‘They Treat Us Like Inmates’: Loved Ones of Incarcerated Individuals Cite Uncertainty and Powerlessness Navigating the System

Incarceration is not an experience felt only by the incarcerated individual themselves. It is an experience that also confines their loved ones. Especially after the correctional officers strike from February this year, families have cited both structural barriers to maintaining connections with incarcerated family members and being subject to the same culture of humiliation and powerlessness that their loved ones face behind bars while visiting.Radio Catskill’s Julia Kim had the chance to speak with Candace Miller, the mother of a son currently incarcerated in Fishkill Correctional Facility, alongside other loved ones on the challenge of navigating this country’s carceral system and the lack of support provided by DOCCS. In addition, Kim spoke to Tanya Krupat, Vice President of Policy and Advocacy at the criminal justice reform non-profit Osborne Association and Soffiyah Elijah, founder of the Alliance of Families for Justice, an organization dedicated to empowering families of incarcerated individuals.