36522 2009-10-23 Programs --- - California - California - California We remove visible gang relate/anti social tattoos in exchange for community service hours. Program Examples 36494 2009-10-21 Programs --- - Kentucky The Louisville Metro Re-entry Task Force located in Louisville, Kentucky and has been in existence since before November 2005, but in that month, a new vision emerged as seen in our mission statement and goals listed below. The task force has been established as a nonprofit organization with 501(c) (3) status. The Louisville Metro Reentry Task Force Mission Statement is: To improve the reentry process for ex-offenders enabling them to become productive citizens by identifying and removing barriers that impede their fair chance at success, and promote community awareness, thereby enhancing public safety. The goals have been established as follows: • To act as the umbrella organization for local ex-offender reentry programs and initiatives by: 1) Establishing a strong network of organizations to promote community-wide coordination and collaboration 2) Setting residential standards for aftercare ministries and local organizations providing services to ex-offenders 3) Acting as a clearinghouse of information and a conduit for funding opportunities • To serve as an advocate and community voice for ex-offender reentry initiatives • To provide training for both professionals and volunteers through workshops/conferences and assist with program development. Program Examples 36568 2009-10-27 Programs --- - California Focused in the South Los Angeles area of the City of Los Angeles, New Start LA provides community supports,intensive vocational assessments, transitional employment and job placement services to 100 ex-felons exiting the California prison system. This program utilizes community partnerships (Special Service for Groups) for case management services, the Chicago School of Psychology for intensive vocational assessments and workshops to address criminogenic needs, job readiness training (Friends Outside Los Angeles County and the One-Stop Employment Centers for job placement and retention. Program Examples 36525 2009-10-23 Programs --- - Arizona The Primavera Foundation's PREP Program (Prisoner Re-Entry Partnership) is funded by the US Department of Labor. The program assists recently released, non-violent offenders obtain and maintain employment. PREP offers case management, mentoring, supportive services, education and job training. Program Examples 36566 2009-10-27 Programs --- - Kentucky Prodigal Ministries is an Christian aftercare program helping men and women (our clients) avoid prison return. Prodigal offers love, training and motivation through rigorous programs and disciplined living in residential housing centers. Through role modeling and mentoring programs it engenders a strong desire and motivation toward purposeful, focused living, fostering self-respect and a sense of accomplishment. By encouraging and enabling education it equips clients with skills for employment and self-support. Recovery from addictive illness is promoted, including active participation in Twelve Step programs. Our mission is to help them become self-sufficient and avoid prison return enabling them to rejoin their families or loved ones who have given up hope. Program Examples 36501 2009-12-03 Programs --- - Ohio - Ohio - Ohio We have two programs: 1) The Next Level Job Readiness program which provides job preparation and placement for 17-21 year olds who are out of school and 2) GED Preparation which is offered to everyone in the community, ages 17 and older. Program Examples 36545 2009-10-26 Programs --- - Illinois Since its founding in 1972, Safer Foundation has been at the forefront of programming for people involved in the criminal justice system as they return to their communities. Safer Foundation's mission is to reduce recidivism by supporting, through a full spectrum of services, the efforts of people with criminal records to become employed, law-abiding members of the community. Employment and employment-related services are the cornerstones of Safer Foundation’s service delivery system, including job preparedness training, job placement — both transitional and long-term — and retention services. Safer annually serves over 10,000 people with criminal records in Illinois Program Examples 36497 2009-10-21 Programs --- - Texas The Jail In-Reach Program assists individuals who have experienced homelessness prior to incarceration, are currently incarcerated, and are about to be released and have no housing options. Clients must have been incarcerated for over six months. Clients eligible for the program must also have a chemical dependency issue and/ or mental illness. A case manager works with the client after their release in obtaining housing, income, and achieving self-sufficiency. Program Examples 36468 2009-10-19 Programs --- - New York Integrated case-management and employment services for previously incarcerated individuals. Program Examples 36420 2009-10-13 Programs --- - Minnesota The NetWork for Better Futures is social enterprise dedicated to reducing the economic and social costs of high-risk adults, primarily African American men, with histories of incarceration, substance abuse, mental illness, chronic unemployment, and homelessness. This innovative endeavor is designed to respond immediately to participants’ most basic needs: safe, decent, affordable housing and a job. The NetWork was created and is being sponsored by a team of Minnesota’s leading healthcare, housing, workforce, community corrections, and human service practitioners. Program Examples 23283 Law Enforcement 2009-09-29 Programs --- [] The Community Justice Project (“C.J.P.”) is a collaborative between the Minneapolis Police Department, the Greater Minneapolis Council of Churches, and the Hennepin County Adult Correctional Facility. The Project's primary goal is to increase public safety by reducing recidivism through changing the behavior of offenders and effecting system change. Each week C.J.P. interviews inmates at the Adult Corrections Facility (“A.C.F.”) who are referred from three primary sources: the Community and Law Enforcement Action Network (C.L.E.A.N.) list of chronic offenders for the City of Minneapolis; the Probation, ACF staff and, self-referrals from inmates. After an inmate is interviewed C.J.P. matches him or her with a mentor and/or refers the inmate to other agencies or resources. Project volunteers make a commitment to attend training and work with offenders for one year prior to their release and re-entry back into the community. Volunteers mentor offenders at the Adult Correction Facility in Plymouth. The