By Paul Egan
Detroit Free Press
LANSING — When Lois DeMott’s son was in the Michigan prison system, she had the worst time dealing with corrections officials in trying to make sure his medical, mental health and other needs were being met.
But through trial and error, DeMott became an expert in navigating the system.
Now, Michigan is joining a handful of states by launching a pilot program in which DeMott will serve as a liaison between prisoners’ families and officials at three Michigan prisons.
“The prison system has its own language and its own jargon,” said DeMott, who will announce today she is stepping down as president of Citizens for Prison Reform, the Lansing-based group she cofounded in 2011. “It’s a whole new world,” and “so many families don’t even know where to begin or who to talk to.”
As well as closing that knowledge gap, DeMott hopes to increase the level of family support for Michigan prisoners, only about 12% of whom get visitors, she said.
More than 90% of Michigan prisoners will one day be released, and family and community support can help make sure they are less likely to re-offend, she said.
The Michigan Family Participation Program at Macomb Correctional Facility in New Haven, Earnest C. Brooks Correctional Facility near Muskegon, and a third prison yet to be named is being funded through a $75,000 grant from a private foundation, which is to be announced Wednesday.
Department Director Dan Heyns supports the program and the department wrote supportive letters to help DeMott secure the grant, spokesman Russ Marlan said. If the pilot is successful, it could expand to more prisons, he said.
Illinois, California and Oregon have similar programs, DeMott said.
Warden Mary Berghuis, who oversees the Brooks Correctional Facility, said if families are having difficulties it can make things tough for her and other prison officials. For example, more phone calls can get placed to the wrong people, and when the family member finally gets connected to the right person, they might be too frustrated or angry to be easily helped, she said.
“Most of these family members haven’t committed any crimes, and they’re taxpayers, too,” Berghuis told the Free Press Monday.
“I think anything we can do to improve family relations is positive.”
State Rep. Joe Haveman, R-Holland, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said he likes the concept.
“We have a lot of advocates for prisoners, but not someone who can help families,” Haveman said.
DeMott is setting up an office in space loaned by the Michigan Council on Crime and Delinquency in Lansing and hopes to launch a website soon. For now, she can be reached by e-mail atfamilyparticipationprogram@gmail.com.
DeMott said her son Kevin has been out of prison a little more than a year and is now running his own business.
“The one message I would like to give is we need to never give up hope,” DeMott said. “I learned that from my son. I didn’t know if he would ever make it out of the system.”