The Light of
Freedom
Cumberland County Corrections showcases its Steps to Freedom drug rehab and re-entry program that can be a definitive response to all the prison privatization talk.
n BY MITCHELL KRUGEL
Mr. Ramos performs his“ We ain’ t druggin’ no more” song.
The artist known as Ramos threw down a hip-hop song he had composed especially for the special guests in the audience. Slapping his chest and the table in front of him to keep the beat, Ramos freestyled lyrics that inspired everybody to sing along when he hit the chorus. I changed my ways. God bless this day. We ain’ t druggin’ no more … We ain’ t druggin’ no more. When Ramos completed his performance, Mr. John Schulze performed a folk song he wrote with a similar message. He preceded that recital by offering a rousing soliloquy to the masses.
“ This is a place where I can work on myself, a safe place for people who want to make a change,” he confided.“ There are cops here who actually care. I have never seen that before. It gives me a lot of hope. Hope for the first time.”
In addition to the music and the speeches, mock job interviews were taking place. Discussion followed about how to address the challenges hanging over this community. And applause. Lots of applause.
Oh by the way, this all occurred in prison, in a unit at the Cumberland County jail to be exact. Inside a space about the size of a standard school classroom, inmates, counselors and officers presented what might be the saving grace for modern day county corrections.
Members of Mercer County Corrections Officers Local 167 came to Cumberland County on this October Friday to see the genius of The Steps to Freedom Modified Therapeutic Community and Re-Entry Substance Abuse Program. Local 167 State Delegate Winslow Land, co-chair of the PBA Corrections Committee, President Don Ryland, Officer Jowana Phillips and Sergeant Gary Victor came to the Cumberland County jail as guests of Cumberland County Corrections Local 231 State Delegate Victor Bermudez and Warden Robert Balicki to witness how a county corrections facility and its corrections officers can be of unparalleled value to its community and its inmates.
“ It’ s an innovative approach to what corrections should be, doing rehabilitation and getting citizens back into society,” Ryland observed after spending the morning following the Steps to Freedom.“ An approach like this is so innovative in all aspects, but especially economically and fulfilling the true concept of corrections.”
Economic value and the value of corrections officers cut right to the current challenges for modern day county corrections. As
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