Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Episode 34: Judy Redman Works with the Incarcerated to Become Counselors
179 Plays3 hours ago
Judy is a deeply respected leader in the field of addiction treatment and education. She has dedicated her life to the betterment of treatment and the advancement of recovery services, working tirelessly to improve systems and support those on the path to healing.
She has been a passionate educator at InterCoast Colleges since 2004, where she’s mentored and instructed hundreds of students — many of whom have gone on to become leaders in their own right. With more than two decades of experience working with SUD treatment facilities, Judy brings deep insight into what it takes to create meaningful, lasting change in individuals and communities alike.
Judy also brings her commitment to underserved communities through her work with the Offender Mentor Certification Program (OMCP) in California’s prison system, empowering incarcerated individuals to become certified counselors and agents of change. Her passion, leadership, and lifelong dedication make her a true force in the field.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to 'Destination Change' Podcast
00:00:12
Speaker
Welcome to Destination Change, a podcast where we talk recovery, treatment, and more. I'm your host, Angie Fiedler-Sutton, with the National Behavioral Health Association providers, and I use she, her
Guest Introduction: Judy Redmond
00:00:22
Speaker
pronouns.
00:00:22
Speaker
My guest today is Judy Redmond. Judy is a deeply respected leader in the field of addiction treatment and education. She has dedicated her life to the betterment of treatment and the advancement of recovery services, working tirelessly to improve systems and support those on the path to healing.
00:00:37
Speaker
She has been a passionate educator at Intercoast Colleges since 2004, where she's mentored and instructed hundreds of students, many of whom have gone on to become leaders in their own right. With more than two decades of experience working with SUD treatment facilities, Judy brings deep insight into what it takes to create meaningful, lastful change in individuals and communities alike.
00:00:56
Speaker
Judy also brings her commitment to underserved communities through her work with the Offender Mentor Certification Program, OMCP, in California's prison system, empowering incarcerated individuals to become certified counselors and agents of change.
00:01:09
Speaker
Her passion, leadership, and lifelong dedication make her a true force in the field.
Judy's Journey into Addiction Treatment
00:01:13
Speaker
Thank you for joining us today, Well, thank you, Ron. I'm i'm so honored to be here, Auntie. Now, for long time listeners, my first question is always the same. i always like to hear origin stories.
00:01:23
Speaker
Kind of what made you decide to go into this field versus all the other job opportunities that are out there? Yeah, well, I think that this field chose me. I'm in recovery. I've been in recovery for 27 years.
00:01:37
Speaker
I lost, broken, all that comes with a ah person that has decimated life through drug addiction and alcohol addiction.
00:01:48
Speaker
I don't want to spill the ah the whole story, but I too was incarcerated. And then through my incarceration, i was able to sober up and find that I can live life live life without drugs and alcohol.
Barriers to Recovery
00:02:05
Speaker
And from there, it was just a ah path of searching and finding the right people to guide me. And that's why I'm so dedicated to education and guidance because I never did it alone. I always had support through this community. yeah I'm talking about the recovering community, the educational community, the treatment community. so I've worked tirelessly to be a resource for those that are challenged with sobriety, challenged with recovery, because it's not an easy path.
00:02:44
Speaker
But once you're on that path and you're walking with persons who have forged it before you, it's doable. And the outcome is is, I wouldn't change a thing about my life today, Angie.
00:02:59
Speaker
Well, that's powerful story. One of the things I like to ask people who are in who are in recovery themselves, ah because the answer is different for everybody, what does it mean to you to to go through treatment or recovery?
00:03:12
Speaker
Right. like Well, what I learned in recovery, the biggest gift I've been given in recovery is that I have self-efficacy today.
00:03:23
Speaker
i love myself today. And, you know, I never, I i never dreamt that that was possible. And I don't mean that in a selfish or self-centered way. I just mean that life is a gift.
00:03:37
Speaker
And the yeah know the the gift of being able to appreciate. right And that's what it means to me today is is that I can appreciate life and I can appreciate people and I can appreciate people's differences.
The Non-linear Path of Recovery
00:03:51
Speaker
And i you know I can be a support to all walks of life and all different yeah attitudes. yeah We don't come in with the best attitude and that's okay, right?
