KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) says it is looking forward to participating in a two-day Best Practice Symposium intended to reinforce its commitment to providing ex-offenders with the tools necessary for rehabilitation and successful reintegration into society.
DCS Principal Probation Aftercare Officer, Kerryann Davis, said that the January 27-28 symposium, being held in collaboration with the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), will serve to advance the national dialogue on rehabilitating former offenders.
“We are delighted to partner with PIOJ in their 10th Best Practice Symposium, and DCS is happy to be part of this conversation,” Davis said, noting that on January 28, the Commissioner of Corrections, retired Brigadier Radgh Mason, will be making a presentation.
The symposium will feature testimonies from ex-offenders and involuntarily returned migrants, who will share their experiences of reintegration into Jamaican society, adding a powerful human dimension to the event.
“This partnership will ensure that our offender clients get the tools they need, and that their families are also prepared to receive them when reintegration begins. We work with churches, schools, and community clubs, and our Probation Aftercare Officers help these individuals to resettle,” Davis said, noting that the overarching goal is to reintegrate offenders into society as law-abiding and productive citizens.
“On the day of the Expo, we will showcase items made by our offender clients, including furniture. People will see that this (DCS) administration is determined to ensure that everyone leaving our care has a skill or a qualification, even up to the master’s degree level,” she said, emphasising that the focus extends beyond job placement to fostering entrepreneurship among former offenders.
“When they leave our care, they don’t… have to find a job… they are the job. They come out with skills and certification and can start their own businesses, and we know small businesses drive the economy.”
Davis said that the DCS fully supports the PIOJ initiative, noting, “anything that makes the lives of our clients better, we are on board.
“We want Jamaica to come out and see the work being done behind bars, because these persons are coming back to us,” she said, noting the recent education partnerships that the DCS has established.
“Through a partnership with the University of the Commonwealth Caribbean (UCC), several of our offender clients have completed bachelor’s degrees. We aim to ensure that when they leave our facilities, they go back out better than they came in,” she said, underscoring the transformative impact of rehabilitation and recalling a testimony of an inmate who said, “Prison saved my life”.
She noted that he entered without completing school but left with multiple certifications in skilled areas.
“We are responsible for rehabilitating persons who come into contact with the law negatively, and our duty is to ensure they are empowered through skills training to live productive, law-abiding lives”.
and then  says it is looking forward to participating in a two-day Best Practice Symposium intended){kind=link}