CEA Forums - Transition / Re-Entry

Offender Reentry: Barriers and Solutions (no replies)

Jerry Bednarowski — Fri, 10 May 2013 17:11:55 -0400

Offender Reentry: Barriers and Solutions

Community Action Consulting and Fair Shake have announced a series of workshops to be held throughout Wisconsin. The workshops are designed to give you the tools you need to help ex-offenders make a successful transition into the community from jail or prison.

The workshop will be presented by Steven Pierce, owner of Community Action Consulting, LLC. It is sponsored by Fair Shake, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting the successful reintegration of formerly incarcerated people into society. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to Fair Shake.

Steve has 25 years of leadership experience in the non-profit sector. He has considerable experience in facilitating reentry planning groups and counseling inmates in prisons and jails. In 2012 he took over the reentry consulting business of Art Besse & Associates. He is also a GED Instructor at the Jefferson County Jail, a SMART Recovery Facilitator, and is working on completing his certification as a Substance Abuse Counselor

Workshop Locations:
? Green Bay Friday May 31 Brown County Library, 515 Pine Street
? Milwaukee Friday June 21 UMOS Corp. Headquarters, 2701 S. Chase Ave., Bldg. B
? Racine Friday July 12 Living Light Community Center, 740 College Avenue
? La Crosse Friday Sept. 13 Franciscan Spirituality Center, 920 Market Street
? Madison Friday Sept. 20 Goodman Community Center, 149 Waubesa Street
? Beloit Friday Oct. 4 Community Action Pathways, 20 Eclipse Center, 600 Henry
? Sheboygan Friday Oct. 18 Site Details to be Announced
Who Should Attend:
? Counselors, social workers, job developers, correctional educators, volunteers, mentors and others assisting ex-offenders
? People of faith involved with jail or prison ministries
? Citizens interested in reform of prisons and reentry
Agenda:
1. What Works in Reentry and Assisting Ex-Offenders to Make a Successful Transition
2. Ways to Increase Motivation for Change & Desistance from Crime
3. Suggestions for Improving the Employment of Ex-Offenders
4. Collateral Consequences of and Remedies for Having a Criminal Record in Wisconsin
Cost:
$99.00 per person for workshop -includes handouts, snacks and beverages.
Contact:
Steven Pierce, Phone:(920) 988-6944, E-mail:communityactionconsulting@charter.net

2012: A Year of Growth for Fair Shake (no replies)

Jerry Bednarowski — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 00:45:28 -0500

2012: A Year of Growth for Fair Shake

Thanks to all of you who shared ideas, thoughts and suggestions, in 2012 we redesigned our website to address your valuable comments. Many new pages have been added and we’ve made terrific updates to existing pages. The process is ongoing, so we hope you will continue to let us know what you think.

Also in 2012, we were given our first opportunities to present our work to a variety of audiences. We talked with inmates, educators, corrections staff and administrators, citizens and students; and we learned how our information and materials have been received, how they are being utilized, and what information and materials people would like to see Fair Shake provide in the future.

One of the most important things we learned from those opportunities is that that our tools and information could be utilized in prisons if we could convert our website into software that could be downloaded into an Intranet system. We are now very busy doing just that and hope to be ready by the spring. The possibilities here are very exciting.

We are sending a special HUGE thanks to the generous Bronner family who unfailingly support us every year. If it weren’t for them, Fair Shake could only be our hobby.

In 2012:
• We built our membership to 90 (with no advertising or solicitations - just brochures and word of mouth!)
• 5600 people visited the site and many returned, for a total of 7850 visits overall.
• Over 25,000 pages have been viewed at an average of 3.25 pages per visit.
• Our top ten viewers are in Wisconsin, California, Pennsylvania, New York, Texas, Illinois, Florida, Ohio, Minnesota and Virginia
• Downloads and printouts from the website include:
o 559 Reentry Packets
o 122 Ready for Release documents
o 251 Ownership Manuals
o 87 Brochures
o We have 399 E-news subscribers
• We attended 4 Reentry Fairs
• We presented our work to a dozen different groups

Big projects on our table for 2013 include:
• Turning our website into software that can be downloaded into Intranet systems all over the country.
• Create our Areas of Study program to support self-directed learning, creative problem-solving, critical thinking, personal and social awareness, authenticity and confidence, and engaged citizenship.
• Build our Resource Directory. Our goal is to double the amount of entries to 24,000.
• Extend our outreach to inmates through brochures and reentry packets.

If you’re wondering how you can support Fair Shake, you may visit the www.fairshake.net website. You may also help Fair Shake grow by sending resources, links or lists to us so they can be added to our Resource Directory. And, of course, by sharing your enthusiasm and interest with others!

Thanks for your interest and support!

Alex Wikstrom, Website Administrator
alex@fairshake.net

Fair Shake Has Tips for Reentry Instructors (no replies)

Jerry Bednarowski — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 10:58:30 -0500

Fair Shake Has Tips for Reentry Instructors

Educators who instruct reentry programs may be interested in two items that appeared In the October 23, 2012 issue of Fair Shake’s E-news. E-news reported that the American Bar Association and the National Institute of Justice have joined forces and released an interactive map showing the federal and state collateral consequences that await a person coming home from prison.

The map shows the consequences categorized by conviction, jurisdiction and consequence and will help all stakeholders understand limitations and hurdles based on the severity of an offense. The map may be accessed at [www.abacollateralconsequences.org].

Earlier this month, the MSN Careers website posted an article about employers and reentry: Half of employers surveyed have hired someone with a criminal record. CareerBuilder.com surveyed nearly 2300 employers who offered the following tips:
• Be upfront and honest about the conviction and stress what you learned from it - 68%
• Be willing to work your way up - 48%
• Stay positive - 46%
• Prepare while you're in prison (take classes, participate in vocational training, etc) - 39%
• Don't apply to jobs where your record would automatically disqualify you - 31%
• Volunteer - 31%
• Take freelance or temporary assignments - 26%
• Consider joining the military - 18%
• Start your own business - 16%
• Monitor what is said on social media - 13%

For more information visit Fair Shake’s website at www.fairshake.net.

Moderation of Transition/Re-Entry SIG? (2 replies)

BJ Berquist — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 18:23:05 -0500

The Transition / Re-Entry SIG NEEDS TO BE MODERATED!!!! I've deleted 13 spam messages today from the past two days and at the beginning of the week deleted over 100 others that had been posted without my realizing it. I'm willing to take on the responsibility.

BJ Berquist

WiderNet Takes Fair Shake into Prisons (no replies)

Jerry Bednarowski — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 16:37:44 -0400

WiderNet Takes Fair Shake into Prisons

At the 67th Annual International Correctional Education Association Conference in St. Paul, Sue Kastensen, founder and director of the non-profit organization Fair Shake, presented a workshop on Fair Shake’s innovative web-based reentry tools. Heather Erwin, Prison Education Project Coordinator for the WiderNet Project, presented her workshop on Corrections Offline Education Platform: The “Internet in a Box.” They met, talked and POOF . . . Fair Shake is going into prisons!

Corrections Offline Education Platform is a WiderNet Project, a University of Iowa Graduate College of Library Science service organization dedicated to improving digital communications to all communities and individuals around the world in need of educational resources, knowledge, and training.

The WiderNet Project was founded in 2000 by Professor Cliff Missen and Dr. Michael McNulty. As a Fulbright Scholar studying in Nigeria in 1999, Missen had firsthand experience with the frustrations caused by a lack of Internet access while teaching at the University of Jos. Upon returning to the University of Iowa, Missen and McNulty founded the WiderNet Project to provide low-cost, high impact uses of information technologies to developing countries.

A key component of the WiderNet Project is the vast library of digital information that is made available to users. This collection was dubbed the “eGranary Digital Library,” because the digital library holds the seeds of knowledge, just as an African granary holds the seeds of a future crop.

