These individuals and organizations share a commitment to promote activities that make our facilities safer and contribute to the reduction of recidivism. The Legal Aid Society, through its Defender Services Program, located at each facility, offers a range of services and acts as a liaison between their incarcerated clients and their attorney, courts, family and the Department of Correction. Health, Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services Alcoholics Anonymous, Cocaine Anonymous, and Narcotics Anonymous meetings are offered with the assistance of members of these fellowships who volunteer in various facilities. They provide 12 Step meetings and sponsorship to inmates who wish to pursue the Twelve Step philosophy and group support in an effort to change their history of substance abuse. Crossroads is a project of the Center for Community Alternatives and serves women in RMSC with a history of substance abuse.
Special emphasis is placed on women with children and pregnant women.
The SAID Transitional Service Unit networks with hundreds of community-based substance abuse programs in order to place inmates in treatment upon release. Over 90 programs visited SAID sites in Fiscal Year 1995 to provide outreach presentations and screen clients for admission. Project Greenhope offers recovery support, transitional housing, case management, vocational and personal development for women in the Rose M. Singer Center seeking to lead drug-free lives. Additionally, the Forensic Case Management Program assists inmates with severe mental illness to obtain placement in a community mental health residence as an alternative to incarceration. Mentoring and Vocational Development Services Friends of Island Academy is a specialized mentoring program for adolescent male misdemeanor inmates who have shown that they want a chance to change their lives.