, or from medium to minimum, depending on your circumstances. On the other hand, bad behavior, including tickets or disciplinary action, can move you in the opposite direction, increasing your custody level and dropping you back down a phase. Every situation is different, and these outcomes are often circumstantial, dependent on a combination of factors unique to each person.
And then, seemingly out of nowhere, you find yourself thirty days from release. You look back at everything you have collected along the way, certificates, completed programs, maybe even a spiritual connection you carry with you now that you did not have before. Many women leave with college credits that transfer to other schools if they choose to continue their education. Others walk out with a degree, a diploma, or a GED they were never able to earn before stepping of the prison bus in handcuffs.. Whatever the case, they leave with more skill, more knowledge, and more tools than they had when they arrived. Every stepping stone, from that first disorienting day to the moment you walk out, was leading somewhere all along. And that is exactly why I do what I do, helping women and their families recognize each one of those stones for what it truly is, Progress.
If you have a loved one in prison, or you are facing time yourself, my advice is simple, utilize every opportunity to program and work. Every certificate, every class, every job assignment is resume worthy, and it all adds up to something meaningful by the time release day comes and for the future.