Today the project has donated more than 1,200 computers for use at universities in Africa and has installed the eGranary Digital Library at 500 partner institutions in Africa, India, Bangladesh, Haiti, and other locations. The eGranary Digital Library - also known as "The Internet in a Box" - provides digital educational resources to institutions lacking adequate Internet access. It contains more than 30 million documents, each of them fully indexed and searchable using a powerful, built-in search engine.

Since 2007, the WiderNet Project has experimented with the eGranary Digital Library in three Iowa prisons and a halfway house. With this experience, feedback from educators in a variety of low-bandwidth settings, and the results of hundreds of surveys on inmate information needs, they have embarked on the creation of a corrections specific collection that will meet the needs of incarcerated and underserved populations throughout the U.S.

The Corrections Off-line Education Platform (COEP) will be an off-line digital information and education platform that will serve incarcerated individuals, juveniles in treatment and detention centers, community centers, low-income housing complexes, rural communities, and schools that lack adequate Internet access. This platform will provide a low-cost way to deliver millions of educational resources and the tools for creating new, local content.

The WiderNet Project believes that access to on-line courses and the ability to utilize the World Wide Web to supplement learning is an essential element in today’s educational system. Yet questions of security and free access to the internet are causes of concern for correctional facilities. The COEP is designed to offer a safe, fast, and secure way to provide education and information in an off-line manner. For the end user, the COEP with its search engine, catalog, and wealth of information will function exactly like the Internet; hence all the skills gained using the COEP will translate effortlessly to the Internet.

Since one of Fair Shake’s main goals is to reach felons while they are still incarcerated, partnering with the WiderNet Project is an excellent opportunity to get inside the walls. According to Fair Shake Website Administrator Alex Wikstrom, “This is so exciting for us! For inmates to print their own unique reentry packets and build personal web pages while incarcerated is just the tip of the iceberg.”

The WiderNet Project is seeking other partners and deployment sites for this innovative way to deliver information and an Internet-like experience to incarcerated populations. The COEP can provide a safe and secure way to access thousands of resources for teaching information technology and reentry skills to inmates, while preparing them for the high tech world they will face upon their release. Thousands of dollars in software, textbooks and training can be saved annually by utilizing the “Internet in a Box.”

To find out more about the WiderNet Project’s Corrections Off-line Education Platform, go to www.widernet.org or contact COEP Coordinator Heather Erwin at herwin@widernet.org.

Reclaiming Futures Webinar To Explore Adolescent Recovery Supports (no replies)

BJ Berquist — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 19:41:15 -0400

Reclaiming Futures Webinar To Explore Adolescent Recovery Supports

On September 27, 2012, at 2 p.m. E.T., Reclaiming Futures will present the free, 1-hour Webinar “Implementing Adolescent Recovery Supports and Developing Resources in Our Communities.” The presenter, Michelle Muffett-Lipinski, who is principal of the Northshore Recovery High School in Beverly, MA, and co-founder of the icanhelp project, will outline successes and challenges in developing recovery programming within schools and communities, describe responses to mental health and substance abuse issues in schools, and discuss approaches to identifying and engaging youth in need of support.

Resources:

Register online. [rwjf.webex.com]

Learn more about Reclaiming Futures. [www.reclaimingfutures.org]

Forwarded from juvjust@ncjrs.gov

Vera Institute of Justice Pathways (no replies)

BJ Berquist — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 12:17:18 -0400

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Steve Steurer
To: "state-directors@googlegroups.com" ; "cea-executive-board@googlegroups.com" ; "cea-standards-commission@googlegroups.com"
Cc: "Arthur.ethomas@morgan.edu" ; Joseph Whittaker ; Fred Patrick
Sent: Monday, August 20, 2012 8:54 PM
Subject: Vera Institue of Justice Pathways
Dear Friends,

Last week the Vera Institute announced an RFP for post secondary education and reentry programs. It is available in six states – Colorado, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Washington State for at least $1 million per state. John Linton alerted me today and I called the Vera Institute Project Director Fred Patrick who encouraged me to disseminate the RFP as widely as possible. He would like CEA “to generate funder and stakeholder enthusiasm and interest in the Pathways Project and broader correctional education efforts.” This will be the first CEA effort to assist Vera with its goals.

So please find the RFP attached and the Media Advisory below. This is truly exciting because four foundations – Ford, Bill and Melinda Gates, the Sunshine Lady and the Open Society are funding this project through Vera. I am sure this will generate tons of interest everywhere.

Steve

Stephen J. Steurer, Ph.D.,
Executive Director
Correctional Education Association
8182 Lark Brown Road Suite 202
Elkridge, MD 21075
tel 443-459-3081
fax 443-459-3088
www.ceanational.org
"Transforming Lives"

Fair Shake Expands Its Website (no replies)

Jerry Bednarowski — Sun, 19 Aug 2012 10:13:12 -0400

Fair Shake Expands Its Website

Since its founding in 2008, Fair Shake’s innovative website has focused on successful prisoner reentry. Using an interactive blend of electronic tools, reentry awareness, and community building, all stakeholders are encouraged to participate in the reintegration of recently released offenders into society.

In Fair Shake’s most recent newsletter, Website Administrator Alex Wikstrom announced new additions and improvements to the website. Fair Shake is dedicated to making their information easy to find and their tools easy to use. These changes are steps to achieving their goal.

Recently the Fair Shake website has focused on post-incarceration employment and has greatly improved its Employers’ page and Employment page (for job-seekers). They’ve also posted an example of a personal web page so everyone can see how this valuable tool can support applicants.
Fair Shake’s Media Center, which offers an array of reentry stories and social justice considerations, is now up and running. It has video and audio recordings as well as print publications. Reentry and other criminal justice news are posted on the bottom of the home page, and also on the news page.

As for outreach events, Fair Shake founder and Director, Sue Kastensen conducted a workshop at the Correctional Education Association International Conference in St. Paul and spoke with the Wisconsin Restorative Justice Coalition earlier this month. Fair Shake is looking forward to continued opportunities to introduce their tools to reentry professionals.

Fair Shake is a completely community supported 501(c)(3) organization. If you are interested in supporting their efforts, visit their website to how see you can automatically help Fair Shake when you make your Amazon purchases through the Fair Shake website. There is also a PayPal link, should you wish to make a direct donation.

To find out more, visit Fair Shake’s website at www.fairshake.net or contact Alex Wikstrom at alex@fairshake.net

Guide Helps Offenders Transition (no replies)

Jerry Bednarowski — Sun, 19 Aug 2012 10:11:56 -0400

Guide Helps Offenders Transition

Because the Wisconsin Resource Center (WRC) treats individuals with severe and persistent mental health needs, when they are released to the community, their dependence on resources for support is often great. As a special education teacher working at WRC, Nikki Cerney found that the students under 22 that required IEPs often were being released to homes that were located all over the state and community transitional contacts and resources were scarce. Since Nikki was working on her master's degree at the time, she integrated the creation of a guide to provide resources to the students with SPED needs into her graduate school project.

The result of hundreds of hours of checking leads, compiling information and editing was the Wisconsin Resource Center’s Transitional Guide. The Transition Guide is 60 pages of descriptions of resources and contact information. Included are resources in the areas of Education, Employment, Health Care, Clothing, Food, Housing, Identification and Important Documents, Transportation, and Community Support Systems. The resources are grouped by area of the state.

The Transition Guide is meant to assist offenders in their quest to establish themselves back into the community. Nikki’s advice to her students is to use whatever resources you are eligible for until you are in a place to do it for yourself. As Thomas Jefferson said, “Pride costs more than hunger, thirst, and cold.”

