TULSA, OK -- 3/11/20 -- Kandice Nowak, 33, graduated from WIR in 2015 after 19 months in the program. She was facing 20 to life for 21 felonies and 17 misdemeanors, all drug related, when she entered the program. After successfully completing the program she is now a home care coordinator with Life Senior Services, helping the elderly age in place. She had her record expunged in 2018 and has one child and is married.
Women In Recovery is a diversion program designed for women who slip past state programs like Drug Court and are facing long prison sentences. It is a last chance for women who have charges that stem from addiction, trauma and abuse. The program is credited with reducing the female incarceration rate in Tulsa County by 52%.
Oklahoma incarcerates more people per capita than any other state, and incarcerates women at a rate that ranks second globally. However, bipartisan efforts at criminal justice reform have been making inroads and the state’s progress at decarceration is among the nation’s fastest.…by André Chung #_AC24415