Transitional Conferencing Case Study

When Mary introduced Transitional Conferencing to the men at Dakota County Jail, several signed up to meet with her individually.

An inmate named John was very interested in participating with his significant other but wasn’t certain if she would want to participate. After he gave Mary the contact information Mary wrote to Sue to explain the process and to tell her that John wanted to meet with her to apologize for all the broken promises due in part to his drinking. Sue was willing to find out more about the process so Mary met with Sue at the library. After asking her questions and naming her concerns and doubts Sue decided to give John another chance.

Mary set up a time for the conference with her contact at the jail. During their conference John was able to express his regrets for all the pain he had caused Sue. They were able to talk honestly about their relationship, the past hurts, and how they could move going forward.

Later, John expressed his gratitude.

“Because of you and the program you bring to us here at the jail you’ve restored my faith and are repairing two very broken hearts.”