Initially the resource guide was intended for these SPED students who were nearing release, but Nikki also found it to be of value to her Alternative to Revocation group. The Pre-Release units and many of the social workers at WRC also use to guide. Many other inmates who heard about the guide from other offenders often stop by or write Nikki to request a guide.

Nikki began assembling the Transition Guide by searching the internet for resources in various cities throughout Wisconsin based upon requests of offenders soon leaving for a particular area. She found county websites to be helpful and also searched for food pantries, DVR, DWD, ex-offender support, churches, etc. The 2-1-1 Network and the county websites as well as NAMI are Nikki’s recommendations for first searches. Since Nikki continues to get requests for specific areas of Wisconsin, her Transition Guide continues to expand.

One of the major problems with any comprehensive Guide is keeping the information current. Nikki is working with Sue Kastensen of Fair Shake to have her list of resources included on the Fair Shake website. The Fair Shake website has a system for periodically checking listings to insure they are current.

Nikki has shared her Transition Guide with staff from a few state institutions and is willing to provide advice for others wishing to develop their own guides. You may contact Nikki for an electronic copy of the Transition Guide or for her guidance on developing your own at nikki.cerney@wisconsin.gov

MUM Offers Innovative Programs (no replies)

Jerry Bednarowski — Fri, 11 May 2012 09:48:13 -0400

MUM Offers Innovative Programs

Madison-area Urban Ministry (MUM) was formed in 1971 and has evolved into an interfaith social justice organization that has spurred social change in and around Dane County. Based on their mission to be “a prophetic voice for justice, neighbors working together for social change,” MUM has served as an incubator for innovative ideas and new projects. Some of these projects provide services to incarcerated individuals and their families. For more information about the MUM programs visit their website: www.emum.org.

Circle of Support

Developed in 2003, MUM's Circle of Support program utilizes groups of four to six community volunteers, recruited, screened and trained by MUM, to meet weekly with offenders newly released from prison. The person newly released, or “Core Circle Member” finds a new community, a support network to welcome him or her home. The Circle of Support offers a respectful, positive and supportive environment for the Core Team Member as they adjust to the demands and challenges of everyday life on the outside. The Circles of Support Program is effective because it provides a space for the Core Team Member to be heard, to be encouraged and to be respected.

The following is what one Core Member had to say about his experience in Circle of Support:
“I’ve enjoyed working with MUM because they’ve helped me to enroll in finance and employability classes which have been truly helpful being that I’ve never worked or had to pay my own bills. I work with MUM in a few other areas as well, such as advice in healthy relationships of any kind, any depressing thoughts and on how to deal with them… I meet with MUM every week and we go over whatever pressing thoughts or issues I have had that week which helps me to keep myself in check…I feel that they are extraordinary people for trying to help to give those of us that others call monsters a second chance at life and not just a life, but a meaningful life. There are some who don’t get that second chance. I wake up every morning and give praise to my Father that I have people in my corner that are willing to take the time to help and work with me on my day to day issues. So to MUM, thanks.”

Mentoring, Family Connections and Reading Connections

Madison-area Urban Ministry has three programs specifically designed to address the unique needs and concerns of children who have with a parent in jail, prison or awaiting sentencing. The programs are: Mentoring, Family Connections and Reading Connections. Children who have a parent in jail, prison or awaiting sentencing are often among the most vulnerable in our community. Not only have these children experienced the loss of a parent through incarceration, but they also experience disruption in their living situation and they worry about their parent. MUM’s Mentoring Connections, Family Connections and Reading Connections are all designed to support children during a parent’s incarceration.

Re-entry Simulations

MUM’s Re-entry Simulations are conducted in various Wisconsin prisons, always with the goal of helping to prepare offenders for their release. In these simulations the participants have a dress rehearsal, achieving tasks they have identified for themselves as necessary for successful re-entry. The program also offers an opportunity for participants to meet MUM’s re-entry staff and to learn more about resources in the community to which they will be released.

The Phoenix Initiative

The Phoenix Initiative is a structured support group for formerly incarcerated men and women. Consistent with evidence based practices that call for gender specific and responsive programming for women there are two Phoenix Initiative groups, one for men and one for women. The groups are led by formerly incarcerated men and women and are structured to provide mentoring and leadership development. They follow a Restorative Justice model, by offering opportunities to help repair the harm done to the community by crime.

Ready to Rent

Ready to Rent is an educational workshop based on the Rent Smart curriculum developed by the University of Wisconsin-Extension. The curriculum focuses on budgeting, understanding your rights and responsibilities as a tenant, maintaining your home, landlord/tenant relationships, and other areas related to a successful renting experience. The program is an outgrowth of the Greater Isthmus Group with some financial support for the program coming from the Apartment Association of South Central Wisconsin.

An Avenue to Help Fathers Reconnect (no replies)

Jerry Bednarowski — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 22:34:42 -0400

An Avenue to Help Fathers Reconnect

Fathers recently released from prisons or jails face many obstacles in reestablishing their relationships with their children. Family relationships may be tense and communication with the children may be awkward.

Milwaukee’s Social Development Commission (SDC) may provide an avenue for these fathers to reconnect with their children. Since 1963, the Social Development Commission has established itself as a leading advocate for low-income individuals and families in Milwaukee County by planning, coordinating, and providing human service programs.

SDC staff attend Welcome Home information sessions at the Probation and Parole office. They share information with those being released from prison about services provided by the Social Development Commission.

An example of SDC programs designed to build relationships between fathers and their sons and daughters are READ Night Outs. READ stands for “Reading, Eating, and Activities with my Dad.” The READ Night Outs are sponsored by the Social Development Commission’s Head Start Program.

The evenings highlight an “On My Shoulders” graduation ceremony along with activities engaging children and their fathers that include storybook and poem readings, sand art, hats and mask creations, face painting, jewelry making and gift books. Appetizing dinner menus are also featured.

“On My Shoulders” is the Tier III and final segment of a three part curriculum of SDC’s Healthy Relationship & Marriage Enhancement Program which provides relationship education for single individuals as well as unmarried and married couples. The class sessions are designed to foster group discussions, co-activities and shared learning.

Healthy couple’s partnership is the focus of Tier I. Men-only classes are part of Tier II. Parenting enhancement and cultivation for men and their children are the instruction modules for Tier III.

“It is just phenomenal and very heartwarming to see African American men actively interacting with their children,” says Debora Taylor, Healthy Relationship & Marriage Enhancement Program manager Taylor adds that she is delighted to know of the supportive arrangements made to connect fathers with their children and the effort made to make the events successful.

“I am much better in my relationship as a result of taking these courses in the Healthy Relationship program,” said one father who received his Tier III certificate that evening. He added that the classes “helped me and my significant other to better communicate with one another. I have also become a better listener to my children to understand and be sensitive to what they are going through. I highly recommend this program.”

“This program is geared towards cultivating the mindset, particularly of our men towards being a more positive and contributing family member,” says Richard Johnson, Healthy Relationship educator. “I love what I do and it was just great and rewarding to see our men on Friday night spending quality time with their kids and to see the joy on the children’s faces having fun with their fathers,” he adds.

Johnson is also thankful that the program is able to supply books and developmental reading material so that the fathers can spend time reading to and with their sons and daughters. “We help our dads learn how to teach and nurture their children at home which will make them better equipped students at school and further builds learning skill sets and confidence,” he says.

Johnson notes that the program encourages the fathers to keep journals and gives them the courage to “come out of that security box even though their personal comfort zone may be confining and not working for them. We show them the many possibilities that are available and the variety of choices that they have at their disposal.”

For additional information on the Healthy Relationship & Marriage Enhancement Program, please contact SDC at 906-2700 2700 or visit their website at www.cr-sdc.org and click on the “Programs” page.

