Ministries, correctional institutions chaplaincy is a nonprofit formed in the epi60s and incorporated in the 70s as a joint effort with the evangelical association and the council of churches. At that point, we were one of the few remaining love childs of that movement. So, were here with a specific purpose of serving all of the men, women and youth incarcerated in santa clara count. Were nonprofit. Part of our budget comes from the county. Okay. Part of the budget comes from local churches, faith communities and individuals who are supporting of this ministry. So, tell us a bit about the Santa Clara County system and who is there, how many prisons there are. What kind of population is there . Yes. The population there is down to 3500 people now. Over the last few wores, the population is reduced. There is a womens jail, there is the mens facility in elmwood in milpitas, the main jail complex at the downtown san jose near the county, and then were also active in the juvenile probation facilities. So there are two of those. There are about 3,500 people altogether. So, its considered one of the super jails, i think, about the 11th largest in the country. Wow. At this point. When you say we, do you have other chaplains on staff that work with you. Yes. And volunteers, i would imagine. This is a fairly large operation. Yeah. There are a total of five fulltime chaplains and administrative assistant, manager, and then, there is one person for each of the facilities. That is very, very little, considering the breadth and depth of the need. Uhhuh. And so we are primarily oriented towards helping local folks volunteer. We have probably about 350 people that are involved with us from all of the different faiths, different denominations. We try to make available a couple of things. One, anyone who comes into custody. We want to be available to serve them from their perspective, to help them grow in their faith as they define it. Yes. Not as we define it. Okay. And we have, the other thing is about this ministry is that what we are providing Community Members who are of faith. Any of the faiths, opportunities to use their faith, to live their faith inside ministering to the men and women and kids that are locked out in santa clara. Okay. So. So, on a daytoday basis, as a chaplain, what are you doing with the inmates . Okay. How do you serve them . There is we, in any given month, were going to have several hundred Worship Services that will vary from a z. From Large Service to small, small study groups. But a lot of what were doing is individual work with people. The people who come into custody, if youre in jail, youre considered to be in a crisis state. Yeah. So, the levels of trauma people come in w the grief counseling, so many of our people have gone through deaths, violent deaths within their families and friends on the streets. So they come in traumatized and if we start listening to some of the stories, its like oh, i understand why youre using the drug now. Basically to kill the pain. Uhhuh. And most of the folks in custody are addicts one way or another, trying to cope with that and basically trying to survive of well own. And youre providing pastoral care. Youre providing a word of hope, grace, forgiveness. Yes. And judge hope is the primary thing. Yeah. Our community in this kind of a setting, our people who are incarcerated feel like they have been rejected and abandoned by everybody, including god. Were there to let them know they do have value. Theyre children of god. There is much of a part of our community as you or i are. They have an opportunity, they need to have opportunities for growth. And the big thing is really letting people know that god loves them just as they are. Well be back with chaplain Dave Robinson to hear more about ministry with the incarcerated. Good morning. Welcome back to mosaic on this sunday. With me is chaplain Dave Robinson. Hes recently retired from the correctionalling institutions chaplaincy that serves approximately 3500 inmates in the Santa Clara County system. And as you spoke about so many inmates coming in with drug addiction problems and mental illness, how do the chaplains fit into the Treatment Program or maybe there is not a lot of treatment that is needed in the prison system in Santa Clara County. There is a lot of treatment needed. Yeah. And were not Mental Health professionals. Were not licensed, but were there to be with the prisoners. We wind up doing a lot of the in between cracks. When referrals come in from the community, were often given the referrals to talk to the inmates, to f them sometimes, supposedly. Were there for all of the death notices. When people commit suicide. We are called upon to go in and not only serve the inmates who are remaining in the pod. Because suedes in jail are very serious, and they affect everybody. So we go in there to help with the inmates so its not as threatening to help them talk through it and the officers. Its not a pretty site. But, you know, the primary thing is that were there to let people know that somebody cares for them. Yeah. Theyre not alone. And they have not been abandoned. They have not been abandoned, especially by god. Yeah. And so often, that is one of the most troubling things in there is the level of despair that people are experiencing. And what do you do with despair. You know, the only way out of that really is recognizing within ones self that one has value. Uhhuh. And that one has a purpose. That there are people out there that will accept and you respect you. And the big thing coming down is when someone realizes for themselves that they are loved by god. Yeah. And then things can start changing. Have you seen that amongst the inmates there. A change or transformation in their lives . That is not what motivates us particularly. Sure. But we see a lot of people recognizing they hit bottom. This is an ugly place. They dont want to come back and there are some Resources Available for education, forgetting a ged getting, having some work within some of the psychiatric groupings, treatment groups. But if were not there on an ongoing basis to help people stay in awareness that they can make the changes. Uhhuh. A lot of people fall off. Uhhuh. Some of our volunteers get very discouraged. People, theyre there for awhile and go through some changes. Theyre off the drug, theyre making