Menu

jacqueline polverari

Forbes: Jacqueline Polverari: After Prison, Woman Dedicates Life To Helping Women Recover From Incarceration, by Walt Pavlo

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Jacqueline Polverari is a Team Member of our Ministry, Member of our weekly online White Collar/Economy Exiled Support Group, a past prisonist.org guest blogger, and a past Criminal Justice Insider guest. Jacquie’s organization, Evolution Reentry Services, helps returning women and their families rebuild their lives. Oct. 5th – 7th, she will be hosting a retreat in for returning women. Oct. 30th, Jacquie and I will be speaking at Western Connecticut State University. – Jeff

_____________________

Reprinted from Forbes.com, Sept. 21, 2019.

According to my friends over at The Sentencing Project, “Between 1980 and 2017, the number of incarcerated women increased by more than 750%, rising from a total of 26,378 in 1980 to 225,060 in 2017.”  More than 60% of women in state prison have a child under the age of 18.  While there are challenges that differ for women while they are incarcerated, there are also different challenges when they get home.  One of them was Jacqueline Polverari and now she’s seeking to make that transition home easier.

Polverari, MSW a Connecticut Social Worker has been working with women who have experienced incarceration, particularly white-collar crime for the past four years.  She spent seven months in the Danbury (Connecticut) Federal Prison for Women for charges related to a mortgage fraud case from 2015.  Her experience in prison and her transition back home led her to researching women who commit white-collar crime and correlations to underlying mental health issues.

After working with several different criminal justice organizations, she founded Evolution Reentry Services out of Branford, CT.  In an interview, I asked Polverari what her goals for Evolution were, “To help women returning from prison put their broken lives back together.”  Polverari said many of these women were once pillars of their communities, bread winners of the family, who are dealing with isolation, embarrassment and shame when they return home.  At the same time, they are trying to keep their families together.

The women she has seen over the past several years displayed very similar characteristics of “low self-esteem, lack of self-confidence, being the caretaker or “fixer” with the inability to say ‘no’.”  Realizing that there were few resources for women returning from prison, she started helping as many people as she could.

“People have little empathy or sympathy for this group of women,” Polverari said, “typically seeing them as privileged women who were greedy or taking advantage of others but in reality, that is rarely the case.  One can see that with the ‘Varsity Blues’ cases that involve Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin. Women are currently being incarcerated at a higher than ever before, yet there is little statistical information and resources dedicated to guiding these women to a productive life beyond prison.

Polverari decided that there needed to be more focus on these women in order to help change the stigma related to their crime and why they committed those crimes in the first place.   Jacqueline has been speaking all over the country creating some noise as to the lack of resources available for this group.  “These are women who are very educated, had been in positions of upper management and made some poor choices within the workplace,” Polverari said.  “In fact, I have found that their actions that led to criminal acts initiated as a result of trying to fix a problem, which created a new problem, and so on.”  Now, even though they served their time for the mistake, they are labeled a felon for life.

Of the 120+ federal prison camps, only 27 are for women, usually creating situations where they are far from home (financial burden of family travel and fewer visits).  In Danbury, Polverari said there were about 157 inmates but she rarely saw more than two guards at the prison.  “For the most part, women live a life of isolation in prison that carries over when they are home,” Polverari said.  Like many male white collar offenders who go to prison, they are allowed to self-surrender.  There were no locks or bars and most women have never even been handcuffed.  However, the real issues are when they come home where they have lost their husbands, homes, and respect from their communities.

One powerful therapy for these women, according to Polverari, is to talk with other women who have gone through it.  But there is a problem, conditions of supervised release post prison prohibit speaking with another felon whether that other person is on supervised release or not.  “It poses a problem because how can these women find someone who can relate to their situation?” Polverari said.  She’s trying to change this.

Polverari and her group at Evolution are hosting a mental health retreat where women who have been convicted of a non-violent crime can gather under the guidance of a social worker.   The retreat is available to all women regardless of ability to pay.  It is the weekend of October 4-6th for a day of bonding, communicating about employment opportunities, housing solutions, finances and gratitude.  It is a mental health retreat to help women understand that one poor choice does not define the rest of their lives, even with a felony that follows them their entire lives.

At a time when our society has focused on issues regarding mental health, it is good to see that there is help for this group of unique individuals who in the past have led a life of isolation.