Other programs sponsored by Milwaukee’s Social Development Commission include:

Employment
• Need Help with Transportation to Your Job?: Ways to Work
• Help Getting and Keeping a Job: W-2 Training Opportunities
• Skills for Getting and Keeping a Job: Boosting Employability & Soft Skills Training (BEST)

Asset Development
• Free Tax Help and More: Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program (VITA)
• Becoming Money-Wise: Financial Literacy
• Making Home Energy Efficient: Weatherization
• Housing Preservation: Weatherization, Rehab and Asset Preservation Partnership Program (WRAP)
• Fixing Up Neighborhoods One House at a Time: Neighborhood Improvement Project (NIP)

Family Strengthening
• Building Successful Young People: Youth and Family Development Program
• Getting It Together: Community Services Options and Youth Restorative Justice
• Rebuilding Foundations: Life and Career Development
• Stronger Family Bonds: Creating Lasting Family Connections
• Want a Stronger Marriage or Relationship? Head Start Healthy Relationships & Marriage Enhancement Program
• Keeping the Homebound Independent: Senior Companions

Education & Training
• Preparing Preschoolers for School and Life: Head Start
• Getting Ready for a GED/HSED: Basic Skills
• Special Needs Diploma: Competency Based Diploma
• Earn that Diploma: GED/HSED Testing
• Volunteer and Internship Opportunities: Success Through Rewarding Internships & Volunteer Experiences (STRIVE)

Support Services
• Help with Your Utility Bill: Energy Assistance
• How to Make Your Home More Energy Efficient: Energy Conservation Demonstrations
• Feeding Children: Year-Round Food Program
• Feeding Kids During Summer: Summer Youth Food Program
• Prescriptions & Your Health: Prescription Advocacy & Referral Service (PARS)
• Health Education & Referral Center (HERC)
• Help for Families in Need: W-2 - Eligibility and Assessment
• Educate and Entertain on Cultural Diversity: Community Education
• Financial Case Management for Families - Project GAIN

Fair Shake Awarded Wisconsin Community Fund Grant (no replies)

Jerry Bednarowski — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 22:21:46 -0400

Fair Shake Awarded Wisconsin Community Fund Grant

Fair Shake Founder and Director Sue Kastensen is pleased to share some terrific news! The Wisconsin Community Fund has awarded Fair Shake a grant to begin its work building the Areas of Study certification program. The tag line for the program is “Change, not Charity.” It is Fair Shake’s intention to create lasting change. The Wisconsin Community Fund raises money and gives it to groups that are too new, too small or too controversial for mainstream funders.

Fair Shake also wishes to thank Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps and Cosmic Egg Studios for their continued support in 2012, and they are also deeply grateful for the private funders who support their work as well!

As advertised in Fair Shake’s new brochure, its “Ready for Release” pages are now available on its www.fairshake.net website. Presently they have created two documents: “Preparing for Release” and “First Week.” They also list several state and city reentry guides as well!

Sue was invited to participate in the 2012 Viterbo Humanities Symposium: Heroes – Hope and Help. Of course, she used the event as an opportunity to get the word out about reentry ideas and connect with students and the public.

Fair Shake is excited to participate in several Correctional Education Association events this year. Sue has submitted proposals to present workshops at the CEA-W State Training Day, Region III & IV CEA Conference, and International CEA Conference. Fair Shake’s Areas of Study program is being developed in consideration of the possibility of working with these correctional teachers around the country.

Fair Shake's Viritual Office Focuses on Reentry (no replies)

Jerry Bednarowski — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 20:19:52 -0500

Fair Shake is an innovative new website focused on successful prisoner reentry nationwide. Through an interactive blend of electronic tools, reentry awareness, and community building; Fair Shake encourages all stakeholders to participate in the successful reintegration of formerly incarcerated people back into society.

Fair Shake, a 501(c)(3) charity, was founded in 2008 by Sue Kastensen in Westby, Wisconsin. Sue began her connection with corrections as a concerned business owner faced with a job applicant who was a newly-released prisoner. She recognized several hurdles to employment between a returning prisoner and an employer. To understand and work to remove these barriers, she attended a reentry conference in 2000 and has been studying and developing Fair Shake ever since. Over the past 8 years she has intermittently sought and received critiques and comments from Walter Dickey, faculty director of the Remington Center for Research, Education and Service in Criminal Justice at the University of Wisconsin – Madison Law School and former administrator of Wisconsin’s Division of Corrections.

As you are aware, walking away from prison and successfully returning to families and communities is just the first step in re-starting a former felon's life. Most are faced with overwhelming challenges ranging from finding employment and securing housing, to paying restitution or fines, and to developing and restoring relationships. Central to all of that, and too often overlooked, is developing and sustaining self-confidence and a positive outlook.

Many inmates have limited access to computers while they are incarcerated. The majority has no access at all. None are able to use the internet or email. Imagine how difficult it must be to jump from the isolation of prison into todays often overwhelming, yet essential, electronic world?

Fair Shake offers former felons a free virtual office that can be accessed from any computer. In addition to email, data storage and a personal resource directory, members can create a web page to use as a supplement to employment or housing applications. Instructional tutorials are also available. The website is also loaded with information for all stakeholders: former felons, families and friends, employers, property managers, communities and corrections. Many features are available to all visitors, such as the nationwide Resource Directory (with over 11,000 entries), the Custom Reentry Packet, and an Ownership Manual. Our Culture Shock page reminds people — both inside and outside the fence — that cultural reentry is a huge hurdle in itself.

In the Welcome Center, visitors can view a quick slide-show tour of the website as well as information for specific areas of interest, from getting back to work to positive ways to get involved in reentry and community building. To find news, facts, statistics, and a multi-media page with stories about reentry, visit our detailed Information Center.

We are recognized and listed as a reference by the National Reentry Resource Center for People Returning Home. We’re thrilled to support successful reentry in this capacity; however, creating a multi-stakeholder resource center with member benefits is only one aspect of the work we have set out to do.

The next phase of our work involves constructing a certification program that provides former prisoners with an opportunity to differentiate themselves from the stigmas — “They All Come Out the Same” and “Nothing Works.” We believe that if people have a chance to demonstrate character and intention, as well as show they understand and choose to navigate their life within ‘prosocial’ concepts, barriers to opportunities could begin to break down. Studies in the humanities, civics and health address these concerns, so we are creating an Areas of Study (AOS) program which considers Philosophy/ Epistemology, Psychology/Sociology, Employment and Renting considerations, Civics, and Physical and Mental Health. Since these disciplines are rarely studied in our education system, they can also provide a whole new world of perspectives and options for folks coming back.

We understand that the internet is not available to inmates. Once the AOS is complete, we will turn our entire website into a simulation program that can be used very much like a video game. We will send copies to prisons all over the country for inmates to begin, or even complete, the program prior to release so when they come back to society, they are ready to open their account, post their personal web page, print a member card and set out to find a job. Fair Shake will post AOS completion information on their personal web page.

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, over 1,600,000 people are currently serving a prison sentence. More than 95% of them will eventually be released. Sadly, nearly 7 out of 10 of those who come home will return to prison, often because of a lack of opportunity and support. In most cases this is an avoidable tragedy for the inmate and an unnecessary burden to the taxpayer. Through the kind of practical support and opportunity provided by Fair Shake we can reduce the high cost of criminal justice while preserving community safety by supporting the successful transition from prison to life in society.

If you would like to contact us with questions, comments, critiques or suggestions, please email Sue Kastensen at sue@fairshake.net or call 608-634-6363.

Re-entry Facilities (no replies)

dseymour — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 11:08:52 -0400

Hello,

I am Dylan Seymour, a developer,contractor and provider of multifamily housing. A recent project of mine has opened my eyes to aligning myself with the re-entry community. As a former military police officer, the concerns of breaking the cycle are alive in me. My contributions in this effort are probably best suited in the area of helping with facilities since that has been my expertise for the past 16 years.