their commitments to their god, and people get excited about that hope. Then people come back. Because the recidivism rate is huge. Right. You can look at that as a failure or you can look at it as this is the degree of brokenness that this person is living with. And you talked about the brokenness of the system itself. Tell us about that. My understanding as we chatted is that Santa Clara County jail system is not really set up to house the inmates for long term. That is exactly what is happen. Right. With the passage of ab109 a few years ago, it really transformed the criminal justice system. It used to be we had inmates there for a short period of time under a year. And that has been changed. Fewer people are being sent up to prison, but theyre keeping them in county jail somewhere, sometimes upwards of five, 8, 10 years. Which the county jails are not set up for that in terms of the programming, the educational, the housing, the Mental Health treatment and the geriatric situation. A lot of people why in custody now and they in their 70s and 80s and there is some dementia going on. Where do they go . Yeah. And its also similar with the mental ill. The last few years, we have seen the Mental Health population go up in the jails. And this is the worse place for someone who has a diagnosis of Mental Health to be in. Being in jail when depressed and paranoid . No. Its only going to make it worse and theyre not getting the necessary treatment needed. Right. Right. And there are efforts ongoing now for better ways of reentry, one of the big issues before were people on medicare or getting ms would get out of custody. While theyre in custody, theyre cut off. It would take a long time to get on ssi. Yeah. And that is a great movement. Judge does chaplaincy work with the reentry programs . Yes. Once someone is out . Usually the first time we meet someone, once we get through the crisis stuff, is like what are you going to do when you get out . What resources do you have . How can we help out with that. Every county now has a reentry center. San francisco has a good one. Santa clara has a great one. One of the things the congregations in the valley need to do, though, we were approached and it was how do we help people get involved in a Faith Community once they get out. Yes. So, we were approached by the county, department of Mental Health and with the innovation money out of prop 63 to develop an Innovation Program that would be oriented towards helping inmates getting out of custody, reenter through the help and support of local faith communities, whether theyre christian or catholic, christian, buddhist, muslim, et cetera. Across the board. Uhhuh. And presumably if they in a supportive community. We might prevent reseed vitamin. Yes. Our faith communities have the ability to offer people what they need most. The love of the community, acceptance and respect and the connects with god. What we did is we worked with the congregations and the county to develop four separate different treatments, Reentry Centers throughout the county is that would be, someone could go to them and not have to worry about Law Enforcement involvement if they were, say subject to violation without any probablydition. And go to the churches or mosques or. Synagogues. Synagogue. Yeah. And get food, referrals for shelter, council when its available as well as an open invitation to be a part of the community and then go through some job training, et cetera. We war hearing about the incredible work of the chaplains in the Santa Clara County jail system when well be back in a few moments. Welcome back to mosaic on this sunday morning w. Me is chaplain Dave Robinson, who has been serving in the prison ministries for almost your entire career. Yeah. What about it, why do you feel called . To serve in prison . Yup. What is it . I grew up in the church. Yeah. And i always had friends that were not in the church as it were. Running with some of the street stuff and some of the drugs and i saw all of these guys searching, but the congregations always seemed to reject them. It was an us versus them thing. Hmm. And so i struggled with that, especially coming up in the 60s and 70s, recognizing the power, et cetera and wanting to do something about that. Recognizing most people didnt want to deal with the prisoners and the street stuff. So, i, through a convoluted way, i wound up after my first parish as a pastor, wound up in social work with emotionally disturbd kids and then that branched out into working with juvenile offenders and then working in the San Francisco jail as a therapist. So i did that and there was and santa clara opened up as a chaplain. I love being with those guys. I see their struggles as being very powerful. Very intense and there, the level of need is huge. Uhhuh. And the desire from a lot of those guys, once they get a sense of they can be respected, they can be loved, they have a place. How hungry they are. I have seen guys, one of the most touching things for me would be walking down a maximum security cell block going cell tocell. I am talking with those guys, knowing the vast major of the guys were going to be in a came their whole lives and walking by and seeing those guys being very focused on their studies and their faith and their meditations and asking questions that were like beyond seminary level. Beyond most really deep thinking individuals. Is come struggling with and struggling with issues of who they are and who god is, how do you have hope in this context knowing youre going to be in a cage the rest of your lives. And that engaged you. That engaged me, seeing how they opened up to god, how they had a trust, how they were able to develop hope, even though everything around them said no hope. They had a sense of hope. That has encouraged and empowered me throughout the years. I dont know you i would do five or 10 years. Yeah. I have no idea. Tell bus the women who are in prison and do they have different needs than say the male population or do they do prison in a different way. Yes; most people do not like working with the womens jail. Its far more intense. Hmm. The women come in typically more damaged, as it were. The levels of trauma from sexual abuse, emotional abuse, physical abuse is horrendous. The vast majority of the women there have been sexually abused over the years. Also, the