Press Conference Will Address Reforms Needed in Health Care and Social Services for Women During and After Incarceration

After a woman has spent time in prison, she leaves the system, theoretically rehabiliated and ready to live independently. However, as an ex-convict, she faces numerous obstacles to hear health and well-being. A press conference scheduled for October 6 makes recommendations for improving the lives of women who are now, or were previously incarcerated.

San Bernardino, CA (PRWEB) September 30, 2006 -- Time For Change Foundation will release a comprehensive report titled “Invisible Bars: Barriers to Women’s Health and Well-Being During and After Incarceration.”

Kim Carter, the organization’s founder, will release her study at a press conference 9:30 a.m. Friday, October 6 in the lobby of the County Government Center, 385 N. Arrowhead Ave., San Bernardino. Fifth District Supervisor Josie Gonzales will host the press conference.

“This exciting report brings new information and clarity to the many barriers women face in accessing good health,” Carter said. “It is my hope that health care providers will begin to address the disparity that exists amongst this population.”

Time for Change assists women who have been released from prison in their re-entry into society. Carter founded this organization after overcoming drug addiction that kept her in and out of prison for more than a decade.

“It is my passion to help women who are entrapped in the cycles of addiction and enslaved by the prison system as I was,” she said. “I was incarcerated numerous times when all I needed was one drug treatment program, apparently, because I’ve been clean and sober ever since It’s time to stop diagnosing sick people as bad people and begin to address the health and well-being issues that exist here in the community.”
“Ironically, it was during my last time the prison that I was able to get into the treatment program called Forever Free.”

Even then, the prison medical system failed her by not adequately addressing an abnormal Pap smear reading performed on her in June 1993. She received no further treatment while incarcerated, and had no idea of the severity when she was paroled in April 1994.

She worked for two years before she found a job that provided health insurance. In 1996, another Pap smear revealed she had invasive cervical cancer and doctors gave Carter only 90 days to live. Extensive chemotherapy, a fighting spirit and divine intervention enabled Carter to beat her cancer, and furthered her passion to help other women.

As you may know, the California prison medical system has so many problems that in July 2005, it was seized by a federal court judge and placed into receivership. Prior to the seizure, there had been many complaints of neglect and malpractice, resulting in about one inmate’s death every week.

Carter intends for the federal receiver of the prison health care system to consider her findings as it revamps the prison medical system, and also plans to inform the Health & Human Services Legislative Committee and the Women’s Caucus for both the senate and the assembly of her findings. Health care providers are also encouraged to use the information as they address the medical needs of women who were previously incarcerated.

She wrote the report with assistance from Disep Ojukwu and Lance Miller, statisticians with the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health. The Department of Public Health also assisted by providing staff to conduct group interviews with prisoners at the California Institute for Women in Corona, who were the focus of the first half of this two-part report.

The second half of the report focused on previously incarcerated women now living in or near San Bernardino. Time for Change surveyed these women at 16 sites in San Bernardino County.

For more information, contact Time for Change at (909) 886-2994 or visit www.timeforchange.us

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