I would certainly appreciate any advise or information you may have to offer regarding facilities as it relates to re-entry, education, training or any combination there of. To pose a few questions:

1. Is the re-entry process uniform across the country?
2. Do county jails differ from state or federal prisons?
3. Is there a need for living quarters for 24 hour "supervision"?
4. Are on-site educational facilities strongly preferred?
5. Would it be beneficial for me to join an association? If so, which one?
6. Outside of facilities, are there any other ways that I can contribute?

A little about what I would like to do;
If you have a geographic area that you are looking to work in, I would search to find existing buildings that can be reworked to fit your needs, or investigate raw land where a new facility can be built. Now we are ready for a feasibility study. My portion of the feasibility study includes preliminary site design, preliminary building design and a "cost to complete" estimate. The feasibility study that I perform is at no cost to you. To move forward, I purchase the property and I build the facility with my funds (or funds that I acquire). I provide the facility to your specifications. Upon completion, the facility is leased to you. If this program differs from what someone is looking for we can always discuss an alternate arrangement.

If you are asking yourself what my contribution is, it is the upfront work that I perform. Hiring people for the preliminary design and a feasibility study is costly, and these items are non-refundable. If the project does not go, your organization has taken a loss only to try again. I am in a position to clear that hurdle for you. Allowing you the freedom to explore opportunities free of risk. And I am happy to do so.

Thank you so much for your time.

Dylan Seymour
ds@versatilemgmt.com
920-809-5643

Family Relationships Critical to Reentry Success (no replies)

BJ Berquist — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 18:17:08 -0400

RT@CWProjectWHAT Report from the Urban Institute proves good family relationships are critical to the reentry success of ex-offenders [t.co]

from Twitter
by BJ Berquist
bjb@tappedin.org
www.twitter.com/tappedinorg

Is Community-Based Correctional Education an Answer? (no replies)

Jerry Bednarowski — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 21:49:39 -0400

The information currently available on education services offered in correctional facilities indicates that it can be an effective method for preparing individuals for their eventual release into community supervision. Yet, little is known about the effects of those same services offered in the community to those on parole or probation. Research does show, however, that community supervision is not effective on its own; rather, it should be combined with treatment services and other support. Given these facts, combining community supervision with community-based correctional education and other support may be a viable and more cost-efficient alternative to incarceration that will improve public safety and decrease recidivism rates.

To explore this hypothesis, the U.S. Department of Education Office of Vocational and Adult Education Division of Adult Education and Literacy commissioned a report evaluating the effectiveness of community-based correctional education.

Community-based correctional education — education services offered to individuals serving all or part of their criminal sentence under community supervision — is receiving increased attention by states attempting to find more cost-efficient approaches to addressing rising correctional costs and a growing incarcerated population. Some states are cutting costs by placing more offenders under community supervision as an alternative to incarceration, since average costs of $3.42 per day for parolees and $7.47 per day for probationers are considerably less than the $79 per day cost for incarcerated prisoners.

The Community-Based Correctional Education report, @#$%& apart from cost considerations, the strategies states need to adopt to ensure that these individuals successfully serve their community supervision sentence and do not jeopardize public safety.

This Community-Based Correctional Education report is available on the U.S. Department of Education website at: [www.ed.gov].

IPad and Laptop Travel Case? (no replies)

Bobette — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 01:58:15 -0400

IPad and Laptop Travel Case?
I need a travel case that will hold both my laptop (Lenovo T400) and iPad. I would like it to be lightweight since I go through airports every week. Did anyone else find a case that works for both with or without wheels?

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ipad cases leather ipad 2 cases leather ipad cases leather

Osborne Association: In the Business of Transformation (3 replies)

Jerry Bednarowski — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 22:38:07 -0500

Osborne Association: In the Business of Transformation

The Osborne Association (New York) offers opportunities for individuals who have been in conflict with the law to transform their lives through innovative, effective, and replicable programs that serve the community by reducing crime and its human and economic costs. The Osborne Association offers opportunities for reform and rehabilitation through public education, advocacy, and alternatives to incarceration that respect the dignity of people.

In 1913, Thomas Mott Osborne, an industrialist and former mayor of Auburn, New York, spent a week in Auburn prison as prisoner Tom Brown, #33,333x. He lived just as other prisoners did and left that harrowing experience committed to the goal of turning America's prisons from "human scrap heaps into human repair shops." Mr. Osborne went on to become a progressive warden at Sing Sing, where the majority of his prisoners did not return to prison after release. Later he founded the Mutual Welfare League and the National Society of Penal Information, Mr. Osborne became known as the "pioneer and prophet of prison reform." The Osborne Association was established in 1931 to continue his work.

Today, the Osborne Association furthers its founder’s goal of a criminal justice system that "restores to society the largest number of intelligent, forceful, honest citizens" by providing a broad range of treatment, education, and vocational services to more than 5,500 people each year, including people who are currently or formerly incarcerated, their children, and other family members. Programs are offered in community sites in New York (Bronx, Brooklyn, and Dutchess County), as well as in courts, jails and state prisons.

Programs
By transforming the lives of those involved in the criminal justice system, the Osborne Association's programs demonstrate that there are policies and procedures our nation can adopt that can foster a more effective and efficient criminal justice system and a safer and more just society. They believe that relying only on imprisonment as a response to crime is a costly and counterproductive approach that fails to take into account people's basic capacity to change.

The Osborne Association is in the business of transformation through promoting healthy lifestyles, working with their clients to achieve economic independence, easing the transition from prison to the community, advocating for alternatives to incarceration, reconnecting families or strengthening communities.

Adopting Healthy Lifestyles
Osborne’s prevention and treatment services provide a holistic approach to managing health-related challenges, including drug/alcohol/tobacco use, chronic health conditions, and mental illness. Based on a comprehensive assessment, individuals are offered services that provide an appropriate level of care and support. Osborne’s services are evidence-based, utilizing cognitive behavioral interventions and approaches specific to criminal justice involvement.

Reconnecting Families
Osborne’s family-centered approach recognizes the central role of family and social networks in reaching the desired outcomes of all of our programs. The Reconnecting Families programs are described in the section below.

Achieving Economic Independence
Osborne’s Workforce Development programs offer comprehensive employment and training services to people with criminal records, including vocational and educational assessments, career counseling, job readiness workshops, resume preparation, skills enhancement (including GED prep and hard skills training), job search and placement assistance in the Green and Food Services sectors, with follow-up support to assist participants to adjust to workplace demands.

Reducing Reliance on Incarceration
Currently, there are more than 2 million men and women incarcerated in the United States – the highest incarceration rate in the world! The Osborne Association believes that relying only on imprisonment as a response to crime is a costly and counter-productive approach that fails to take into account people's basic capacity to change. Osborne employs effective measures that reduce incarceration and recidivism rates. This not only benefits the individual, but also keeps communities safer.

Strengthening Communities
The Osborne Association advocates for systemic reforms that divert people from incarceration to treatment, provide effective programs during incarceration that prepare people to return home, and remove barriers to community and family reintegration upon release.

Reconnecting Families

FamilyWorks
FamilyWorks enables incarcerated fathers to make, mend and maintain relationships with their children through a comprehensive fatherhood program including parenting education and family counseling in city and state correctional facilities, child-oriented Family Centers in prison visiting rooms, and community-based services for families. Courses in Healthy Relationships for men and Healthy Marriage for committed couples – in prison settings or shortly after release – enhance FamilyWorks’ inclusive and proven approach to strengthening families.

Family Resource Center
The Family Resource Center and Hotline offers families and friends of people in prison a toll-free hotline staffed by formerly incarcerated individuals and family members, providing information, referrals, peer support and counseling as well as support groups, during incarceration and following release.

