On October 19, Pulitzer-Prize winning New York Times Op-Ed columnist Nicholas Kristof spent the day featuring Family & Children’s Services Women in Recovery (WIR) of Facebook Live to help others better understand the connection between addiction and sexual abuse and involvement in the criminal justice system. View the video on Kristof’s Facebook page by clicking here.
Kristof said that as a country we “frankly look down on people who use drugs, who are in desperate need of treatment, and we put them in a criminal justice system and lock them up.”
WIR is an intensive outpatient alternative for eligible women facing long prison sentences for non-violent, drug-related offenses. WIR participant Michelle (who was facing a sentence of 15 years to life) said during the interview, “Drug use and alcohol use was modeled to me at a very young age. Shutting off my feelings was modeled to me at a very young age, so that’s all I knew … [WIR] is the first place I’ve ever been where I’ve felt like I mattered. There is something special here. These people genuinely care.”
For more information about WIR, please click here.
