Meet Returning Citizen Jessica Jacobs
By Margaret Irwin
Growing up in a troubled home, Jessica Jacobs had to deal with a lot of problems; and as she puts it, the problems get passed down from one generation to the next. Jessica appreciates her mother, who did the best she could to take care of the family, mostly as a single mom. Nevertheless, Jessica had her first child at 14. She was fostered by a friend of the family when her mom wasn’t able to take care of her. Jessica started working full time and had to drop out of school very early. By the age of 16 she was emancipated and living in her own apartment.
She was locked up for the first time for a DUI when she was 17. For Jessica, the probation system in Wisconsin seemed to be set up to keep her incarcerated. She was caught up in a cycle, she says; “every dumb decision” landed her back in jail. She didn’t realize it at the time, but she was suffering from PTSD and used alcohol and drugs to self-medicate. Continued substance abuse eventually led her to prison in her 20’s. What she needed was treatment, not incarceration. She overdosed twice in an attempt to end her suffering. The response of the carceral system, when this young woman was near death, was to charge her for having drugs in her system. She readily admitted she had taken the drugs, but no drugs were found in her possession. Her mental health was further impaired due to assaults by prison officers.
In prison Jessica found the programming was of mixed value. Some of it was okay, but other programs she labels “treacherous.” “They want you to become a robot,” she says. In any case, these programs didn’t help her break free from addiction, which she so badly wanted and needed. She found an additional barrier to healing in transitional housing arrangements that were often not healthy and safe.
Jessica’s desperate search for help eventually led her to discover she was suffering from PTSD. She hadn’t understood that she was having a mental health crisis when her life would spiral out of control. She had to learn what PTSD does to you; she had to learn to recognize what was happening and to use techniques to deal with the crisis.
As she healed, Jessica became determined to make changes for people inside prison, as well as when they are released. She began her educational journey with the Odyssey program. From there she graduated from Madison College, and now she is a student at the UW. She plans to declare a double major in social welfare and anthropology. Every step of the way, she has been encouraged by mentors to take the next step.
Another form of learning was Jessica’s introduction to advocacy groups – first FREE, and then MOSES and WISDOM. She attended trainings; she learned about the JSRI and Conditions of Confinement task forces; she met supportive people like Peggy West-Schroder, James Morgan, and Rachel Kincade. Last year Peggy told her to apply for the position of organizer of FREE Madison, and she got the job!
FREE works to support both women in prison and those formerly incarcerated. Jessica helps FREE work toward their goals, which include a prison doula program, Health Care for All, Unchained Wisconsin (legislation to prohibit shackling of pregnant women in prison), Housing Not Handcuffs (dignified housing as a human right), and Circles of Support for women involved in the carceral system. Jessica currently leads a Circle of Support in the Dane County juvenile detention center. She feels called to work with girls who are in trouble because she has been there herself. She finds joy in the way the girls connect with her immediately when she tells her story.
In her journey of transformation from troubled young person to free, strong, and mature contributing citizen, Jessica has “gone with the flow,” letting her higher power guide her. Her career goal is to teach, either in an alternative high school or in prison. She would love to work in Odyssey Beyond Bars. Outside of work, her greatest source of joy is her sons, as she watches them become successful young men.
Last December Jessica was one of the honorees at the MOSES Transformation Celebration. Her message to MOSES is one of thanks for our support, work, and commitment. “You have such empathy and compassion to do this work,” she says, “even though you haven’t directly experienced these things.”