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Leaving Rikers and Coming Home to a Pandemic
Jails and prisons, where social distancing is nearly impossible, have emerged as potent breeding grounds for the new coronavirus.
Non-profit organizations that can provide support have set up hotlines, distributing numbers throughout jails, but have found that identifying clients from the outside can be hit-or-miss.
“That lack of easy communication and connection makes discharge planning, in a systematic and comprehensive way, very challenging,” said Susan Gottesfeld, executive vice president and chief program officer at the Osborne Association, a re-entry organization that now provides all of its services virtually, including case management, job training, substance abuse treatment and health care.
Gottesfeld said those services are still available once someone gets out, but “it’s better when we work with them pre-release so we can make sure there’s a plan for them. There are a lot of pieces that need to be coordinated when people are leaving.”
“[The pandemic] really shines a light on our willingness to lock up more people than we really need to be and it’s testing the way our criminal and legal system makes decisions about who is taken into custody and who can be released in less restrictive supervision in the community.”
For those who show symptoms after they’re released, Gottesfeld said they may be moved to a hotel for symptomatic people if necessary, where they’ll receive medical care.
New York City operates 11 jails, eight of which are on Rikers Island. It’s unclear how many confirmed virus cases are within the complex, but as of Tuesday, there were 1,384 people sickened by the virus in city-run jails, including 1,005 Department of Corrections staffers and 379 inmates. “People are very aggravated. We’re scared of dying here,” one Rikers inmate said.
The man who was released from Rikers earlier this month said it was a relief to be back home with his family members, who are over 60 years old. “I didn’t want them to go out getting groceries, so now I can go and do those things, looking out for them and making sure the house is clean,” he said. “This is no joke. My dad just lost his uncle, he was 83. My brother got it. He’s feeling better and better. But there’s people close to me who are getting it. We’re just trying to stay clean and safe here by not going out much and just riding it out like everybody else is.”
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