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History of the Buddhist Chaplaincy Outreach
Program
By Masaru Horiuchi
Since 1995 inmates of the Santa Clara County Jail as well as juveniles
of the Santa Clara County Juvenile Hall, have been serviced by members
of the San Jose Buddhist Church Betsuin. Dr. Kenji Akahoshi meets with
juveniles in the high-security unit, and Mas Horiuchi meets with inmates
in the main jail as well as inmates at the Elmwood facility in Milpitas.
Nine years ago, Reverend Sakamoto was contacted by Reverend David Robinson.
Reverend Robinson heads the Correctional Institutions Chaplaincy Program.
He requested Buddhist chaplaincy services for adults and juveniles in
custody. This was the beginning of our temples members working with juveniles
and inmates in custody.
The Correctional Institutions Chaplaincy (CIC) is contracted by Santa
Clara County for their services, and it attempts to provide for all the
major religions for persons in custody. CIC competes with other groups,
and a bidding process occurs annually.
The two San Jose Buddhist Church members are laypersons, and literature
and basic Buddhist concepts are discussed with those in custody. The Buddhist
Chaplaincy Program is not part of the temple budget, and either a golf
tournament or bowling tournament is held to raise funds. Buddhist books
and pamphlets are distributed. Much time is spent simply listening.
Adults are seen on a one-to-one basis, while juveniles are seen on a
small group basis.
Inmates and juveniles are all processed during the booking (adults) and
during intake (juveniles). They receive a designated classification according
to their offense and background. The inmates facing violent charges are
shackled when meeting with us, and they do not present a physical threat.
At times it takes an extended period of time before the correctional officers
deliver the individual to us. Besides the time issue, there have been
a number of times that a "lock down" was ordered. A lock down
simply means that a disturbance occurred in one of the units, and as a
result, all visitation is halted.
Perhaps in the future, this author will share some of the experiences
and observations of the chaplaincy program.
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