Breaking the cycle: New portal to help former prisoners stay clean
Up to 70 percent of former prisoners in the Czech Republic end up returning to jail, often because they lack access to housing, work, addiction treatment or family support after release. A new online platform, launching this autumn, aims to change that by connecting former inmates with organizations that can help them rebuild their lives.
Around 10,000 people are released from Czech prisons each year. Many of them have nowhere to go and the stigma of their past makes it difficult for them to find a job and a decent place to live. Jana, who served an 18-month sentence for property-related crimes, says that what helped her most at the outset was emotional support and acceptance.
“At the beginning, it was so important to find people who supported me rather than judged me, and who made me feel I was still a human being — that I deserved to be happy again and live a fulfilling life.”
Jana’s greatest challenge was overcoming drug addiction. While still serving her sentence, she entered a treatment program in Opava.
“I realized I couldn’t manage my drug problem alone. In fact, I was glad I was imprisoned. While there, I was already arranging where I would go after my release, and I secured a place in a follow-up treatment centre in Brno,” she says.
That helped her break the cycle. Today, she returns to prisons to help others fight addiction.
Addiction is one of the most common issues prisoners need help addressing, but there are many others, according to Jonáš Lučný of the Czech Prison Service.
“Everyone’s situation is different. Some struggle with addiction, debts, financial problems, or lack the work habits needed to succeed on the job market. Many also have fractured family and social ties, and have nowhere to go. The first weeks after release are often decisive. If these people fail to get support at least in the basic areas of everyday life, they will almost certainly return to criminal activity,” he says.
Support for former prisoners currently comes mainly from non-profit organizations. The Prison Service works with some released prisoners, but their reach is uneven across the country. Most support programs are concentrated in Prague and surrounding areas, while services remain limited in South Bohemia and South Moravia.
Zuzana Tinglová, executive director of the Association of Organizations Working in Prison Services, says the new platform aims to change that.
“The capacity of these services is not only highly uneven across the regions but insufficient overall. At the same time, one of the big problems is simply a lack of information. We would like the new platform to cover the whole country and be available to family members, professionals working with clients — such as social curators, probation officers, and prison staff — so they can provide effective support,” Tinglová says.
The website, called ProVýstup, will offer a nationwide directory of services covering employment assistance, housing, debt resolution, family counselling and addiction treatment. Users will be able to search for services by location, district and available capacity.
The platform is currently being tested in prisons in Břeclav, Drahonice and Příbram, with results expected by the end of the summer. It is expected to become available nationwide this autumn.
Find more on: www.provystup.cz
