Corrections_Today_Winter_2025-2026_Vol.87_No.4

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Prison Program, hosted by Inter faith Prison Partnership, DOCCS, and the Town of Bedford (NY), was so enormously successful that this was clearly a community that recognized that many in cor rectional facilities, as IPP’s Board President, Elizabeth Friend-Ennis so eloquently says, “were failed by society long before they ever com mitted a crime”. As now NYS Assemblymember Burdick says,

Therapeutic Horsemanship program to provide weekly therapy sessions by bringing horses into the facilities. Speaking of paving the way, PRAC lobbied Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney for money for a sidewalk for the staff and visitors and that sidewalk is under construction as this article goes to print. The PRAC representatives for Woman2Woman and Rehabilitation Through the Arts have organized performers from Caramoor Center for the Arts and Music to come inside the facilities and put on concerts. These are just some of PRAC’s initiatives. None of this could have hap pened without the support of the Superintendents and DOCCS. As Emily Williams, Superintendent of Taconic Correctional Facility said,

PRAC is composed of seventeen representatives of different orga nizations involved in the carceral system. Both Superintendents of the Town’s two facilities attend every PRAC meeting, as does the NYS Commissioner, Dan Martuscello, and invited speakers, such as leaders in their fields and U.S. Congress people. Since its inception, PRAC has initiated 17 different initiatives that DOCCS has approved and are operating in both facilities. With Interfaith Prison Partnership (IPP), a member of PRAC, doing much of the boots-on-the-ground work, Care Packages for the December holidays, Mother’s Day packages, Release Bags for women going to homeless shelters, Children’s Activ ity Kits have all been donated by the community for their incarcer ated neighbors. Over 75,000 bars of soap have been collected for our neighbors. Houses of worship, com munity groups, women’s clubs have all been instrumental in providing these goods, as organized by IPP. PRAC has helped to initiate a trans gender support group for the trans population in both facilities. It has also paved the way for the Endeavor Since its inception, PRAC has initiated 17 different initiatives that DOCCS has approved and are operating in both facilities.

“When the idea of a Town adopting its local prisons was brought to me by Dr. Hallun dbaek, we reached out to the Superintendents of our two NYS women’s correctional fa cilities in our Town: Taconic and Bedford Hills. Both Su perintendents were on board. We hosted the first ‘Adopt a Prison’ event in our Town to a standing room-only crowd. It was then that I realized we needed to form a special committee to the Town Board to advise us on prison issues: the Prison Relations Advi sory Committee (PRAC). We appointed Sharon Ballen to lead it. Sharon has done an incredible job in taking the ball and running with it. It is amazing that in a short period of time, it has gained respect and admiration throughout the state. Com missioner Martuscello attends nearly every one of the Zoom meetings. That opportunity for candid and honest conver sations has helped the entire correctional system.”

“When the Commissioner

was giving me my formal orientation for my newly

appointed position of Superin tendent at Taconic, he told me about PRAC. I realized that PRAC had to be important if he made it part of my train ing. That mention of PRAC helped me to understand that I had a trustworthy community resource available to me. PRAC has proven to be an ongoing benefit to Taconic’s staff and population. PRAC has accepted us as neighbors, extending com passion and grace. Interactions underscore their goal of stand ing up for those whom society failed before the commission of their crime. We have partnered in common efforts to improve conditions and wellness for both groups here at Taconic.

Corrections Today | Winter 2025-2026

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