 

 

Walter Pavlo

I established 500 Pearl Street as a strategic consulting firm for attorneys and their clients as an advisor on federal criminal cases. I write here on criminal justice matters, particularly related to white collar crime, and speak nationally on the topic. In 2007, I released the book “Stolen Without A Gun” with Neil Weinberg, former Executive Editor Forbes Magazine (now a Reporter for Bloomberg). Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn. Check out my website or some of my other work here.

Panel Discussion: Finding Hope and Purpose After Incarceration with Jeff Grant & Jacqueline Polverari, Western Connecticut State University, Weds. Oct. 30, 2019, 5:30 pm

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

WCSU panel to share perspectives on reentering society after incarceration

Oct. 30 forum to feature founders of services mentoring former inmates   

Link to Video: https://media.wcsu.edu/media/Finding+Hope+and+Purpose+after+Incarceration+-+10+30+19/1_gih3zwrf/70782351

DANBURY, CONN. — Rev. Jeff Grant and Jacqueline Polverari, whose own experiences in federal prison inspired them to found societal re-entry services for other former inmates, will participate in a panel discussion about “Finding Hope and Purpose  After Incarceration” at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 30, at Western Connecticut State University.

Admission will be free and the public is invited to attend the forum in the Campus Center Ballroom on the university’s Westside campus, 43 Lake Ave. Extension in Danbury. Dr. George Kain, chair of the WCSU Division of Justice and Law Administration, will moderate the discussion sponsored by the university’s Justice and Law Society.

Grant, a former practicing lawyer who served more than a year in federal prison for a white-collar crime committed after falling prey to opioid addiction, embarked on a new career as an ordained minister with completion of a Master of Divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary. With his wife Lynn Springer, he co-founded Progressive Prison Ministries of Greenwich in 2012, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing confidential pastoral support to individuals and families facing challenges ranging from inmate re-entry into society and substance use disorders to personal crisis management and mental health issues. He also has served as Executive Director of the Bridgeport-based criminal justice organization Family Reentry Inc., as a minister at churches in Connecticut and New Jersey, and as a member of municipal and nonprofit organization boards dealing with criminal justice and post-incarceration reentry issues.

Grant is the editor of the popular blog, prisonist.org, and co-host of the Criminal Justice Insider podcast airing from New Haven. His confidential weekly online “White Collar/Economy Exiled Support Group” has held more than 170 meetings and attracted more than 150 participants. “Sometimes referred to in the press as the ‘Minister to Hedge Funders,’” Grant’s prisonist.org biography said, “he regularly uses his experience and background to guide people faithfully forward in their lives, relationships, careers and business opportunities, and to help them from making the kinds of decisions that previously resulted in loss, suffering and shame.”

Polverari, a former title company owner who served seven months in the Danbury Federal Prison for Women during 2015 for conviction in a mortgage fraud case, has drawn from her own incarceration and reentry experiences as motivation to research women who commit white-collar crime and correlations to underlying trauma and mental health issues. After working with several criminal justice organizations, she founded Branford-based Evolution Reentry Services in 2018 with the goal of providing a comprehensive platform of integrated transition services for nonviolent women felons during and after their incarcerations. ERS has pursued collaborative partnerships with state and community service agencies to encourage networking and promote coordination of programs designed to support reintegration of former inmates into the community. Specific priorities include support in securing employment, housing, transportation, financial stability, proper nutrition and sound health.

In an interview with Forbes.com correspondent Walt Pavlo, Polverari said the organization’s objective is “to help women returning from prison put their broken lives back together.” She observed that the public has “little empathy or sympathy for this group of women, typically seeing them as privileged women who were greedy or taking advantage of others, but in reality that is rarely the case. Women are currently being incarcerated at a higher rate than ever before, yet there are few resources dedicated to guiding these women to a productive life beyond prison.”

Polverari, a graduate of Fordham University with a master’s degree in social work, has extensive mentoring and therapeutic experience and is currently pursuing a doctorate in social work with a concentration in criminal justice. She is a frequent speaker regionally and nationally on women’s incarceration and reentry topics. Earlier this month, ERS hosted the nation’s first retreat for women convicted of white-collar crimes.

For more information, contact the Office of University Relations at (203) 837-8486.