00:04:04
Speaker
As long as we are on a ah platform of people that can guide us and help us. Because I needed help. No, I was a very negative, insecure, shameless person But today, through learning and education and and people that supported me along the path, great mentors, Pete Nielsen from CCAT.
00:04:30
Speaker
I've known him for 25 years and we've kind of grown up together. right so Well, ah for those who are long-term listeners, a reminder that we did interview Pete for episode two.
00:04:42
Speaker
So if you haven't heard that, please be sure to go back and listen to his. One of the other things we like to talk about, the reason this is called destination change is because we think about recovery as a journey, not a destination, that you go all over the places, that it's not a straight line, that you can sometimes get just you know distracted, I guess is the best word to use.
00:05:01
Speaker
And there are a lot of barriers in order to move forward. With you working with incarcerated individuals, you obviously have have that barrier that you see. But, you know, talk a little bit about kind of what other barriers you see and also a little bit about ah why. water you know and Yeah, we we can spend all day long on the barriers. yeah And the biggest barrier that I find with individuals is themselves. And even you people that come to school to be drug and alcohol counselors, oftentimes,
00:05:29
Speaker
They haven't done the personal work yet. And the the stumble in the fall comes from, you know, this is an inside job. you know And it's I say it's an inside job with a lot of support and people and guidance along the way.
00:05:45
Speaker
But you have to do the work and and to find out, you know, what happened? You know, what what made you ah think the way that you think? Right.
00:05:56
Speaker
And ah you know so many of us come from adverse childhood experiences and the importance of knowing that where we come from so that we can build a path to prosperity and and
The Phenomenon of Change
00:06:10
Speaker
enlightenment. and acceptance and appreciation and and all of those spiritual principles that nobody showed us.
00:06:18
Speaker
We were taught to survive and we're great survivors, but we weren't taught to hear that inner voice that's within us and to listen to that inner voice.
00:06:29
Speaker
And you know the heart song that we get when we're in a community of people that are speaking that language, the phenomena of change. right And I love the andant that you're using in change as the because it is ah it change is a phenomenon.
00:06:46
Speaker
And yeah i get emotional you know when we're talking about incarcerated individuals or neno students that come to intercourse colleges on that path of change. And I'm still changing. 27 years later, i look at myself six months ago and say, oh, well, bless her heart. You know, look look at, she was still learning, still. So in early recovery, that being amongst people that understand you and your neurotransmitters and the way that they're working in early recovery and can accept and appreciate and help you along the way without judgment, right?
00:07:27
Speaker
And it's not that I'm better than, I'm more experienced than. in this path of recovery. I just made all those early recovery mistakes in that black and white thinking, and this is the way that it should be, instead of being blessed with knowing this is the way that it is.
00:07:48
Speaker
What's my part in it? How am I going to make it better? Let's talk a little bit more about your work with incarcerated people. This is going to sound like a stupid question. I by no means believe this myself, but there is a segment of the population that, you know, they did their crime. Why should we help them?
00:08:03
Speaker
So what is your kind of your standard response when you hear that from people? Why should we help incarcerated people? Yeah, well, who better to help incarcerated people than incarcerated people? yeah And I have the blessing that I get to go in and and speak with these LWOPs. They're lifers.
00:08:21
Speaker
And so to be able to help the prison system, we're facing crisis when it comes to substance use disorders and in the prison and systems.
00:08:34
Speaker
So who better, who are they going to listen to more? A counselor that walks in or an inmate that's in recovery themselves and able to show them that recovery is possible behind the wall, right?
Offender Mentor Certification Program
00:08:51
Speaker
That not only is recovery possible, the purpose of life is possible. And they ah you know to find joy, id As a mentor inside the prison prison system, yeah despite all the deprivation that they face, you know that they can find joy and blessings and you know appreciation.
00:09:16
Speaker
Right. Who better? know, so if, you know, if I get to to be a part, witness that, you bet. Anytime they ask me, I'm in there. You know, so.
00:09:28
Speaker
yeah Well, along this line, the offender mentor certification program, how long has that been going Right. So there is a movie out. It's called The First 50, and it started in Solano. And I'm not sure that the how long it's been going, but it has grown from the Solano prison to seven different prisons throughout the state that are that is now options recovery. is the They just received the new contract for it. So it's a contracted contract.
