HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — Students in the University of Guam’s criminal justice capstone class are trying to break the cycle of recidivism on Guam by bringing the issue to the forefront in a forum.
The idea is that by bringing together stakeholders to discuss recidivism solutions, strategies that can be identified to reduce recidivism rates on the island.
“Recidivism is a really big issue on Guam, most especially with the Department of Corrections being overpopulated. We thought that addressing the issue and actually trying to figure out solutions and then move forward,” Janiko Gogue, class chair, said.
“Every aspect of our justice system has an impact on recidivism. There are different aspects of recidivism. The attorney general is involved, (and the) Department of Youth Affairs for juveniles, because if they offend as juveniles and then grow up and re-offend as adults, there’s a connection there, and of course at DOC and the programs dealing with DOC. We also talked about the rehabilitation side of everything,” Gogue said.
The forum aims to discuss the contributing factors to recidivism and how to, as a whole, come up with solutions.
“What does DYA need to change so that DOC can do something better, or the same for rehabilitation so that they don’t have to re-offend? What does DOC need to do for Lighthouse Recovery (Center) to be able to fully engage offenders about to be released into society?” she asked.
With the aim to effect change, the class has invited all senators to attend, has picked their questions wisely and secured a knowledgeable panel.
“We don’t want to be too repetitive and ask obvious questions with obvious answers, something that with common knowledge (one) would already know the answers to. We want to dig deeper so that our panelists who have the power to be able to implement programs or make changes would … be able to go home and think about the forum,” she said.
Panelists include Attorney General Douglas Moylan, DYA Director Melanie Brennan, Lighthouse Recovery Center Director Valerie Reyes, former client Kaylani Simmons, Chief of Probation Rosanna Aguon, DOC Major Antone Aguon, DOC Director Fred Bordallo and former Judge Anita Sukola.
The forum will take place Nov. 20, at the UOG CLASS Lecture Hall from 10 a.m. to noon.
The Guam Department of Corrections facility in Mangilao on Friday, Oct. 20, 2023.