###WCSU###

Western Connecticut State University changes lives by providing all students with a high-quality education that fosters their growth as individuals, scholars, professionals and leaders in a global society. Our vision: To be widely recognized as a premier public university with outstanding teachers and scholars who prepare students to contribute to the world in a meaningful way.

 

Rev. Jeff Grant, J.D., M.Div., Co-Founder/Executive Director, Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc.,

Jeff is an ordained minister with over three decades of experience in crisis management, business, law, reentry, recovery (clean & sober 17+ years), and executive & religious leadership. He provides confidential pastoral and spiritual care and support to individuals, families and groups in the areas of personal crisis management, criminal justice/prisoner reentry, opioid and substance abuse, bipolar disorder/mental illness, and interfaith religion. Sometimes referred to in the press as “The Minister to Hedge Funders,” he regularly uses his experience and background to guide people faithfully forward in their lives, relationships, careers and business opportunities, and to help them from making the kinds of decisions that previously resulted in loss, suffering and shame.

As an ordained minister, conversations and communications between Jeff and those he serves fall under clergy privilege laws. This is one reason that attorneys often allow and encourage their clients to maintain relationships with Jeff while in active prosecution or litigation situations.

After an addiction to prescription opioids and serving almost fourteen months in a Federal prison for a white-collar crime he committed when he was a lawyer, Jeff started his own reentry – earning a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York, with a focus in Christian Social Ethics. After graduating from divinity school, Jeff was called to serve at an inner city church in Bridgeport, CT as Associate Minister and Director of Prison Ministries. He, and his wife and partner-in-ministry Lynn Springer, then co-founded Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc. (Greenwich, CT), the world’s first ministry supporting the white collar criminal justice/economy exiled comunity. Jeff also serves on the ministry team at St. Joseph Mission Church (Cliffside Park, NJ) and as Chaplain to the Woodbury Fire Department (Woodbury, CT).

From 2016 – 2019, Jeff served as the Executive Director of Family ReEntry, Inc. (Bridgeport, CT), a 100+ person criminal justice organization with offices and programs in eight Connecticut cities. Jeff is the first person in the United States formerly incarcerated for a white-collar crime to be appointed as Executive Director of a major criminal justice nonprofit. A former practicing attorney and general counsel to major real estate organizations and closely held companies, he studied law at and earned a Juris Doctorate from New York Law School.

Jeff has served on a number of criminal justice related Boards including: the Mayor’s Advisory Council on Reentry Affairs, Co-chair, (Bridgeport, CT) ; Family ReEntry, (Bridgeport & New Haven, CT); Community Partners in Action (formerly the Connecticut Prison Association, Hartford, CT); , and Healing Communities Network, (New York, NY). Jeff has also served on the Editorial Board of the book, The Justice Imperative: How Hyper-Incarceration has Hijacked the American Dream, (Southport, CT), and on the Advisory Boards of Creative Projects Group, (Los Angeles, CA) and Reentry Survivors, (Bridgeport, CT).

Among other recognitions, Jeff was twice selected as a Nantucket Project Scholar (2012, 2014). JustLeadershipUSA recognized Jeff as one of fifteen Inaugural National Leaders in Criminal Justice (2014). He was selected as a Keepers of the Commons Fellow (2017) and as a Keepers of the Commons Senior Fellow (2018). He has been the recipient of the Elizabeth Bush Award for Volunteerism (2011), received the Bridgeport Reentry Collaborative Advocate of the Year Award (2013, 2014, 2015) and received the Bridgeport Reentry Collaborative Professional of the Year (2016, 2017, 2018, 2019). Jeff has also been recognized by the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence (2017) and by the Connecticut NAACP (2017). He was selected as a 2019 Collegeville Institute Writing Fellow.

Highlighted speaking venues include Main Stage Presenter at The Nantucket Project (Nantucket, MA), the Greenwich Leadership Forum (Greenwich, CT), the Corrections Ministries and Chaplains Association (CMCA) Correctional Ministry Summit (Wheaton College, IL & Philadelphia, PA), Salons at Stowe – Harriet Beecher Stowe Center (Hartford, CT), Community Health Network of Connecticut Social Determinants of Health Summit (Wallingford, CT), The Mason Street Project (Greenwich, CT), Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York (NY, NY), Yale Divinity School (New Haven, CT) and many houses of worship throughout the Northeast.

