By Kate Martinez
On Oct. 11 Madison-Area Urban Ministry (MUM) brought a returning prisoner simulation to Edgewood College to raise awareness of the challenges that people who have been released from prison face when they return to the outside world.
Each student who participated in the simulation received a folder with a profile of their “new identity” as someone who had just been released from prison.
The students then had to complete a number of tasks, such as going to visit their probation officer and applying for jobs. If a student missed one of their visits with their probation officer or did not complete a task related to the terms of their parole, they were sent back to the “jail.”
Shawna Lutzow and John Givens of MUM coordinated the simulation, which was designed to show how difficult it is to readjust to the outside world and rebuild life as someone who has just been released from prison.
“The simulation is truly just a snapshot of what re-entry can be like, but it really gives you a taste so that you can understand what some of those struggles are,” Lutzow said. “And they’re really meant to symbolize some of the systemic structures that are in place and understand where change needs to happen.”
Lutzow, an alumna of Edgewood College, has been the volunteer and community engagement coordinator at MUM since 2011.
MUM is an interfaith non-profit organization that helps provide resources to people who have been newly released from the prison system. The organization offers a number of programs to reintroduce inmates into the outside world. MUM also works to reduce the recidivism rate in Dane County.
“Recidivism means going back to prison after your release,” Givens said. “Sixty-65% of people that are released from prison go back. A third go back for parole violations, a third go back for committing new crimes. MUM’s simulation is to try and help you understand why so many people go back to prison.”
Givens is the circles of support coordination and reentry simulation director at MUM. He works with individuals six to nine months prior to their release.
“Those people need somebody around to help them navigate getting back into the system-fiscally, mentally and emotionally,” Givens said.
MUM’s programs for reentry focus on helping inmates with the basic needs that they need to stay out of the prison system.
The Reentry Service Fair, which is held every third Tuesday of the month, focuses on residence, employment, support, treatment, transportation and education.
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