00:10:00
Speaker
um Nobody cares about that, but it's contracted through options. It's not always been contracted through options. I think Pete Nielsen for a while at CCAP, it was CADAC back then, was doing the offender mentor program. So I'm not sure, again I can't tell you the history of it all, but I know that because it works because they go in and and they ah mentor the ISIT program, which is the the program where people do the recovery process behind the walls, the early recovery and learn about the parallel process. And, you know, so who better than the LWAPs that are there?
00:10:45
Speaker
Is it any different from like a non-incarcerated style program? I mean, what are the differences? Yeah, yeah. ah Well, it is different in that the instructors have to go in to the classrooms that are set up.
00:11:05
Speaker
There's nothing online. Everything is face-to-face. The instructors go in and teach. They go through the same process as far as certification goes you know and and testing goes. They have to be tested and decertified just like somebody on the outside.
00:11:23
Speaker
But the educational piece of it is is that instructors have to go to them and can be cleared and Is it like a group of people or is it on a one-to-one basis or does it vary?
00:11:35
Speaker
Oh, no, they have classrooms. but they have yeah So there can be you know that somewhere between 20 and 36 inmates inside a cohort. Each one is called the cohort.
Education and Adaptation at Intercoast Colleges
00:11:47
Speaker
And so each prison through the CDCR system, each prison opened up, like, i think LAC is on its third cohort, right?
00:11:58
Speaker
Solano is on, like, its 16th, 17th cohort. Yeah, I had the blessing to go in and speak with the women. And I think it was the seventh cohort for the women's prison, right? Where they're going to be certified drug and alcohol counselors inside the prisons.
00:12:16
Speaker
You mentioned intercoast and that's education as well. So let's kind of switch over to that. my in approach Our audience is wide and varied from everybody who has been in the industry as long as you have to people who are just starting out. So kind of give me the elevator pitch as to the purpose of intercoast college. Yeah, well, intercourse is not just alcohol and drug counseling. It is also for the trades, HVAC, the different trades, electrical. right But as far as the alcohol and drug counseling training that you receive at intercourse colleges, and the reason why that I've been there for over 20 years is is that
00:12:56
Speaker
We support our students with an understanding of the challenges that our students are facing to go to college. Many of our students did not know that they had this opportunity.
00:13:11
Speaker
And so when they come to Intercoast, and this is a true story, we don't just give them the books and the instruction. We provide for them the support. but Each student has a ah mentor that they're assigned to, career services that they're assigned to.
00:13:29
Speaker
There's individuals to walk the student from the first day of class, besides the instructors, all the way through to their internships to... and CCAP is big part of Intercoast Colleges.
00:13:43
Speaker
We'd been working with KDAC back then since we took over the Alcohol and Drug Counseling program from CPTC, California Paramedical and Technical College.
00:13:59
Speaker
We ah inchris took over that, I'll call it drug counseling program. So we've had 20 years of perfecting and changing and continuing to make change, you know, to make sure that our students are ready to go out and to work in this profession. Like I said to you in the beginning, you know, the importance, it's not just the book knowledge that they get to learn. It's the internal knowledge that they get to learn, you know, with people that really care about them. right
00:14:35
Speaker
Now, you typically teach the same kind of courses or do you vary it? Well, I'm the director of the Alcohol and Drug Studies program. So we now have a bachelor's program.
00:14:47
Speaker
I was a big part of the committee that developed the bachelor's program. I was a big part of the committee that developed the associate's program.
00:14:58
Speaker
And I was a big part of the the committee that started the certificate program. And as you know, Angie, the program that we have today doesn't look anything like the program of 10 years ago. The blessing about my relationships in the community, I am the past president of Haiti, but my relationships in the community is just that I have firsthand knowledge of what's happening and the changes that are coming, not just the changes that are here, you know, but the upcoming changes. And we're able to incorporate that into the curricula before it happens.
Shift in Addiction Treatment Approaches
00:15:40
Speaker
Well, you just led me right into my next question. Whenever I talk to someone who's been in the industry for a while, I always like to ask kind of what major changes have you seen? are Have they been positive, negative, both?
00:15:54
Speaker
Well, one of the things that we do at Intercoast College is test prep for the ICNRC exam, right? And I always tell the students at the test prep, I i don't do the test prep, but Angela does it, but I always tell the students at the test prep that it's old school meets new school, right?