Jeff and Lynn were the subjects of a twelve-page article in Greenwich Magazine (March 2018 issue). Jeff has also been the subject of or prominently mentioned in national and regional media including Vanity Fair (August 2019 issue), Forbes.com, Inc.com, The Huffington Post, Absolute Return/HedgeFund Intelligence, Business Insider, Institutional Investor, New York Magazine, Real Men Real Faith Magazine (cover story), Greenwich Magazine, Fairfield County Business Journal, Nonprofit Quarterly, Reentry Central, The Vision (the newspaper of the United Methodist Church NY Conference), Weston Magazine Group, Weston Forum, Hartford Courant, New Haven Register, New Haven Independent, Inner City News, Connecticut Post, Greenwich Sentinel, Greenwich Time, Greenwich Free Press, The Hour and many radio shows, televisions segments and podcasts including the Rich Roll Podcast (#440, May 2019).

Jeff is also the editor of the important and widely-read blog, prisonist.org, at which he authors, edits and curates content around national and international criminal justice advocacy/ministry themes, and is Co-host of the Criminal Justice Insider podcast airing live on the first and third Fridays from New Haven, CT. He also leads a weekly online confidential White Collar/Economy Exiled Support Group (the first in the country); with over 150 participants, it has held over 170 meetings.

 

Jacqueline Polverari, M.B.A., M.S.W., Founder/CEO, Evolution Reentry Services, Inc.

Jacqueline Polverari was a Social Worker for over 10 years and a partner in a large Title Company for over 15 years.  As an entrepreneur, Jacqueline had reached new limits of her career as an experienced professional with proven success in business and mentoring environments when a series of poor choices led her to a federal indictment and a sentence of almost a year in Danbury Federal Prison Camp for Women.

During her incarceration, Jacqueline dedicated all her time in helping other women who also found themselves in despair by making poor choices.  She helped to improve federal prison programs offered by teaching education classes, including accounting and GED Preparation to help with the reentry of women into the workforce after incarceration.  She successfully completed an intense program entitled GOGI, “Getting out by Going In” as well as completing Dave Ramsey’s money-management course “Financial Peace University”.  She found nurturing through a Bible Study Course studying the Women of the Bible along with her weekly participation in an Emmaus group which gave women the opportunity to share each other’s stories and explore their own spirituality and relationship with God.

After her release, Jacqueline entered a new phase of her life researching in depth about Mental Health, Crime and Criminal Justice while correlating it to reentry services.  This clearly grew into her passion after she had faced the many challenges of reentry.  It is clear to her that there is a lack of resources for reentry and there is a need for change.  She is working and advocating to be part of a change to come by dedicating herself to help fix this broken criminal justice system. 

Jacqueline is currently an integral part in helping women prepare for entry and reentry of the Federal Prison System both psychologically and spiritually through mental health services and education of the system.  She has founded Evolution Family Reentry Services and is currently building resources by establishing nurturing partnerships with professionals in the mental health fields as well as employers and career placement agencies to help women and their families who face career barriers as they re-enter into society. 

Jacqueline is a member of JustLeadershipUSA which is dedicated to cutting the U.S. correctional population in half by 2030.  She is also a member of The National Council for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women and girls with a mission to end incarceration of women and girls. Jacqueline is also currently working with The Council of State Governments Justice Center to bring Judicial Work training to Connecticut. 

She is an advocate for women’s incarceration issues by speaking at Women’s workshops and symposiums throughout the country.  She also is an advocate for FAMM, helping to spread the word to create a more fair and effective justice system that respects our American values of individual accountability and dignity while keeping our communities safe.

Jacqueline is working diligently to continue to work on herself as she has returned to school to obtain her Doctoral Degree in Social Work with a concentration in Criminal Justice.  She continues to speak at Women’s workshops and symposiums throughout the country and has been a featured guest on Criminal Justice Insider w/ Babz Rawls Ivy & Jeff Grant – The Voice of Connecticut Criminal Justice.  Most recently, Jacqueline was the keynote speaker at The Women in Mental Health Conference educating women in the mental health field covering system-level mental health strategies to maximize outcomes for women in the criminal justice system and ensure the sustainability of gender-responsive services.