A Chat with Old Friends
We are grateful to the many people who, since our founding in 1999, have worked so hard to help Partnership for Safety and Justice grow into an effective statewide organization dedicated to making Oregon’s approach to public safety more just. Due to space constraints, for this story we had to choose from among the scores of people that have helped build PSJ. Justice Matters editor Denise Welch talked with four people who were, and continue to be, important in the work of our partnership. Although the interviews were conducted individually, we were struck by the common themes the responses elicited; so, we’ve taken a little creative license and compiled the responses into a roundtable format, which make it appear as a discussion.
Brigette Sarabi founded Western Prison Project in 1999 and worked tirelessly until 2006, building our organization from the ground up to the Partnership for Safety and Justice of today. Brigette is retired and living near Mt. Hood.
Terrie Quinteros was PSJ’s Crime Survivors for Community Safety Program Director (now the Crime Survivors Program) from 2006-2008. She is currently the Executive Director of the Oregon Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence.
Paul Solomon is the Asst. Executive Director and Director of Development of Sponsors, Inc., an organization which has been providing re-entry services to formerly incarcerated individuals in Lane County for more than 30 years. Paul has been a PSJ member since 2004, a board member since 2006, and became Chair of PSJ’s Board of Directors in 2008.
Louise Bauschard is the Coordinator of Volunteer/Intern Services for Washington County’s Center for Victims’ Services and Department of Community Corrections. She has been an active PSJ member since 2000. In her role as a licensed clinical social worker, Louise manages a large group of graduate and post graduate mental health therapists, who provide free counseling and advocacy in the County Court Building.
Justice Matters (JM): Brigette, could you share a little about our founding – the beginning of what is now PSJ?
Brigette: In the late 1990’s my daughter was incarcerated. That experience really opened my eyes about the criminal justice system, particularly the many human rights violations that occurred at all stages of the process. I wanted to try and do something and I decided to found Western Prison Project (now Partnership for Safety and Justice). I started working out of the basement of my home. Kathleen Pequeño was the first volunteer and the second employee. Kathleen was so important to the success of WPP early on; her contributions to the organization were huge. [Kathleen was a long-time WPP/PSJ staff member and editor of Justice Matters.]
JM: How did the rest of you come to be involved with WPP/PSJ?
Terrie: It was through Kathleen that I first learned about the organization.I went to my first meeting, at Brigette’s house, with Kathleen, a dear friend of mine, when she was a volunteer. I think I only went to the one meeting and I didn’t stay actively involved then, but I had many conversations with Kathleen about it. She kept me up to date on the things that were happening. When the merger with SAFES happened (see “Making the Road by Walking It”), I was hired to be the director of the crime survivors program.
Paul: I got involved through Kathleen, whom I knew because she and my wife went to high school together in New York. Kathleen was in Eugene doing a presentation for Western Prison Project and I came to check it out. So it was an opportunity for me to find out more about the work.
Louise: I met Brigette at a meeting and we seemed to have a meeting of the minds, so I remained interested in what she and the organization were doing and I’ve been involved ever since. It’s probably been a decade or more. I’ve worked for years with battered women who were in prison and so there was a real niche that I didn’t see being represented in the ways that prison reform was being considered, because it was not considered part of the work, to get these women out. They were known as the violent offenders; not an easy term for people who were just trying to save their own lives.
JM: Each of you has stayed involved with PSJ over the years; can you tell our readers how and why?
Terrie: Even though I’m no longer on staff at PSJ, I stay connected because I am still focused on improving services for survivors and also have a focus on the prevention of violence. It’s a huge part of my life. The two organizations, PSJ and the Oregon Coalition, have a really good working relationship and I feel like I can rely on PSJ for assistance and I hope that PSJ feels the same way about the Coalition. It’s easy for me to stay involved.
Louise: You always connect with people that you hope are going to continue the fight and it seems as though that was part and parcel of being connected to PSJ. You have good reliable conferences and publications and things I can rely on to educate my big group of students. A lot of them come in just as green as the person on the street, even though they are criminal justice majors.
Paul: I became a member in 2004. Once I started getting involved, I knew that I wanted to serve on PSJ’s Board because for me the work was so closely aligned with my beliefs about what we should be doing to create a more just, humane, and fiscally responsible system—it just felt like a natural fit. I have long believed that our criminal justice system often does more to foster criminality than it does to correct it. And PSJ really recognizes that and advocates for sensible change.
Brigette: I continue to support PSJ for several reasons. There’s still a really huge need to promote criminal justice reform in this country and PSJ is one of the most accomplished and most dedicated organizations working on these issues. I guess it goes without saying that when you or someone close to you has been affected by the criminal justice system, you never forget it. And it’s important to me to stay connected because I remember what it felt like for my family to feel pretty much alone in dealing with these issues and the often dehumanizing system.
JM: What key changes do you see in the way the organization has grown over time and what are your thoughts about those changes?
Brigette: One of the things that has happened over the last few years is that PSJ has really worked to involve people all around the state and not just in Portland. And I think that’s one of the biggest and most positive changes. I think that’s just fabulous. Historically speaking, the merger of SAFES with what was then Western Prison Project in 2004, creating the Crime Survivors program, was really unique for a criminal justice organization. I think that is really powerful. A lot of people, including myself, have been directly affected both as victims of crime and by incarceration. So it makes sense bringing these issues together. I think the fact that PSJ did this and continues to advocate on the behalf of survivors and works to bring these constituencies together, is really a good thing.