Family Ties
Family Ties facilitates visits for children and their mothers at Albion Correctional Facility, New York’s largest women’s prison, offering parenting skills courses to incarcerated mothers, visiting support for their children, and family cohesion support upon release. Family Ties also offers “tele-visiting” for children when they cannot see their mothers in person.

Children & Youth Services
Children and Youth Services supports young people with incarcerated parents overcome stigma and isolation achieve their potential through counseling, support groups, mentoring, tutoring, supervised visiting, assistance in accessing higher education, and peer-led development activities. Youth benefit from the support of volunteers from faith- and community-based institutions.

Women’s Empowerment Project
The Women’s Empowerment Project serves women affected by the incarceration of their intimate partners or their children and women who are caring for children with an incarcerated parent. Women are able to find peer support, receive therapeutic counseling, and reduce their stress and isolation through the Project, which offers a toll-free hotline, a unique weekend workshop (LOL – Loving Out Loud) and solutions-based counseling.

Queensboro Family-Focused Reentry
Queensboro Family-Focused Reentry Project is a model approach to preparing families for the challenges of reentry and reintegration when people are released from incarceration. This pilot project at Queensboro Correctional Facility, a state prison in New York City, targets men who are within three months of release, providing transitional planning and family outreach, along with workshops and counseling designed to support them as they engage with the opportunities and barriers they find when they return home.

Strengthening Communities Children of Incarcerated Parents
Osborne provides leadership to the New York Initiative for Children of Incarcerated Parents, a collaborative system reform and advocacy effort that brings together public and private agencies and individuals concerned about how incarceration of parents affect children. The Initiative examines criminal justice, child welfare, education, and other policies and recommends changes that will improve outcomes for children at each stage of the process – from their parents arrest through incarceration and reentry.

Dutchess ReEntry
Dutchess ReEntry is one of many county-wide reentry initiatives in New York State. In partnership with the Dutchess County Criminal Justice Council and the Dutchess Collaborative ReEntry Project, a faith-based effort, the Osborne Association is the lead agency providing comprehensive reentry services to men and women returning to Dutchess County from state prisons. Dutchess ReEntry follows the National Institute of Correction's Transition from Prison to Community Initiative model, employing evidence-based practice along with traditional Osborne family and participant-centered programming.

For more information about the Osborne Association programs email info@osborneny.org.

LIFE Program Promotes Meaningful Coonections (no replies)

Jerry Bednarowski — Fri, 13 May 2011 19:58:27 -0400

LIFE Program Promotes Meaningful Connections

For more than 30 years, Centerforce has been a national leader in providing groundbreaking, evidence-based programs to improve the lives and strengthen the communities of incarcerated people and their loved ones.

Based in the San Francisco Bay area, the non-profit Centerforce organization develops and delivers innovative solutions by providing health education and family programs to this often neglected community. The aim of Centerforce’s programs and services is to:
• Foster transformative experiences during incarceration
• Promote ties between incarcerated people and their families to improve quality of life, support successful re-entry, and decrease re-incarceration
• Assist individuals in gaining access to needed services before and during re-entry to support successful re-entry and decrease re-incarceration
• Recognize the impact that incarceration has on the entire family and social system, and the importance of supporting all people whose lives are impacted by incarceration
• Educate men, women, and families about important health concerns that disproportionately affect people in prison

One of Centerforce’s noteworthy initiatives is its Leaders in Future Environments (LIFE) youth mentoring program. LIFE is a program for children of incarcerated parents, promoting meaningful connections between youth and caring adults in the community to increase youth potential for leadership and positive community involvement.

During the late 1990s, a group of volunteers took on the much needed task of addressing the challenges incarcerated parents face. In the process of working with incarcerated parents, the volunteers recognized the need to celebrate the strengths and unique qualities of the children who have been impacted by parental incarceration. Jo Chapman led these volunteers as they set out to create a safe place for youth to participate in positive recreational activities. With this concept in mind, they created what is today known as the LIFE Project, a program of Centerforce.

In the California counties of Alameda, Contra-Costa, Marin, San Francisco, and San Mateo; there are approximately 27,503 children of incarcerated parents. Serving youth between the ages of 11 and 17 living in the San Francisco Bay area, the LIFE Project provides ongoing support and positive role models to youth who have been impacted by parental incarceration. The LIFE Project accomplishes this by providing one-on-one mentoring, group activities every six weeks, and an annual retreat that focuses on the special needs and unique challenges that their mentees face.

The LIFE Project focuses on helping youth develop their capacity to succeed in education and in life. By empowering youth to make good decisions and set positive goals, the LIFE Project strives to:
• Build youth self-esteem and confidence
• Encourage on-going communication and relationship building with their incarcerated parent
• Expose youth to new life enriching experiences
• Provide peer support and adult role models
• Promote healthy life choices
• Strengthen family and peer relations
• Support academic achievement and positive attitudes towards education

All program mentors and volunteers must go through a background check, reference check, and an in-person interview. To be a mentor, volunteers must be at least 21 years of age, successfully complete a 2-day mentor training, and commit to one year of mentoring. LIFE staff train mentors on the impact of incarceration on children and families and supervise the mentors as they develop one-to-one relationships with the youth they are matched with.

For more information, contact the LIFE Project Coordinator at 415-456-9980 ext.117 or e-mail LIFEProject@Centerforce.org .

Cabinet Level "Reentry Council" Convened (no replies)

Jerry Bednarowski — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 23:34:29 -0400

Cabinet Level “Reentry Council” Convened

On Wednesday, January 5, 2011, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder convened the inaugural meeting of the Cabinet-level “Reentry Council” in Washington to identify and to advance effective public safety and prisoner reentry strategies.

In addition to the Attorney General, the council includes Departments of Education Secretary Arne Duncan; Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius; Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack; Interior Secretary Ken Salazar; Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan; Labor Secretary Hilda Solis; and Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki. Members also include Commissioner of the Social Security Administration, Michael Astrue; Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, R. Gil Kerlikowske; Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, Melody Barnes; Executive Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, Joshua DuBois; and Chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Jacqueline Berrien.

The council will address short-term and long-term goals through enhanced communication, coordination and collaboration across federal agencies. The mission of the council is threefold: to make communities safer by reducing recidivism and victimization; to assist those returning from prison and jail in becoming productive, tax paying citizens; and to save taxpayer dollars by lowering the direct and collateral costs of incarceration.
“Reentry provides a major opportunity to reduce recidivism, save taxpayer dollars and make our communities safer,” said Attorney General Holder. “More than two million people are behind bars, and 95 percent of them will be released back into their communities. By developing effective, evidence-based reentry programs, we can improve public safety and community well- being.”

Among its goals, the Reentry Council will meet semi-annually to leverage resources across agencies to reduce recidivism and victimization; identify evidence-based practices that advance the council’s mission; promote changes to federal statutes, policies and practices that focus on reducing crime; and identify federal policy opportunities and barriers to improve outcomes for the reentry community.

The council will be supported by an interagency staff group from 16 federal departments and offices. Since first convening in September 2010, the group has produced a collaborative “Inventory of Federal Resources Focusing on Prisoner Reentry at the State and Local Levels” and has worked with Justice Department grantee, the National Reentry Resource Center, to succinctly map out the various investments directed to the reentry population from across the administration (www.nationalreentryresourcecenter.org/national-criminal-justice-initiatives-map).

In Fiscal Year 2010, the Department of Justice awarded $100 million to support 178 state and local reentry grants to provide a wide range of services.

More information about reentry issues is at nationalreentryresourcecenter.org .

Engaging Offenders' Families in Reentry (1 reply)

Jerry Bednarowski — Fri, 27 May 2011 05:08:49 -0400

The quality of their relationship with family members is the most important factor in enabling inmates to make a successful transition back into the community, but maintaining family ties while incarcerated can be difficult.

