Each year, across the U.S., long-term incarceration will separate over 130,000 children from their mothers, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. In addition to this, according to the Prison Policy Initiative, 58% of all women in U.S. prisons are mothers, as are 80% of women in jails. In this blog, we highlight the impact of the Apart documentary and the life-changing work being done through LMM’s Chopping for Change (C4C) program.
The Impact of Apart
In their ‘Apart Impact Report’, PBS Independent Lens and Represent Justice highlighted findings from audiences that viewed the Apart documentary. This film follows Tomika Daniel, Amanda Freed and Lydia Loth, three mothers in LMM’s C4C program gaining workforce skills and utilizing trauma-informed counseling, working to return to their children following the completion of their prison sentences.
With long-term incarceration separating hundreds of thousands of mothers from their children each year, it’s vital that these disparities are brought to light through films like Apart. Here are six key findings from the ‘Apart Impact Report’:
- 1.5 million+ viewers watched Apart on PBS Independent Lens platforms
- 75% of surveyed viewers were educated on the effects of incarceration on families
- 57% of surveyed viewers were educated on rising incarceration rates among women
- 15 film screenings took place inside of correction facilities
- 42 paid speaking appearances scheduled for the film leads, Tomika, Lydia, Amanda and Malika Kidd
- $30,000 in honoraria paid directly to the film leads as part of their speaking engagements
The Impact of Chopping for Change
According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, Ohio has one of the highest populations of women in prison in the country. In 2020, the rate for those who returned to prison within three years of release because of a new crime was 20.8%, however, less than 3% of students recidivate after completing their degree or obtaining hospitality/culinary certificates and utilizing trauma-informed counseling services through LMM’s C4C program.
We know that returning citizens are a vital, untapped part of the workforce, and C4C and the Apart documentary prove that providing individuals with the services they need to eliminate barriers to housing and hiring while they are still incarcerated has profoundly positive impacts on their success post-incarceration. Here are some key statistics showcasing the impact of LMM’s Chopping for Change program:
- Less than 3% recidivism rate amongst C4C graduates
- 87 total degrees/certificates achieved through LMM’s Culinary Training Program (CTP) in 2022
- 40 C4C/CTP graduates lined up with jobs in 2022
- 36 students utilized trauma-informed counseling through the C4C program in 2022
- 8 new students from the C4C expansion to Grafton Reintegration Center for men