00:16:14
Speaker
10 years ago, we were abstinence-based. We were 12-step-based. If you looked at the industry 10 years ago, they were still saying 12-step recovery, right? And today, through drug medical health being what it is, we are a medical model today, right?
00:16:31
Speaker
So we have to accept harm reduction. We have to accept, but yeah not accept, we have to appreciate. our yeah um Let me re reiterate that. We have to appreciate harm reduction. We have we get to appreciate harm reduction.
00:16:49
Speaker
We get to appreciate motivational interviewing. We get to appreciate medication-assisted treatment. If you would have told a drug and alcohol, if you spoke of those words 10 years ago to a drug and alcohol counselor, you would have been faced with frustration, right? 10 years ago, we were all about abstinence-based 12-step community.
00:17:15
Speaker
you You go to meetings or you're going to die. That's how I came into this field. And so as an educator and as a counselor, I had to unlearn a lot of what was embedded in me as far as my own recovery, right?
00:17:32
Speaker
and The way that I did recovery. And please don't get me wrong that I am so grateful that I have an abstinence-based recovery in my own personal life.
00:17:43
Speaker
But I was not faced with our individuals that are challenged today with the potency of the drugs that they are taking today. Back in my day, right you could crawl up on Nana's couch if you were a heroin addict it and you could detox off of that heroin just to get your tolerance down so that you could get high again. right That's not the case of the opioids that are on the street today. right The potency of the opiates, the tolerance is so high with these individuals that they cannot crawl up on Nana's couch to detox.
00:18:19
Speaker
They need medical supervision in order to detox off of these drugs today. So we get to appreciate medication assisted treatment today. We get to appreciate Vivitrol and anti-craving medications and all of the things that are coming to us and recognizing the importance of that and in recovery.
Mentoring vs. Instructing in Addiction Studies
00:18:40
Speaker
Then kind of similar line of where do you see the industry going in the next five, 10 years? ah yeah you What kind of things do you see that are going to be happening? I know it's a crazy time nowadays, gestures at the world.
00:18:54
Speaker
I can't even predict. I can't even predict. I know that science, the evolution of science, the evolution of medication, I can't tell you where it's going to be, but I i know that wherever it is, i will be there to support the newcomer. So who knows? They may, that you know, Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous says that, you know, the they haven't and invented it yet, but who knows? They may be able to to provide a person that can become a normal drinker. I don't know. i wouldn't test it because my life is so filled and happy today without alcohol and drugs. I don't have a need for them.
00:19:35
Speaker
But that's my personal journey. Now, in your initial bio, I talked about where you've mentored, instructed hundreds of students. Let's talk a little bit about mentoring versus instructing.
00:19:46
Speaker
In your opinion, what does it take to be a good mentor? Right. Well, my students are my students. When they graduate, I become their mentor. Right. and And so, you know, that's another blessing about intercoast colleges is is just because you've graduated does not mean that, you know, you don't have communication with us. Right.
00:20:06
Speaker
And so, you know, it's always, you know, the students come back or they're ready to get certified. They're ready to to do the test preps for the. Yeah. So it's what the individual needs, you know, and guiding them to, you know, if I don't have the solution, I know a plethora of smart individuals that have the answers, right?
00:20:30
Speaker
And I have no shame in my game of picking up the phone and calling them and, you know, saying, don't have this situation here. What do you think? You know, I don't have all the answers, that's for sure. you know, and I never claimed to be the smartest person.
00:20:44
Speaker
person around that i am I'm smart enough to to to make strong relationships in our community.
Advice for Working with Incarcerated Individuals
00:20:52
Speaker
okay Now, what has been some of your biggest lessons learned since you've started working in the industry? That things that you know ah that I don't know everything. i know.
00:21:03
Speaker
That was, you know, I mean, you it's amazing how we trust our thinking process when we first come into recovery. And we will fight for that. You know, I mean, whatever it is, we are hell-bent on being right.
00:21:21
Speaker
You know, I've learned to just listen and evaluate. And, you know, not everything is all good or all bad or all knowing or all ignorant, right?
