WITNESS
The Rev. Jacqueline Means has been Director of Prison Ministry for the Episcopal Church, in the office of the Bishop for the Armed Services, Healthcare and Prison Ministries since 1999. During seminary, she discovered her love of prison ministry while doing field work in the women's section of a county jail. On January 1, 1977, amid threats on her life and objections from the assembly, she became the first woman regularly ordained to the priesthood in the Episcopal Church. After her ordination, she served for 12 years as Chaplain at Indiana Women's Prison, while still on the staffs of parishes in Indianapolis. She has been chair of the Advisory Board for the Marion County (IN) Juvenile Detention Center, and director of Jail and Prison Ministries for the Diocese of Indianapolis.
She is the founder of Craine House for Women, a facility for women serving prison time who wish to keep their pre-school children with them. She has programmed and implemented several national prison ministry conferences sponsored by the Office of the Bishop for the Armed Services, Healthcare and Prison Ministries, and she has pioneered an innovative summer camp experience for children whose parents are in prison. Rev. Means has also developed a clown ministry which encourages creativity, strengthens self-esteem, and allows women in prison to use their talents to enrich their family life outside of prison.
In May 2001, Rev. Means received the degree of Doctor of Divinity honoris causa from the Church Divinity School of the Pacific.
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STATEMENT
… my daughter became interested in becoming a correctional officer. As I was leaving my position to take a job at a church, she began her job there. …I cannot blame her position as an officer for the drinking problem she developed, but the stress of the job and the lack of support for the officers did not help the situation. There are statistics that say divorce and alcoholism are the major problems facing officers. Then when you have reached the top -- as in being a warden -- this changes to heart problems.
As the mother of someone working in the prison culture, I watched my daughter as time went by, becoming more like an inmate every day. Staff snitches on staff, inmates snitch on each other and staff, and it becomes a vicious circle. The sense of collegiality does not often exist. Then you add in the families and friends of the inmates and they too, are a source of contention. They, like the inmates, have their own issues to deal with, a sense of guilt, anger at the situation, and feelings of helplessness. Not knowing who to believe, they are frustrated at the system that is not likely to change.
…there is an awakening in the faith community to realize that we must get involved and reach out in love and acceptance to the inmates, officers, staff and the families and friends of those in our prisons. I believe that change comes about when we are open to being the messenger of good news.
Excerpted from a written statement submitted to the Commission
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