Transition / Re-Entry :
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The Transition / Re-Entry SIG Is dedicated to providing support to individuals preparing incarcerated and detained individuals to return to become productive members of their communities . Transitional professionals help prepare Transition Plans with their clients, including preparation for career development, continuing education, housing and participation in community services.
Washington State's Preparing for Release Program
Posted by:
Jerry Bednarowski
()
Date: July 31, 2009 08:36PM
Preparing for Release by Rebuilding Families
Ten plus years after I resigned my position as a parenting and family educator inside adult prisons, I went back inside to help inmates and their families prepare for release. I am one of several trained facilitators volunteering in the Preparing for Release program developed in cooperation with Washington State’s Department of Corrections.
Rebuilding Families, Inc., the volunteer group with whom I work, sponsors and facilitates the program inside the state’s three women’s prisons. The program is presented in four sessions over two week-ends. Its intensity leaves me exhausted and exhilarated.
The women eligible to participate in Preparing for Release are nearing their release dates, have family members who are willing to help them with the reentry process and are ready to make realistic choices for their own futures. Some of them were acquainted with the Rebuilding Families organization and had applied for the association’s assistance in the physical transition from prison to community.
The first session, a Friday afternoon, involved only offenders and volunteer facilitators. We spent some time becoming comfortable in our respective teacher/student roles (for that is what they are) and discussing why offenders need to prepare for release. The student manual opens with a pretest that directs thinking and reasoning, and facilitates interaction.
Reuniting with family members after long separations is an emotional experience. Students started lists of their expectations (or hopes) and concerns (or fears). They knew their family members would complete similar exercises in the early part of the second session. That helped us segue to communication skills, how messages get garbled, and how to practice effective communication in families. Most of us have some level of dysfunction in our families. In the short time we’d been together as teachers and students, we’d become comfortable enough to do some self-disclosure.
The second session covers an entire Saturday. Our students arrived first and endured a recap of the Friday afternoon session while they awaited the arrival of their family members. They would have a few moments for greetings and an opportunity to get a bite of snacks set out for the families. Then they separated for the morning. At least one volunteer facilitator worked with the students on roles and rules, expectations and behaviors, while two or more coached family members in preparation for the afternoon.
After lunch together, offender students and their families came together to share what they’d learned, discuss their communication styles and begin preparing for a Family Re-entry agreement. Volunteer facilitator’s became negotiators, coaches or an extra pair of ears to listen to hopes and dreams, concerns and fears. We clarified, offered information about community resources and intervened only when invited. We had several boxes of tissues placed throughout the room. We knew there would be emotional moments.
At the end of the second session, offenders and their family members agreed to spend the next two weeks thinking and writing about the work they’d accomplished to that point. During that interval, one offender’s mother called our lead facilitator to say she wouldn’t be back. She didn’t trust her daughter enough to let her move back home.
The third session, again a Friday afternoon, examines personal and family roles, and the likelihood some of them have changed. My 18 years as a parenting and family educator proved helpful during this session. We discussed many positive roles and some that are less admirable. Some of the women admitted to being manipulators, a behavior that is often part of drug abuse. One woman said, “I’m a criminal, a thug.” We helped her look at her other roles. She was reaching the end of a long sentence; she appreciated discovering several more desirable behaviors she’s learned during the last few years.
Old behaviors can change, though it requires determination. Being willing to change, or choosing to change, is the first step. We worked on establishing limits and boundaries, discussing them within the family unit, and accepting those other family members adopt as part of the re-entry plan. We’d reached the point where students started a list of adjustments they realized they would have to make when they walked out of the prison gates.
Nerves dominated the fourth session and final session, the Saturday when offenders met with one facilitator and families with another to prioritize their re-entry activities. Many on both sides noted that the offender needed to stay clean and sober. That meant attending AA or NA meetings, possibly daily for 90 days. Offenders needed to know if they could expect financial support while they searched for work, and how soon the family expected them to get a job. Family members noted that the offender needed to take all prescribed medications as directed.
Children are a major issue in negotiated agreements. Our offender students who had young children still had some work to do to prepare for reuniting with their children. Those who had the benefit of parent education while incarcerated were more aware of the challenges awaiting them.
When we all came together on Saturday afternoon to finalize the Re-entry Agreement form, some families requested a facilitator’s presence. Others were ready to work on their own. I spent an hour with one couple who had some major unresolved issues. My role was mediator, a skill I’d trained for somewhere during my correctional education career. The couple wanted to resume life together, but they had many hurdles left. They’d avoided discussing the difficult issues when he visited her inside prison. They both found it easier to tell me their concerns and let me restate what I heard. By the end of our private hour, some tears were shed, some agreements were reached, and some issues were left on the table, in the open now, for further discussion. They are Preparing for Release.
More information about Preparing for Release is available at info@preparingforrelease.com. For some female offender specific information, contact Jan walker at janwalker@centurytel.net.