Louise: Bringing in Kerry (Naughton, Crime Survivors program director) and the other people who previously worked on the crime survivor program, like Arwen Bird. Arwen and I worked together for a long time and I’m really proud of what she’s accomplished by uniting survivors with people convicted of crime. We’ve tried to do that with our program in Washington County, so it’s been helpful. We’re all growing in ways that really benefit one another, so that’s good. Narrowing your work down to the state level, I think, was a real good strategy. It didn’t mean you minimized anything, it meant you dug deeper. The work has only grown and become more inspiring.
Terrie: The merger with SAFES and the combining of crime survivors into the work—that was a big change. I think that people have a much better understanding now of how survivors of crime fit into criminal justice reform and why it’s important for those two groups to be working together. A key thing that happened for the organization at that time was bringing Arwen Bird on. Arwen had a really good reputation in Salem. People really liked her and she had messaging that was hard for anyone to argue with. She was a really calm and loving presence and I think that people really gravitated to that. So for me to go down the hall with Arwen and for her to introduce me to people, I think that was incredibly helpful.
Brigette: I was also really excited to see the organization launch a Youth Justice campaign and particularly to take on one of the hardest issues—mandatory minimums and Measure 11. I think it’s a huge issue, so I’m glad the organization took this on. And finally, PSJ’s really grown in its advocacy work with state and local government and elected officials. I can remember in the early days elected officials pretty much ignored us, if they weren’t laughing at us or running behind doors and shutting them. I can remember being at the Capitol and having a prominent Senator see us and run behind a door and shut it because she didn’t want to talk to us. And that’s certainly not the case any longer. PSJ is really a formidable advocate for criminal justice reform and I think elected officials and the media listen in ways I couldn’t have dreamed of in the beginning.
Paul: I’m impressed at how PSJ has done such an admirable job, through strategic planning, of recognizing where its limitations are, from being originally a regional organization to refocusing its work in Oregon; the rebranding of the organization to better illustrate the work that it does. I think that the other thing that has struck me about PSJ is how much more nimble it is these days and its ability to deal with the next Kevin Mannix ballot measure that pops up and be really responsive to the challenges that we face on a regular basis, particularly in the legislative arena.
And kudos really must be given to Brigette, because she really paved the way for that to be able to happen, even though legislators ran from her! Before that, it was like she had a mountain in front of her. But she built a road for the rest of us to follow. We may have improved the road, but she was the one who built it and made it possible for us to even make some improvements. I think that her work was really key.
At the same time, I think bringing in David (Rogers, Executive Director) was an excellent move. David is incredibly smart and politically savvy in many, many ways and I think having him in Salem added a balance to the team that was very strategic. One of the things we’re able to take pride in about our work at the Capitol is that we’ve been reasonable, we offer reasonable changes, we take everyone into consideration, we consider public safety, people who are convicted of crimes, and we are constantly advocating for better services for survivors. The piece that I really appreciated was how thoughtful and measured the organization was in its ability to make those changes.
JM: What is one of the things that PSJ has done or is doing that you’re the most happy about?
Terrie: I’m the most happy that the crime survivor program is still there. When I was in the position and I would try to find other models around the country, to try and not reinvent the wheel and not create more work for us, there were none. There were none. We were the only organization in the country that I could find that was doing the work that we were doing. PSJ is unique in that respect.
Louise: The membership gatherings and events are inspiring. I try to inspire my students and I think it’s important others are doing it, too.
Brigette: I’m really happy that PSJ’s Prison Program continues to support and advocate for prisoners. That’s hard critical work and it means a lot to me. The organization is really fortunate to have Caylor (Roling) still there. I remember when she first started volunteering and the fact that she’s there, and she’s leading the Prison Program, is great.
Paul: One of the things I am happy about is how we’ve become an important voice in statewide policy discussions. I think that not only are we at the table now, but our voice is being heard when criminal justice policy issues are being addressed by the media. More and more often PSJ is quoted and seen as a reliable source of information to kind of balance out the tough-on-crime advocates.
Another thing I’m very happy about is PSJ’s recent campaigns to Think Outside the Box. Our ability to recognize the barriers to re-entry and do something about them; in particular, our successful campaigns in Multnomah County and Eugene to get local government to remove the question, “Have you ever been convicted of a felony?” from the job applications are, in my mind, very big victories.
I also think that the organization’s been incredibly fortunate to have brought together such a diverse group of highly qualified people to work for PSJ. It’s not just the program directors; it’s everyone who works for the organization. You guys do so much. It’s so awesome in so many ways that I think it’s a perfect example of the diversity of the staff and their ability to multitask.
JM: One last question – what one piece of advice would you offer PSJ as we move forward?
Brigette: Well, nothing that you all don’t already know. The work can feel really urgent and I think there’s good reason, but it’s worth remembering that it’s long term work and it’s important to take a break occasionally to get perspective and recharge your energy.
Terrie: One piece of advice I would offer would be to always recognize the importance of including survivors in the work that you all are doing in a thoughtful and respectful manner. Survivors are so often just used as tools, like when a piece of legislation needs to be passed or when a DA is looking for a conviction or even when a criminal defense attorney is looking for something. We are just so often thought of as “How can we use them and their experience to further our goals at this particular moment.”
Louise: The only advice I have is to keep on keeping on. We don’t want to lose any of you.
Paul: Oh, I don’t know about advice. I would rather offer a message of hope. I think that PSJ has consistently proven to me that ours is not a hopeless cause and that despite the enormity of our task, we can and do make a difference. I guess I would say keep up the good work! To continue to thank, honor, and acknowledge the remarkably dedicated members, volunteers, staff and our board – all of whom continue to inspire me.