Challenges to Staying in Contact with Inmates
In their publication, Engaging Offenders’ Families in Reentry, author: Margaret diZerega, Vera Institute of Justice and editors: Madeline M. Carter, Center for Effective Public Policy and Rachelle Giguere, Center for Effective Public Policy list the challenges family members faced in staying in contact with a family member who was serving time in prison.

Of 247 families surveyed by Naser & Visher in 2006, these were the chief challenges reported:
• Facility was too far away = 75%
• Cost of making or receiving phone calls = 52%
• Cost of visiting = 38%
• Prison environment is unpleasant = 36%
• No transportation = 34%
• Could not miss work = 32%
• Visitation schedule = 26%

Family Visitation in Prison
Allowing family visitation in prison is critical to maintaining family ties while offenders are incarcerated. Correctional facilities staff might assist offenders in maintaining contact with their families in the following ways:

Develop agency policy that recognizes and supports a family-focused approach:
 Build visitation into the incarcerated individual’s regular routine.
 Refrain from using contact with families as leverage or consequences for misconduct.
 Employ staff in the reception and visitation areas based on their skills in interacting with families.
 Offer visitation hours outside of regular working hours to facilitate family schedules.
 Allow and encourage inmates who are parents to visit with their children as frequently as possible (e.g., weekly or bi-weekly visits).
 Create a visiting environment that is welcoming to children and families (e.g., provide games and activities for children of different ages, allow inmates to have physical contact with children, when appropriate).

Keep family members informed of policies and events:
 Send information to families with the most up-to-date visitation policies and procedures.
 Maintain a staffed hotline or call center for families who have questions about the visitation process or family events.
 Assign case managers to be present to meet families during visitation and answer their questions.

Provide incentives for families to stay engaged in offenders’ lives:
 Host formal and informal events to encourage families to visit the facility (e.g., graduations, holiday parties).
 Provide or help to assure that transportation is available for families.
 Offer the use of video-teleconferencing for long-distance visitation and parent-teacher conferences.

In addition to the Engaging Offenders’ Families in Reentry publication, the Center for Effective Public Policy and its partners, the Urban Institute and the Carey Group, developed a series of tools to assist correctional staff in specific areas of their reentry work. The final products of this work include eleven Coaching Packets in three series. These Coaching Packets offer practical value beyond the jurisdictions involved in this initiative and are available to criminal justice professionals and their partners interested in enhancing their strategies for reducing recidivism and improving offender outcomes.

To download copies of the Coaching Packets, visit the Center’s website at [www.cepp.com] coaching.htm. To obtain further information on the use or content of any of the Coaching Packets contact:

Becki Ney, Principal,Center for Effective Public Policy
32 East Montgomery Avenue, Hatboro, PA 19040
Phone: (215) 956-2335, Email: bney@cepp.com

Impacts on the Family during Reentry (no replies)

Jerry Bednarowski — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 12:09:39 -0500

Impacts on the Family during Reentry

In making the transition back into the community, former inmates turn to their spouses, parents, siblings, grandparents, and other family members for assistance. These family members become the ‘front line’ of reentry, providing former inmates with critical material and emotional support including shelter, food, clothing, leads for jobs, and guidance in staying sober or avoiding criminal behavior.

As difficult as the period of incarceration is on families, an offender’s return home presents new challenges. In their publication, Engaging Offenders’ Families in Reentry, author: Margaret diZerega, Vera Institute of Justice and editors: Madeline M. Carter, Center for Effective Public Policy and Rachelle Giguere, Center for Effective Public Policy list conditions which contribute to the strain on many families:
• Financial hardships from supporting an additional family member who may not be able to contribute to the household income.
• Relationship problems or interpersonal conflicts due to the offender’s return to the household, such as dealing with the emotional concerns of a family member who may have been previously victimized by the offender, or strained relationships between the offender and children who may not understand why their parent was absent.
• Changes in the family dynamic upon the offender’s return, such as new patterns of authority, or changes in the family composition since the offender went to prison.
• Feelings of anxiety, anger, frustration, disappointment, or resentment if the offender begins or returns to using drugs or alcohol, or to criminal behavior while living in the community.
• Taking on new responsibilities as a result of the offender’s criminal justice status; for instance, family members may be expected to talk with parole officers, assist in monitoring whether the offender is following parole conditions, or install a home phone line for an electronic monitoring device.

In addition to the Engaging Offenders’ Families in Reentry publication, the Center for Effective Public Policy and its partners, the Urban Institute and the Carey Group, developed a series of tools to assist correctional staff in specific areas of their reentry work. The final products of this work include eleven Coaching Packets in three series. These Coaching Packets offer practical value beyond the jurisdictions involved in this initiative and are available to criminal justice professionals and their partners interested in enhancing their strategies for reducing recidivism and improving offender outcomes.

To download copies of the Coaching Packets, visit the Center’s website at [www.cepp.com] coaching.htm. To obtain further information on the use or content of any of the Coaching Packets contact:
Becki Ney, Principal,Center for Effective Public Policy
32 East Montgomery Avenue, Hatboro, PA 19040
Phone: (215) 956-2335
Email: bney@cepp.com

Engaging Offenders’ Families in Reentry (no replies)

Jerry Bednarowski — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 12:07:08 -0500

Engaging Offenders’ Families in Reentry

In 2007, the Center for Effective Public Policy and its partners, the Urban Institute and the Carey Group, were selected by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Assistance to serve as the training and technical assistance providers to the Fiscal Year 2007 Prisoner Reentry Initiative grantees. The project team served in this capacity from April 2008 to June 2010.

As a part of its duties, the Center developed a series of tools to assist grantees in specific areas of their reentry work. The final products of this work include eleven Coaching Packets in three series. These Coaching Packets offer practical value beyond the jurisdictions involved in this initiative and are available to criminal justice professionals and their partners interested in enhancing their strategies for reducing recidivism and improving offender outcomes.

• Series 1 provides a blueprint for an effective offender reentry system. This series provides a conceptual framework for addressing prisoner reentry at the policy level; outlines a strategic planning process to support implementation efforts; and explores the establishment of successful collaborative partnerships at the policy and case management levels.
• Series 2 addresses key issues related to the delivery of evidence-based services to offenders. This series summarizes the key literature with regard to implementing evidence-based practices; explores advances in approaches to case management; addresses the important role of staff in changing offender behavior; and summarizes research and practice as it relates to working with women offenders, engaging families, and mentoring.
• Series 3 provides guidance and tools to ensure that reentry efforts achieve their intended outcomes. This series describes methods to @#$%& the effectiveness of reentry efforts and offers strategies for achieving continuous quality improvement.

The Engaging Offenders’ Families in Reentry Coaching Packet focuses on a strength-based, family-focused approach to offender management. Included in this packet are sections on:
• The Effects of Incarceration on Families
• Families as a Natural Resource for Enhancing Reentry Efforts
• Research on Families and Family Support in Reentry Efforts
• Engaging Families as Part of an Evidence-Based Approach to Offender Reentry
• Implementing a Strength-Based, Family-Focused Approach

To download copies of the Coaching Packets, visit the Center’s website at [www.cepp.com] coaching.htm. To obtain further information on the use or content of any of the Coaching Packets, or on the 2007 PRI Training and Technical Assistance Program, please contact:
Becki Ney, Principal
Center for Effective Public Policy
32 East Montgomery Avenue
Hatboro, PA 19040
Phone: (215) 956-2335
Email: bney@cepp.com
submitted by: Denise Justice, CEA President

Easing the Transition to Parent and Partner (no replies)

Jerry Bednarowski — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 12:01:59 -0500

Easing the Transition to Parent and Partner

Redgranite (Wisconsin) Correctional Institution Chaplain Deborah Mejchar and Wisconsin Resource Center Human Services Program Coordinator Tamra Oman teamed to create the Home Program at the Redgranite Correctional Institution to help offenders transition from an incarcerated person to a parent and partner in the community.

