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Local chaplains urge reinstatement of in-jail programs after COVID restrictions limited access
Summary
Representatives from Tierra Nueva and other volunteers told commissioners pandemic restrictions stopped in-jail chaplaincy and group programs; they said the loss of in-jail contact has led to poorer post-release outcomes and asked the county to restore access.
A representative from Tierra Nueva told the Skagit County Board of Commissioners on Sept. 8 that chaplaincy and in-jail group programming have not resumed since COVID restrictions, and that gap has contributed to overdose deaths among people released from custody.
Lisa Bennett, who said Tierra Nueva has provided chaplaincy services at the Skagit County jail since 1994, said volunteers and chaplains can no longer regularly meet new detainees and run group sessions because of pandemic-era access restrictions. "Since COVID we have not been able to go back into the jail to do groups, to do Bible studies, to connect with people when they're incarcerated," Bennett said. She described follow-up efforts after release but said the most effective interventions occur while people are still incarcerated.
Bennett said some people the group could not reach were released and later overdosed. She said staff shortages cited early in the pandemic are no longer the issue and that proposals to restore access have been submitted but not acknowledged. "We have written proposals... he’s never even received it in multiple times to multiple different people," she said, referring to a colleague who submitted proposals.
Commissioners acknowledged the group's long service; one commissioner said the matter had been raised previously and suggested staff would follow up. No formal action to change jail access policy was recorded on the transcript.