00:21:31
Speaker
There's lessons in everything, Angie, everything. And so I get to do that today. And i very rarely today do I come across an individual that I don't go, what can I learn from this person?
00:21:46
Speaker
and You know, as I can't remember who said it, but some famous philosopher said something along the lines of the smart person knows they know nothing. I think it's Socrates, if I'm not mistaken. But if if I'm a mistaken audience, please let me know. Well, if they're anything like my students, they'll let you know.
00:22:05
Speaker
Since we're in the advice section of the podcast interview, what is some of your advice for people who may want to start working with incarcerated individuals? What are some of your you know things that you would tell them?
00:22:17
Speaker
Education. Education, education. Because through that education, you're going to learn more about yourself. you know through the the process of learning about addiction and substance use disorder and it you know motivational interviewing.
00:22:33
Speaker
With motivational interviewing, it's not how to work with your clients, it's how to work with people. right So you you learn to communicate. right you You learn to communicate with yourself even. right the CBT and and all of the spiritual principles and Whether it's through philosophy or psychology or 12 steps or religion,
Emotional Challenges in Counseling
00:22:59
Speaker
right?
00:22:59
Speaker
The spiritual principles is a process. And you don't get there by wishing to get there. You get there by learning, going out, making the mistakes, practicing, right? Readjusting and then relearning the lesson. So patience with yourself and to know that it's okay not to know you.
00:23:22
Speaker
right It's a process. And to trust that you know that stupid saying, trust the process, but find yourself solid individuals that will allow you to do you right in your own path, in your own journey, in a supportive nature.
00:23:42
Speaker
yeah so And then in a similar vein, what kind of advice would you give to someone who wanted to go into being an instructor or a mentor? Yeah. and you know And being an instructor, is it's a journey. And so you know the the process is this. You have to put on your instructor hat, not your recovery hat, not your... you know However, You have to know your own program, whatever you're instructing.
00:24:10
Speaker
You have to, yeah, I say there's no experts, but you have to master that program, right? And you don't just master it in the way that you did it. You master that program by the other experts and appreciating the other experts in your field, how they do it, right? And when I instruct, I don't just teach the way. And the way that I learned it,
00:24:32
Speaker
They don't do it that way anymore. all right So I certainly had to, as an instructor, I had to be flexible and willing to adjust the sales, so to speak. right i had him I was doing working with one of the and um one of the Rock to Recovery individuals.
00:24:52
Speaker
And i said to him, know, the Rock to Recovery program that goes in and and works with early recovery inside the treatment facilities, is an amazing an amazing group of musicians.
00:25:07
Speaker
But I was working with one of the musicians and I says, well, you know, practice makes perfect. And he goes, no, Judy, practice makes permanent, right? And he was saying how he was self-taught on the guitar and he learned how to play the guitar, but he learned how to play it wrong, right?
00:25:25
Speaker
And what it took for him to unlearn how he taught himself to play the guitar so that he could become a professional musician. right So practice does not, and you know you can practice something that doesn't make it perfect. You can learn it perfectly wrong. right and The many mistakes that I made along the way as a counselor and an instructor, some of those things that we had to go back, especially you know those of us that have been around for forever,
00:25:56
Speaker
We had to go back and unlearn the way that we learned how to do. i walked into treatment and they were still dictating treatment and telling people what they needed to do. now So we had to unlearn all of that in order to learn you know ah how we're doing treatment today.
00:26:13
Speaker
Now, what is your least favorite or hardest part of your job? Today, because of the potency of the drugs, the, excuse me, I'm going to get emotional, the deaths,
00:26:26
Speaker
that we, yeah. And I'll see the potential of these beautiful young, you know, and I have so much hope and and then they'll go out and use one last time.
00:26:37
Speaker
And you know, Angie, that's what we face today. And i and and that's what individuals in early counseling that are working in this field is the death.
00:26:49
Speaker
yeah And i you know like I remember when it was like 50,000 overdoses. yeah Well, now it's 130. And thirty yeah and in California is the only state that's not declining.
