At the recent Academy of Architecture for Justice Conference, I had the opportunity to facilitate discussion on equity in the justice system. These discussions focused on knowledge communities in education, social services, nonprofit organization and justice agencies couples with resources, and evidence-based support systems needed to create a healthy society.
The Challenges: We know that healthy family relationships have a positive impact on the incarcerated, their children, and their loved ones. Strong relationships can improve the cause-and-effect cycle of recidivism and reduce the social, economic, educational, and health consequences to those within the secure treatment environment. These relationships, however, often face barriers by the very facilities built to house them. For instance, programs that encourage incarcerated mothers to record themselves reading storybooks to their children often must resort to a noisy corridor due to lack of dedicated private space. Other facilities may lack accessible and welcoming visitation rooms to connect families. Organizations who dedicate time to engaging at-risk youth lack flexible and comfortable spaces to bring education to their communities. These are the sorts of challenges that community partners face in their work and yet, they are often not at the table when it comes time to plan facilities.
The Opportunities: Working together with our government agency clients, we’re bringing more stakeholder voices to the table, working with our clients to find creative ways to integrate community partners into the big picture of justice facility designs. When we couple our design knowledge and the agency needs with the offerings of community partners, we all help to restore individuals back to their families and communities. Together we’re preparing spaces for a more equitable, healing, and transformative environment for individuals and the communities where they live. We design this way because we always remember that the incarcerated are individuals with children, partners, and dreams of once again making a positive impact on society.
The opportunities abound that can make a difference in how we deliver services and resources that positively impact individuals and communities. We simply need to advocate for equity for all stakeholders in justice design.
Contributed by: Joanna Wozniak, AIA | DLR Group, Senior Associate
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