Rebuilding Families, Inc., is a nonprofit that assists Washington state female offenders with their transition back into the community and reunification with their families. www.rebuildingfamilies.org.
by: Jan Walker, Gig Harbor, Washington
Ten plus years after I resigned my position as a parenting and family educator inside adult prisons, I went back inside to help inmates and their families prepare for release. I am one of several trained facilitators volunteering in the Preparing for Release program developed in cooperation with Washington State’s Department of Corrections.
Rebuilding Families, Inc., the volunteer group with whom I work, sponsors and facilitates the program inside the state’s three women’s prisons. The program is presented in four sessions over two week-ends. Its intensity leaves me exhausted and exhilarated.
The women eligible to participate in Preparing for Release are nearing their release dates, have family members who are willing to help them with the reentry process and are ready to make realistic choices for their own futures. Some of them were acquainted with the Rebuilding Families organization and had applied for the association’s assistance in the physical transition from prison to community.
The first session, a Friday afternoon, involved only offenders and volunteer facilitators. We spent some time becoming comfortable in our respective teacher/student roles (for that is what they are) and discussing why offenders need to prepare for release. The student manual opens with a pretest that directs thinking and reasoning, and facilitates interaction.
Reuniting with family members after long separations is an emotional experience. Students started lists of their expectations (or hopes) and concerns (or fears). They knew their family members would complete similar exercises in the early part of the second session. That helped us segue to communication skills, how messages get garbled, and how to practice effective communication in families. Most of us have some level of dysfunction in our families. In the short time we’d been together as teachers and students, we’d become comfortable enough to do some self-disclosure.
The second session covers an entire Saturday. Our students arrived first and endured a recap of the Friday afternoon session while they awaited the arrival of their family members. They would have a few moments for greetings and an opportunity to get a bite of snacks set out for the families. Then they separated for the morning. At least one volunteer facilitator worked with the students on roles and rules, expectations and behaviors, while two or more coached family members in preparation for the afternoon.
After lunch together, offender students and their families came together to share what they’d learned, discuss their communication styles and begin preparing for a Family Re-entry agreement. Volunteer facilitator’s became negotiators, coaches or an extra pair of ears to listen to hopes and dreams, concerns and fears. We clarified, offered information about community resources and intervened only when invited. We had several boxes of tissues placed throughout the room. We knew there would be emotional moments.
At the end of the second session, offenders and their family members agreed to spend the next two weeks thinking and writing about the work they’d accomplished to that point. During that interval, one offender’s mother called our lead facilitator to say she wouldn’t be back. She didn’t trust her daughter enough to let her move back home.
The third session, again a Friday afternoon, examines personal and family roles, and the likelihood some of them have changed. My 18 years as a parenting and family educator proved helpful during this session. We discussed many positive roles and some that are less admirable. Some of the women admitted to being manipulators, a behavior that is often part of drug abuse. One woman said, “I’m a criminal, a thug.” We helped her look at her other roles. She was reaching the end of a long sentence; she appreciated discovering several more desirable behaviors she’s learned during the last few years.
Old behaviors can change, though it requires determination. Being willing to change, or choosing to change, is the first step. We worked on establishing limits and boundaries, discussing them within the family unit, and accepting those other family members adopt as part of the re-entry plan. We’d reached the point where students started a list of adjustments they realized they would have to make when they walked out of the prison gates.
Nerves dominated the fourth session and final session, the Saturday when offenders met with one facilitator and families with another to prioritize their re-entry activities. Many on both sides noted that the offender needed to stay clean and sober. That meant attending AA or NA meetings, possibly daily for 90 days. Offenders needed to know if they could expect financial support while they searched for work, and how soon the family expected them to get a job. Family members noted that the offender needed to take all prescribed medications as directed.
Children are a major issue in negotiated agreements. Our offender students who had young children still had some work to do to prepare for reuniting with their children. Those who had the benefit of parent education while incarcerated were more aware of the challenges awaiting them.
When we all came together on Saturday afternoon to finalize the Re-entry Agreement form, some families requested a facilitator’s presence. Others were ready to work on their own. I spent an hour with one couple who had some major unresolved issues. My role was mediator, a skill I’d trained for somewhere during my correctional education career. The couple wanted to resume life together, but they had many hurdles left. They’d avoided discussing the difficult issues when he visited her inside prison. They both found it easier to tell me their concerns and let me restate what I heard. By the end of our private hour, some tears were shed, some agreements were reached, and some issues were left on the table, in the open now, for further discussion. They are Preparing for Release.
More information about Preparing for Release is available at info@preparingforrelease.com. For some female offender specific information, contact Jan walker at janwalker@centurytel.net.
Rebuilding Families, Inc., is a nonprofit that assists Washington state female offenders with their transition back into the community and reunification with their families. www.rebuildingfamilies.org.
by: Jan Walker, Gig Harbor, Washington
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