Starting over: Women emerging from prison face formidable challenges to resuming their lives
On a cold and dreary October day, Heather C. Jarvis packed everything she had into a pink duffle and a plastic trash bag and waited for the rest of her life to begin.
Sitting in the lobby of the Ohio Reformatory for Women in Marysville, Ohio, she smiled anxiously as her longtime therapist told her she'd be fine, that she was ready for the outside world. She had checked all the boxes during her nearly 10 years behind bars — substance abuse treatment, professional development, even earning an associate's degree — and had people intent on helping her.
“Sometimes, I'm just so scared that it's not enough,” Jarvis, her voice breaking, told The Associated Press before her release.
Jarvis, 32, is part of the fastest-growing prison population in the country, one of as of this year. Their numbers grew by more than 500% between 1980 and 2021, more than twice the growth rate for men, according to a report by The Sentencing Project, a research and advocacy organization for incarcerated people.
