They served their time, so why can’t they leave prison behind?

Editor’s note: This story is part of “Hard Times,” a special report by The Republican on the challenge of healing from civic trauma.

For many felons, prison ends, but the damage doesn’t. They struggle with post-incarceration syndrome — a PTSD-like condition that makes rebuilding their lives an uphill battle.

Without the right support, many battle anxiety, depression and the weight of their past. That struggle often leads to joblessness, addiction and ending up back in prison.

Some lawmakers and civil rights groups are pushing for better research and more support. In 2023, U.S. Reps. Ayanna Pressley and Grace Napolitano urged the National Institute of Mental Health to study post-incarceration syndrome and its consequences, highlighting how carceral environments lead to lasting mental health damage.

The NAACP says nearly 2.3 million people are locked up in the U.S., yet most don’t get treatment for PTSD.

Without help, people bring that trauma home to their families and neighborhoods. As such, the NAACP has called for trauma-informed care for former prisoners.

A personal struggle

Holyoke City Councilor Israel Rivera has a recurring dream that he’s back in prison.

“I still wake up in hot sweats, stressed out, wanting to cry, because I got a family now,” Rivera said in a recent interview at the Holyoke office where he works as a regional manager for Families First, a nonprofit that supports parents throughout Massachusetts.

In the early 2000s, law enforcement officers raided a home Rivera was in. Rivera was arrested and served five years on drug-related charges. He was not far from adolescence, having just turned 21.

Since getting out, he’s struggled to leave prison behind. As an example, he told the story of a dinner party where he introduced himself as an “ex-felon.”

A woman asked, “Why do you do that?”

He hadn’t thought about it. In part, he wants to humanize other felons. He wants to let people know that they are people like him. He uses his presence to challenge prejudices.

“But then I was like, damn, it’s been over 10 years since I came out of jail. Why am I still saying that?” Rivera said.

He’s not sure why, but he knows prison is still inside him. “It is still in my head,” he said. “I’m keeping myself in a kind of box. That’s PTSD.”

In prison, Rivera dreamed of home. But when he woke up, the bars were still there.

Now that he’s home, his dreams have reversed. “Now I dream I’m still in prison,” he said.

Healing before the harm

Rivera’s story is far from unique. A lot of people in prison were struggling kids first — kids who never got the help they needed.

“If we don’t reach young people early and help them heal, they’ll carry that trauma into adulthood — filling our prisons instead of reaching their potential,” said Leon Smith, executive director of Citizens for Juvenile Justice.

For 30 years, the Boston nonprofit has worked to reform the juvenile justice system in Massachusetts, advocating for policies that address the root causes of criminal behavior.

Smith said Massachusetts has made strides in this area. A recent MassINC and Boston Indicators report found that since Massachusetts passed criminal justice reform legislation in 2018, incarceration rates have dropped nearly 50%.

The sharpest reductions have come in the last five years, driven by investments in prevention, treatment and reentry support in the Commonwealth.

“Which largely avoided the major spikes in crime experienced in other cities and states during the pandemic,” the report stated.

While these improvements are promising, Smith warns that the decline in incarceration has slowed. Between 2022 and 2023, Massachusetts’ prison population dropped by only 166 people, according to the Massachusetts Department of Corrections.

The real fix, Smith said, is making sure every young person has access to mental health care.

“I have professional friends who are parents and are having a difficult time getting mental health support for their kids,” he said. “Now consider what it’s like when you are at the intersection of race and poverty in our commonwealth. Those parents are having an even more difficult time.”

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