Volume I
When someone breaks the law, punishment feels like the natural response. It sends a message: “There are consequences for your actions.”
I think we can all admit that to some degree, that accountability is 100% necessary and unavoidable. But here’s the truth a lot of us don’t say out loud when we should… Punishment doesn’t equal change alone. You can lock a person up, you can extend their sentence, you can cut them off from the outside world. But when the day comes that they walk out of the prison gates (and remember that a large majority eventually does), what’s different? If nothing inside addressed the trauma, the addiction, the poverty or the circumstance that brought them there in the first place, then nothing has truly changed.
This is exactly why Arkansas Restorative Initiative (ARI) exists. I have personally seen and experienced what happens when the system invests in punishment and neglects restoration of lives.
I’ve dug into budgets and discovered that only about three percent of the Department of Corrections’ funding goes towards programs and rehabilitation. Three percent. In a system that is currently holding over 17,000 people, that number is truly devastating.
Through FOIA investigations, I’ve also uncovered records of repeated air conditioning and water failures in the heat of summer… These are fixed with temporary band-aids instead of long-term solutions. I’ve seen incident logs filled with drugs like K2 and meth. These are proof that incarceration by itself doesn’t stop addiction and cycles of crime. I’ve personally studied parole data that shows low-risk individuals waiting longer than they should while higher-risk cases sometimes move forward. Meanwhile, families are left carrying the heaviest of burdens. Those burdens consist of rising commissary prices, phone fees, and debts that grow while prison wages stay stagnant. Again, none of this changes through punishment alone. All it does is recycle the same people back through the same broken system. We must always remember: The phrase "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results" is widely attributed to Albert Einstein. However, it was actually brought to popular process by Narcotics Anonymous (NA) in the early 1980s. This direct quote should serve as a proper reminder that for us to achieve new outcomes, we must adopt new strategies instead of repeating past behaviors that have proven as ineffective.
Many people research on hat makes a difference and it all points to healing (addressing the root issues). That includes providing treatment for addiction, real mental health care, education, job training, and stable housing opportunities. These are the specific tools that transform someone’s life so that when they come home, they don’t return to the toxic cycle. They return ready to rebuild in our communities and within their family.
At ARI, we’re exposing what’s wrong to help we’re build for what’s needed. If we don’t recognize and acknowledge equally that there’s a problem, we will never be able to develop the solutions. This means creating statewide housing directories so people leaving prison don’t end up homeless. It means connecting them with fair chance employers who are willing to hire. It means turning hidden government data into public accountability so Arkansas families can see exactly how their tax dollars are being spent.
Yes, punishment has its place. However, punishment without healing guarantees that nothing will change. Healing root causes is what changes lives, strengthens families, and makes Arkansas communities safer.
When someone breaks the law, punishment feels like the natural response. It sends a message: “There are consequences for your actions.”
I think we can all admit that to some degree, that accountability is 100% necessary and unavoidable. But here’s the truth a lot of us don’t say out loud when we should… Punishment doesn’t equal change alone. You can lock a person up, you can extend their sentence, you can cut them off from the outside world. But when the day comes that they walk out of the prison gates (and remember that a large majority eventually does), what’s different? If nothing inside addressed the trauma, the addiction, the poverty or the circumstance that brought them there in the first place, then nothing has truly changed.
This is exactly why Arkansas Restorative Initiative (ARI) exists. I have personally seen and experienced what happens when the system invests in punishment and neglects restoration of lives.
I’ve dug into budgets and discovered that only about three percent of the Department of Corrections’ funding goes towards programs and rehabilitation. Three percent. In a system that is currently holding over 17,000 people, that number is truly devastating.
Through FOIA investigations, I’ve also uncovered records of repeated air conditioning and water failures in the heat of summer… These are fixed with temporary band-aids instead of long-term solutions. I’ve seen incident logs filled with drugs like K2 and meth. These are proof that incarceration by itself doesn’t stop addiction and cycles of crime. I’ve personally studied parole data that shows low-risk individuals waiting longer than they should while higher-risk cases sometimes move forward. Meanwhile, families are left carrying the heaviest of burdens. Those burdens consist of rising commissary prices, phone fees, and debts that grow while prison wages stay stagnant. Again, none of this changes through punishment alone. All it does is recycle the same people back through the same broken system. We must always remember: The phrase "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results" is widely attributed to Albert Einstein. However, it was actually brought to popular process by Narcotics Anonymous (NA) in the early 1980s. This direct quote should serve as a proper reminder that for us to achieve new outcomes, we must adopt new strategies instead of repeating past behaviors that have proven as ineffective.
Many people research on hat makes a difference and it all points to healing (addressing the root issues). That includes providing treatment for addiction, real mental health care, education, job training, and stable housing opportunities. These are the specific tools that transform someone’s life so that when they come home, they don’t return to the toxic cycle. They return ready to rebuild in our communities and within their family.
At ARI, we’re exposing what’s wrong to help we’re build for what’s needed. If we don’t recognize and acknowledge equally that there’s a problem, we will never be able to develop the solutions. This means creating statewide housing directories so people leaving prison don’t end up homeless. It means connecting them with fair chance employers who are willing to hire. It means turning hidden government data into public accountability so Arkansas families can see exactly how their tax dollars are being spent.
Yes, punishment has its place. However, punishment without healing guarantees that nothing will change. Healing root causes is what changes lives, strengthens families, and makes Arkansas communities safer.
Some may ask where rehabilitation, reform and implementation of programs to reduce recidivism developed. If we trace the history of prisons back to their roots, we will find that incarceration wasn’t always meant to destroy a person. The first “penitentiaries” in the late 1700s were constructed through the belief that confinement could create reflection. The word “penitentiary” actually came from the concept of “penitence”. Penitence was thought of as through structure, solitude, and purpose, people could rebuild themselves. This was one of our first attempts as humanity to believe that change was possible even in isolation. During this time, prisons were designed to influence redemption, not for vengeance only. The purpose of prisons was a place where a person could confront their actions through accountability, learn new thinking and develop better habits, and return to society changed. Unfortunately over the years, we ended up straying from that pillar of the foundation. Instead, prisons became places that stored people instead of rebuilding someone. Punishment literally replaced the true purpose.
That shift and thought process is what we’re seeing in Arkansas right now. Our prisons are holding over 17,000 people. Through FOIA, data research and insight, we have found that less than 3% of the Department of Corrections budget goes toward rehabilitation and programming. Most of our State’s budget caters to overtime to compensate for the debilitating percentage of vacancies in positions within our prisons, as well as maintenance. Some maintenance seems to be uncapped as well through our research. Many people in our society don’t realize that roughly 60% of new admissions are from parole or probation revocations that are typically minor violations, not new crimes. The narrative that is paraded strikes fear into our communities when in reality we have drifted too far from the reform model that defined the penitentiary system. There is immense amounts of data still proving what society originally believed. When we invest in humans for change, we see the most natural and real results. Arkansas’ own Substance Abuse Treatment Program lowers recidivism close to 14%, and Therapeutic Communities reduce it close to 17% compared to the state average.
Rehabilitation isn’t a soft alternative to punishment. It’s the original purpose designed to happen alongside it. The people who are considered the early prison reformers knew that reflection, structure, and education could transform individuals and communities together. We want to reclaim that power and truth, as well as share it with others. We strongly believe that when the system returns back to its intended mission to restore individuals… We’re able to reduce crimes and revive hope, together.