this is not my home here. i m not calling this my home. my home is with my children. an unfortunate fact of life at valley state is 85% of these women are mothers. they display their photos on cell walls or lockers. this is hunter and sierra. these are my girls. i love them so much. one of the more sobering differences between men and women s prisons is that many of the inmates who end up here never see their loved ones again. in the women s case they re very frequently abandoned. there are not men in their lives that cared about them enough to stay with them during this difficult time. they come here and their families don t take the time to bother and come and see them. there are not as many men out there that want to communicate with and write to and send love stories and love letters to women that are locked up. it s saturday. usually a prison s busiest time for visits.
good. we love her. she s the one. i would love to have the women leave this prison better off than they were when they came in. that is my goal. that is our mission. when msnbc visited valley state in 2000, the recidivism rate was 55%. despite officials hopes that it would decrease, that number has held steady. if the trend continues, more than half these women will come back. i m 24 years old. i ve done six months here already. and i ve come to terms with myself about changing my life and my lifestyle and my friends and the people i hang around with in order not to come back to this place. this place is really not a bad place. they have a lot to offer you here if you take advantage of a situation. they ve got schools. they even have college courses here that you can take and things like that. you can get yourself into something positive. you know what i mean? we can provide all the education and academic programs in the world. but the individual who comes
when i was a little girl, no, i could never imagine myself being here now today or even coming to a place like this. when i was 16, i was in juvenile hall fighting my case, still didn t think about coming to prison. to be so young convicted of second degree murder, facing 15 to life in prison, it was the scariest thing i ve ever had to go through. i didn t know what i was coming to or what it was going to be like. i heard many stories of prison. i was scared, i was terrified. when we first met janice jaycott, she had just turned 21. she was sent to valley state to serve 15 to life for second-degree murder. i set up a drug deal. the drug deal turned into a robbery. the robbery turned into a murder. the girl turned state evidence and the guy was on the run and he ended up dying about a year and a half later.
accomplishment, boost up your self-esteem, give you job skills you can incorporate when you leave. christy has been denied parole multiple times, but she hopes her new skill will make a difference if she leaves valley state. when i think about paroling, it s going to be a whole new world. you know? i ve been in almost 20 years. i m looking forward to residing in a community, being a community-oriented citizen, a homeowner, living the american dream just like everybody else. so that s what i plan on doing. because a large part of the population at valley state is here for drug-related offenses, the substance abuse program remains many inmates only hope. good afternoon, family. my name is vonita. hi, vonita. first of all, i want you ladies to put your legs down and i want you ladies to relax. vonita lee used to be a drug addict herself. today as a counselor, she has a unique appreciation for the struggles the inmates face. it hurts me. it hurts because i feel
this place makes you hard. it can make you bitter. i don t think it rehabilitates you. 90% of the women go out harder than what they come in. janice was pregnant when she was arrested. her son was born six months prior to her being sent to valley state. i don t know what it s like to be a mother to him. to me i m just the woman who gave birth to him. i m not his mom. my stepmom and my father have raised him. janice is now 26, older, wiser, and looking toward the future. four years ago, i was a wreck. i was real rebellious, i didn t care about nobody. i don t even think i gave a damn about myself. to where now, four years later, i m more mature. i care what happens to me. janice also cares about the child she left behind. she hopes to be paroled within