vast majority of the women have kids. Yeah. And i dont know why my brothers dont seem to care as much about their kids. I dont know. But i know the women often that is what theyre living for. Their whole emotional state is dependent on how are my kids doing . Where are they . Are they in foster care . Are they with grandma, what is going on with them. The emotional involvement there leads to an intensity. And adds, certainly, an extra level of angst for them in this deep missing and longing story their children. Yes. And then you think about the children and what theyre experiencing. Right. Its a nowin. Yeah. Its a nowin. Do you bring the kids in for visiting . Do you . Its done. But there is this whole debate about is it healthy for the kids to see what is going on with that and watching the women on one hand being thrilled to see their kids and then when the kids leave. Plummet into despair. Or when the women go to court and lose custody of their children, that is a major death. Yeah. And grieve situation. So the challenges are immense. Yes. And huge. Where, where do you find hope in the midst of all of these significance challenges. Well, structurally, one of the greatest sources of hope was watching how the county and other counties dealt with the juvenile offenders. Our juvenile population is dropped almost 90 . Hmm. And San Francisco is looking at getting rid of the whole juvenile detention system because they figured out the more you incarcerate a kid, the more you will incarcerate them. Theyre going to wind up in the system, the pen 10 area they systems penitentiary systems. Frankly, juvenile detention does not work. It doesnt work any better than the adult. So, if they have done this, if they have been able to get the kids out of custody and into therapeutic programs for the addictions, Mental Health and stability, these kids are showing theyre making it and theyre able to turn it around. If we can do it with the kids, we can do it with the adults. Okay. The other source of hope is seeing how many people do care about prisoners. We have a general political environment that trends to think, doesnt tend to think, we do think this that we need to be punitive, we need the revenge and keep the people down. There are a lot of people starting to see that doesnt work and just exacerbates everybodys situation. We will be back with chaplain Dave Robinson, who has worked in the Santa Clara County prison system for many, many years here on mosaic. Good morning. Here with me on mosaic is chaplain Dave Robinson. Wheres worked in the Santa Clara County jail system for many, many years. Recently retired. We talked about the brokenness of the system, where you have seen incredible hope. Also the volunteers who come in and extend the ministry beyond just the chaplain. Yes. What motivates them . Why are they giving of their time. Its one of those things, especially the volunteers. Theyre in it for awhile and come back and say chaplain, i dont understand what is going on. I feel more blessed from the guys in my study, my worship service. Yeah. And what we find is the volunteers do more growing . Their faith than probably the inmates do. That whole thing, if you want to learn something, you teach it. That feeds our volunteers. Its not everybody. Okay. There are a lot of expectations and all that. Once they get a sense of call and what it means to love the prisoners, things open up. Wonderful. And if people are interested, you have a web site, correctional institutions chaplaincy. They can goggle it and find out about volunteering. Its ci consider, ministries. Org. That would be that. And what we end cic ministries. Org. We want to hear the voices of the inmates. There was a program you sponsored that gave them a voice. Yes. Tell us briefly about the program and read one of the poems an inmate wrote. Will do. We rye to approach try to approach people in a sense by whatever means is necessary. We offer writing groups, art groups, music groups. Yes. And one of the projects was working with Saint Marks Episcopal Church on the peninsula to do a writing group. They put this, they went through a program, got people writing, helping them to write and published it. We made enough copies, not only for distribution to the community but to give back to the inmates. Lets hear from one of the inmates from this writing program. So we hear a voice. Yes. From those locked up. Hold on to hope. Even when despair is staring you in the face. Hold on to the light within you, even when darkness engulfs you. Hold on to love even when love is not reciprocated. Excuse me. Even when love is reciprocated. Hold on to faith even when you feel alone. Hold on to family even if they have to let you go. Hold on to life, even when you on the brink of oblivion. Hold on to god, even if you feel like letting go. With those final words from an inmate in the Santa Clara County jail system, we thank you, chaplain Dave Robinson, for being with us on mosaic, and i thank my cohost riverend ron swisher, our late producer, hugh borrows and on this veterans day weekend, we give thanks to god for the veterans and honor their life among us and their service to our country. Again, good morning, welcome to mosaic. And have a wonderful sunday and sabbath day. Blessings to you. You know when youre at ross and you realize its time your sister stopped borrowing your sweaters . Yeah thats yes for less. Stop stealing mine. Never. Holiday gifts everyones sure to love at 20 to 60 percent off Department Store prices. At ross. Yes for less. And you realize you are the the hostess with the mostest. You know when youre at ross yes yeah thats yes for less. Entertain in style all season long. It feels even better when you find it for lessat ross. Yes for less. A matter of life and teeth this morning. San jose police explain what led up to a deadly shooting at a traffic spot. And San Franciscos next district attorney, its official. The challengers bowed out. What the Police Department is not backing down. And a fire breaks out in the how would hills. No official word how it started. Why a witness said the power lines may not be to blame. Its 6 00 a. M. On this sunday, 10th. Thank you for sunday, november 10th. Thank you for joining us. Were learning about a deadly officerinvolved shooting bringing traffic to a crawl yesterday on highway 85. The man who was shot and