What does it actually take for someone to change?

On this episode of Lock and Key Podcast, Anthony Payton and Marv Kennell sit down with Valerie Toth, who spent nearly 25 years at FCI Danbury, including 22 years as a Drug Treatment Specialist in the Residential Drug Abuse Program (RDAP).

Valerie takes us inside a program designed to do more than address substance use. She explains how RDAP challenged participants to confront criminal thinking, take responsibility for their behavior, learn from their peers, and begin preparing for life beyond prison.

Anthony brings his own experience as a former RDAP participant into the conversation, while Marv offers the perspective of someone who worked inside corrections. That shared history creates a conversation that goes well beyond the typical discussion about prison and addiction.

Valerie opens up about:

• What it was really like walking into a federal prison for the first time
• Why trust inside prison can be so difficult
• How RDAP used peer accountability and ”pull-ups” to challenge behavior
• Why some people embrace change while others go through the motions
• The impact of the First Step Act on RDAP
• Addiction, recovery, shame, and the idea of addiction as enslavement
• What working in prison did to her own life and identity
• Why vocational training matters for people preparing to return home
• The people she still thinks about years after leaving Danbury
• Why she believes that even a failed treatment experience can teach someone something

And in one of the most personal moments of the conversation, Anthony tells Valerie how her encouragement helped him find his voice, overcome stage fright, and eventually step onto a TEDx stage.

This is a conversation about prison, but ultimately it's about people, accountability, recovery, identity, and the possibility of change.

Lock and Key Podcast: Both Sides of Prison.

Hosted by Anthony Payton and Marv Kennell.