00:27:02
Speaker
Now, on a little bit of a lighter note, what is your favorite, easiest part of your job? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The easiest part of my job is I love my job. I love, you know, I just, ah there isn't a part of my job that, you know, keeps me young and, and, inviorated and there isn't a part yeah There's just so much to continue to learn and ah and the people that I get to speak with. and i don't have an
00:27:33
Speaker
and i don't have a part of my job that I don't love, except for the hours. you know I'll find myself you know ah going on 14, 15 hours in a day. like I got myself an Australian cattle dog just so I'd have to walk it you know to make sure that I have self-care and exercise because I get in a zone when it comes to what we do.
Creating Meaningful Change through Education
00:27:55
Speaker
Now, still kind of in the advice category, your bio talked about how, you know, you bring insight into what it takes to create meaningful, lasting change in individuals and communities alike.
00:28:06
Speaker
In a weird way, what does that mean? I mean, how does how do you do that? Yeah, slowly hey and painfully sometimes. yeah I always like it when somebody um somebody comes to me and they got this big smile and they, I'm chained, you know, i'm i'm I'm going through the process of change. And I look and I'm going, no, you're not. Because the process of change, you don't have a big old smile on your face. And even today, you know, when I'm back to life's lessons,
00:28:34
Speaker
and I am going through the process of understanding and change, it's always on my challenge, right? And so being prepared for our society is about instant gratification and painless and the everything, you know, like you're not supposed to feel pain Well, yes, you are.
00:28:53
Speaker
You know, change is painful. It's challenging. The euphoria of it is is is that after you have a lasting change, you get to look back on that and go, thank God for that.
00:29:07
Speaker
Thank God for that situation. Thank God, you know, for my misunderstanding so that I could learn to understand it. Right. I mean, if change was easy, everybody would be doing it.
00:29:19
Speaker
If education was easy, everyone would be doing it. Yeah. And that's ah another thing that I encourage our students is that what's the percentage of people that get a higher education? yeah And why?
00:29:31
Speaker
you know And challenging themselves as to, you know so often when it comes to a formal higher education, people don't want to invest in themselves right and spend money on a car or something that's going to depreciate immediately instead of investing in themselves.
00:29:53
Speaker
That is, it's not just, you know, what they're going to do with their careers, but the investment in themselves is their lifestyle and the changes that they get to enjoy in life.
00:30:06
Speaker
on Now we're getting close to the end. i always like to ask kind of knee jerk reaction when all a sudden done, why do you do it? Why do you do what you do? Yeah.
00:30:17
Speaker
You know what, Angie, I think that there's ah the spirit in me would not allow me to do anything else. Even you know those times that, how many times and as a counselor, you go into into the bathroom and cry and say, yeah yeah I quit. I'm never going to do this. yeah And you know that spirit inspired inspiration that hits you and you have a knowing as to why you're doing this.
00:30:44
Speaker
right and yeah And it's just the blessing behind it. And I don't mean to to sound like I've arrived in any way, and but I have an understanding that for today, right, I'm doing exactly i' am this exactly where I need to be, doing exactly what I need to be doing.
00:31:05
Speaker
And when I don't do that, when I feel envious and jealous or or insecure over a situation or a person in my life, that's time for me to look at that and now what's going on with you, Judy?
00:31:18
Speaker
Because it's never about the person that I'm feeling, you know, like I'd like to blame them, yeah but it's never about that person. yeah And you know, as well as anybody, that our community gives us a lot of opportunity to look at ourselves and our knee-jerk reaction too.
00:31:37
Speaker
You bring up a good point. I've asked a couple other people, you know, being a counselor is a very emotional job. I'm sure working with incarcerated individuals is even more emotional.
00:31:47
Speaker
What do you kind of do to kind of keep keep away from compassion fatigue to make it fresh to make yourself, you know, still, I guess, enjoy the job in the way? Yeah.
00:31:58
Speaker
Well, what people don't understand is this. You have a perception of going into the prisons and what it's like. You don't realize that these gentlemen, the sacrifices that they made, or these women and gentlemen, the sacrifices that they make to be in that OMCP program, right?
00:32:21
Speaker
um So it takes very special men and women to be vetted to be in that program. So it's almost as if I'm learning more from them than they are from me, right? So there is it's not a challenge that I'm walking in there.
00:32:37
Speaker
I mean, what these people, these individuals face on a daily basis is To be able to sit in those chairs and learn, and you're just like in awe of them. Right.
00:32:52
Speaker
I mean, some of them are just my heroes. thank Right. The challenges that they have faced in life, the challenges that they continue to face, and what they are doing.