The Home Program allows participants to discuss their concerns, build on the positive, and plan for a more successful future for their families. Many offenders and family members are not prepared for this process. They all have ideas of “what it will be like,” but they hardly know each other after a long period of absence. This program is geared towards developing a realistic idea of what is to come and what the individual’s responsibilities are.

The program designed by Deborah and Tamra assists offenders and their family members in having a healthy, effective, and realistic approach during the transition period from incarceration to freedom. Its focus is to develop skills in communication, celebrate family and community, and provide informational resources. In doing so, the Home Program attempts to offer an opportunity for higher success rates, to reduce recidivism, and to break the cycle of familial incarceration. The goals of the program are to gain knowledge of what to expect, address concerns, gain helpful tools, and gather resources and information to continue the momentum of becoming a healthy family after release.

The Home Program consists of three sessions per group of participants:

Session 1: Getting to know one another, sharing past family celebrations, future ideas, and identifying concerns
• Icebreaker exercise
• Sharing favorite family memories
• Sharing things to look forward to
• Identifying and addressing concerns
• Debriefing: questions, answers, and educational materials

Session 2: Celebrating cultural diversity and sharing learning opportunities
• Icebreaker exercise
• Familial diversity celebration and family enhancement rotation (Each family rotates every 15 minute to experience various games, story telling, music, speakers, etc…)
• Family time to discuss and share what they learned and what they appreciate about their family heritage or newfound understanding.
• Sharing with the larger group their experiences
• Debriefing: questions, answers, and educational materials

Session 3: Role playing and brainstorming previously identified concerns
• Icebreaker exercise
• Role playing assignments and preparation
• Role plays, participant brainstorming, and developing collective solutions
• Each family group shares something they learned, enjoyed, and will attempt to apply
• Debriefing: questions, answers, educational materials, and presentation of certificates of participation

Each session is designed to be fun and exciting. Participants are asked to share good, bad memories and family experiences and what they are looking forward to.

Participants learn that it is so important for people in relationships, regardless of the definition, to identify areas that they appreciate in themselves, their partner, their children, and their family members, as well as, identifying areas of concern. In order to state their feelings, offenders learn that their feelings must be honestly and realistically identified. Then their concerns and feelings need to be expressed in a manner that is not blaming or offensive. In order to do this, each person has to be aware of what they value most, what they are willing to compromise, and how to share their ideas, thoughts, and feelings in a healthy manner. Reintegration is a complex, diverse, and exciting opportunity that is often easier said then done.

In order to be successful at reintegration, participants set specific goals. Identifying these areas of concern and finding out how or what got them to this point in their lives helps participants prepare a plan of action to have the life they deserve and desire to have. Participants work together to anticipate problems and develop effective solutions.

For more information about the Home Program contact deborah.mejchar@wisconsin.gov .

Updated Resources Available for Inmates Headed Back to School (no replies)

Jerry Bednarowski — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 11:56:49 -0500

Office of Vocational and Adult Education of the U.S. Department of Education just updated its planning guide, Back to School: A Planning Guide to Continuing Your Education After Prison, by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice Prisoner Reentry Institute, which OVAE funded. This update reflects the most recent information on federal student financial aid for inmates headed for release. Topics range from setting personal educational goals and committing to a long-term education development plan to finding, accessing, and paying for an education program.

Ninety-four percent of adult male inmates approaching release who were interviewed for a recent national evaluation identified education as a personal re-entry need.

Free copies of the guide are available in limited quantities from EDPubs by requesting item number ED005088P.

submitted by: Peggy Meyers, Wisconsin Technical College System

Black River Correctional Center Hosts Job Fair (no replies)

Jerry Bednarowski — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 11:34:36 -0500

Black River Correctional (Wisconsin) Center Hosts Job Fair

On Monday, May 10, Black River Correctional Center hosted their first ever Job Fair. Fahrner Asphalt Sealer, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Interstate Roofing, Mathy Construction Company, Wisconsin Job Services, Office of Veteran Services were just a few that participated.

They met with 100 inmates anxious for the time when they will be released. Anxious to know, can a felon get a job? Anxious to know, can I get a job? Questions were answered with a few moments of conversation, some literature, and job applications. Inmate after inmate reported they really appreciated the opportunity to talk with the guests. So many fears were put to rest at the Job Fair. “It really felt good to know there are employers willing to hire felons.”

Staff worked hard to contact employers and assist with the event. Twelve businesses and services participated in the Job Fair. A lunch was served and a tour of the facility was offered.

Black River Correctional Center is a boot camp style minimum security facility that houses 100 inmates. It is a positive program in which all the men undergo intensive drug and alcohol treatment, criminal and rational thinking treatment, education, physical training, work experience, and military bearing in a 6-month earned release program. Preparing inmates for re-entry back into the community is incorporated in all phases of the program. All inmates complete an employment workshop in which they learn to prepare a resume, job application, interviews, and appropriate job seeking strategies.
by: Linda Heller, BRCC Teacher

President's Council Report - July 2010 (no replies)

murray ellison — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 10:22:36 -0400

Please review and submit any feedback on the proposed re-organization of the SIG's and the President's Council to me or Tim Phillians ASAP. Thanks for everyone's support over the last 4 years from current Chair-Murray Ellison. Beginning July 4, Tim will be the new Chairman of the President's Council. Please give him and our new proposed re-organization of the SIGs, your support!

Career Resource Centers – An Emerging Strategy for Improving Offender Employment Outcomes (no replies)

jrak — Sun, 23 May 2010 12:38:13 -0400

The National Institute of Corrections is pleased to announce the release of Career Resource Centers – An Emerging Strategy for Improving Offender Employment Outcomes. This information-rich bulletin provides a step-by-step guide for setting up a Career Resource Center in a correctional facility, a parole or probation office, or a community-based organization. It includes a companion, multimedia DVD that contains many of the resources needed to operate an effective center. Through an easy-to-use menu that parallels the written text, you can watch videotaped interviews with practitioners, install career assessment software, and read dozens of documents related to career exploration, offender reentry, collaboration building and much more. For your no cost copy of this important bulletin, call NIC’s information center at 1 (800) 877-1461 and ask for item number 023066 or visit NIC on the web at [nicic.gov].

A one-minute video describing the bulletin and DVD can be found here: [www.youtube.com]

Proposed Consolidation of SIG's (no replies)

murray ellison — Wed, 12 May 2010 08:44:17 -0400

I am considering recommending to consolidate the SIG's. There are only a handful of active SIG's and SIG Chairs at the present time. Under the proposed consolidation, we might bring the SIG's down to 3: Adult, Youth and Administrative. The present SIG Chairs would remain as Chairs or Moderators of the SIG's. Under the re-organization, any Chair would be encouraged to post or respond to any issue or question that came up on any SIG Discussion Group.
* Adult might encompass Parenting, Transition & Re-Entry, Adult Research,
Post Secondary Education, Student Affiliations and Female Offenders.
* Youth might encompass Juvenile Education, Literacy, Arts, Special Education...
* Administrative might encompass state and school administrators, reaserch and
legislation.
Please provide feedback whether you are a SIG Chair or CEA Member. I will need to provide recommendations to the CEA Executive Board by June 15 and the President's Council at the upcoming July conference.
Also, please note a change in my home email to: bluemur@verizon.net
Thanks

Dr. Murray Ellison
CEA President's Council Chairman

An Organization Worth Watching. (no replies)

LindaA — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 11:37:14 -0400

Here is a link to a newly forme group in my home area. If I were not moving away in a month, I would certainly be joining them. You may want to follow their progress online.

www.failsafe-era.biz