793: Sabrina Justison: What Happens to a Mother When Her Son Is Incarcerated for Murder

Content Warning: this episode talks about murder and the prison system.  

Sabrina Justison is a curriculum developer, speaker, and writer, wife to Fred, and mom or step-mom to 7 grown kids, plus grandmother to 6. She is also the Founder and Executive Director of the non-profit, PrisonCare. One of those grown kids is "J," who is mentally ill and in prison, serving a very long sentence for murder. Sabrina is an advocate for people like J who are incarcerated, in particular those living with mental illness.

The need for sweeping prison reform is undeniable for sure, but in the meantime, while we wait for legislation and funding, no matter WHAT our politics are, we can offer tangible support to the people inside the fence, simply because they are in need, and they matter. In particular, the mental health needs of prison residents AND corrections staff are overwhelming. For example: on average, three Corrections Officers die by suicide every day in the US. Incarcerated individuals are more than twice as likely to be significantly mentally ill than those outside of prisons.  

Through PrisonCare, Sabrina is committed to humazing people who are incarcerated and supporting the mental health of our incarcerated community members and Corrections Officers. 

Listen in to hear Sabrina share:

What it has been like to be the mother of a child who is serving a very long prison sentence for murder

How she took her background in psychology and the arts to found her non profit, PrisonCare

How she started to pick up the pieces and move forward after her son was incarcerated

The critical lack of mental health support in prisons and jails

How we, as a society, have completely dehumanized prisoners and created a system that is harmful to prisoners and all of society

The surprising parallels and similarities between the lives of the prisoners and Corrections Officers in the prison system

What PrisonCare does and how to adopt a prison

Links mentioned:

Learn about Prison Care: prisoncare.org

Connect with Sabrina: sabrinajustison.com

The Prison Care Podcast: theprisoncarepodcast.buzzsprout.com 

Sabrina on Facebook

Prison Care on FB

Private PrisonCare FB Group

Sabrina on Instagram

PrisonCare on IG

Sabrina on Twitter

PrisonCare on Twitter

Sabrina on LinkedIn

PrisonCare on LinkedIn

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