00:33:06
Speaker
for the betterment of their brothers and sisters inside the wolves because they care? yeah how much more spiritual human being can you get than that?
00:33:18
Speaker
So I feel, you know, I just feel honored and blessed when I have that opportunity. And I feel honored and blessed when the incarcerated individuals come to our school, right?
00:33:29
Speaker
Because many of them come out and the challenge is they don't know how computer works. They don't know how the phone works. They don't know all of these challenges that they're faced with and that, you know, they get to come to us and we get to guide them step by step.
Staying Informed and Connected
00:33:44
Speaker
You know, so that, you know, we are very user friendly because we love them. We want them to have every opportunity that they can possibly have and every understanding that, yes, you're goingnna you're going to face challenges, but you're not facing them alone.
00:34:01
Speaker
Now, like I said, we're getting close to the end. i always like since, you know, obviously the industry is constantly evolving, constantly changing. You yourself, have you know we've talked about how it's changed drastically since you first started.
00:34:13
Speaker
What kind of resources you use on a regular basis to kind of keep yourself updated what's to what's going on to keep yourself involved in the industry? Okay. Well, I'm very involved in the you know the resources, our accreditation community, you CADAP, CCAP, Katie, very much him involved and because they have their pulse on the legislation and what's happening.
00:34:38
Speaker
I really appreciate CCAPs because that's where I hear what's coming, you know, the bills that are going to be introduced and the bills that have passed and the bill you know and the whole...
00:34:50
Speaker
educational process behind the importance of understanding legislation, right? Because despite our yeah ah despite our best intentions, we have to play by their play their game or whatever their game is, right? Whatever their laws are, right?
00:35:08
Speaker
And so, you know, many of us have these wonderful ideas as how we would do it, you know but that isn't how the funding sources are happening. And that's not how the men that are incarcerated, you know, there's different laws that if you were incarcerated under the age of 25, you can go up for, you know, so knowing this, the importance of knowing this, you know, and and knowing what's, that it's coming and that, you know, people are,
00:35:37
Speaker
yeah Well, people need to know, right? People need to know the importance of voting. People need to know the importance. I mean, look at how much change we've had since the new administration.
00:35:49
Speaker
that Already changes are are being processed before us. Educational changes and, you know, in our community. so Exactly. This is a perfect opportunity for me to plug the fact that NBHAP also has an advocacy section.
00:36:05
Speaker
We primarily focus on national since we're a national organization, although we do do occasional state-based ones ah when we find them. But we do send out advocacy alerts on Thursdays, not every week. It just depends on when we have it. And then our members get access to our advocate, Andrew Gessluck, who was also a guest on the podcast earlier, on a regular basis. So if you have specific questions, you can reach out to us and we can pass them along.
00:36:29
Speaker
So we're now toward towards the end, believe it or not. We've we've been doing this for for over 40 minutes now. what Was there anything that you wanted to talk about that we haven't or that you thought I was going to ask, but I didn't? No, and just the importance of education, education, education. right i If you want to work in this field and and continuing your education. And I can be reached at judy.redman at intercoast.edu.
00:36:58
Speaker
A Y for those who are listening. Is there any other ways that they can, are you on social media or anything like that? and You know what? Ever since COVID, I slipped back out of clothes. It was such a heartbreak that I'm on social media, but I don't use it these days. But my phone number is, I don't want to see it on any bathroom walls now.
00:37:20
Speaker
now Although I'd probably respond. Anyway, my phone
00:37:26
Speaker
number is 909-767-7335. And I've had that same number for almost 20 years, so it's not going to change. It's going with me. Judy.Rigman at intercoast.edu.
00:37:39
Speaker
Well, you've been listening to Destination Change. Our guest today was Judy Redmond. Thank you for being here. Our theme song is Sun Nation by Kitsa and used but via a Creative Commons license by the Free Music Archive.
00:37:51
Speaker
Please consider rating and reviewing the podcast on Apple Podcasts so we can get more listeners. In and the meantime, you can always see more about the podcast, including show notes and where else to listen, on our website, www.nbhap.org.
00:38:05
Speaker
you have questions for the podcast, please email us at info at nbhap.org. Thanks for listening. Thank you, Andy.