mentoring process begins at least one month prior to a matched inmate’s release and continues for another nine (9) months upon the inmate’s return to the community. C.J.P. communicates with mentors on a monthly basis to provide ongoing support and supervision. In addition, if an inmate has a probation or parole officer, C.J.P. tries to connect that officer with the inmate’s mentor. Program Examples 22250 Corrections 2009-09-22 Programs --- - Pennsylvania From 2001-2003 a core group of DOC research and evaluation staff in collaboration with outside experts, reviewed and pilot-tested several different risk and needs assessment instruments in an effort to determine which instruments best fit the needs of their particular population. Five different instruments were pilot-tested with incoming admissions at seven prisons across the state. After analyzing data from the pilot-tests the researchers recommended three instruments for use in PA correctional facilities: the Level of Services Inventory – Revised (LSI-R), the Criminal Sentiment Scale Modified (CSS – M), and the Hostile Interpretations Questionnaire (HIQ). Program Examples 22240 2009-09-22 Programs --- - New York The Doe Fund’s Ready, Willing & Able (RWA) program is a prisoner reentry program that helps newly released parolees permanently break the cycle of incarceration. In addition to the paid transitional work at the heart of the program, RWA also provides comprehensive social and educational services; safe, secure, drug-free housing (to those who would otherwise become homeless upon release); drug testing and counseling; vocational training; job prep and placement services; and lifetime graduate assistance. <p>The Doe Fund (TDF) works to empower newly released formerly incarcerated individuals to become – and stay – productive, law-abiding citizens and parents. Through its acclaimed work-based program, Ready, Willing & Able, TDF provides new parolees with paid work and training; safe, secure, drug-free housing; job counseling and placement services; individualized case management; sobriety through mandatory drug testing and intensive relapse prevention; and lifetime graduate support. For those new parolees who already have approved housing, the innovative non-residential Ready, Willing & Able–Day (RWA-Day) program provides services to parolees while they reside in supervised housing in the community.</p> <p>Individuals interested in RWA or RWA-Day can request a referral from their supervising parole or probation officers. In addition, The Doe Fund conducts information sessions and pre-release interviews for inmates at the Queensboro State Correctional Facility.</p> Program Examples 22219 Law Enforcement 2009-09-22 Programs --- - Tennessee As part of the Knoxville Public Safety Collaborative, the Knoxville Police Department (KPD) helps monitor and check selected parolees and probationers for compliance with curfews and other conditions of supervision. Officers are aware of program participants through the lists that are sent out by the KPD Community Corrections Program Manager—usually on a weekly basis for probationers and on a monthly basis for parolees. Should an officer have questions about someone’s supervision status, he or she can contact probation or parole or the KPD Community Corrections Program Manager, who is on call 24/7. Any information that officers collect during checks or other contacts with program participants are recorded on field interview cards, which are forwarded either electronically or in hard copy to the assigned probation or parole officer. Additionally, KPD arrest reports are generated daily through the Knox County Judicial Information Management System (JIMS) and electronically sent to the Probation and Parole Office. Program Examples 22049 2009-09-22 Programs --- - District of Columbia Nearly 10,000 inmates from Washington, D.C. are serving their sentences in federal prisons across the United States. Hope House provides programming to help men who are incarcerated in prisons outside the Washington, D.C. area to stay connected to their families. <p>Through the Father to Child Program, fathers who are incarcerated at a North Carolina prison can regularly communicate with their children back in district of columbia. Every two weeks, the children go to Hope House in Washington, D.C. to see and talk to their fathers using internet technology. Hope House also runs a Father to Child Summer Camp, which brings children to prisons to spend a week with their fathers. The children are with their fathers in the prison each day for several hours. A staff of Hope House counselors guides them through crafts, drama, games, creative writing and other activities. Hope House currently hosts Summer Camps in prisons in Cumberland, MD, and in Winton, NC. </p> <p>In addition to their visitation programs, Hope House also offers The Father to Child Reading Program and provides children's books for inmates to read into an audio tape recorder. When the recording is completed, the book (inscribed by the father) and the taped story are mailed to the inmate's child. Hope House offers this program in several federal and federal contract prisons. The Father to Child Reading Program is used by prisons as a companion to reading and literacy, parenting, and other education programs. </p> Program Examples 21652 2009-09-22 Programs --- - Kansas Through the Compassionate Ministry Center, Gra- cious Promise provides services, including food and clothing assistance, counseling, and shelter for families affected by the incarceration of a parent, guardian, or spouse. Grandma’s House is a new facility designed to provide care for infants born to incarcerated women and improve the quality of the mother-child relationship. <p>Gracious Promise staff visit a nearby privately run presentencing holding facility at the Leavenworth Prison complex twice a week to reach out to incar- cerated individuals concerning family issues. They may also testify in court on behalf of offenders. <p>At the Compassionate Ministry Center, families of incarcerated individuals participate in workshops to identify problems and determine solutions to issues related to incarceration and reunification with a family member. Family coun- seling services (provided on a volunteer basis by a counseling services agency) and mentorship pro- grams are available, as is direct assistance in the form of clothing, groceries, or assistance paying utility bills. Additional services include STEPS, a GED program which serves high-risk youth offenders and some adult offenders who partici- pated in literacy programs while incarcerated. The Compassionate Ministry Center hosts a monthly roundtable of representatives of up to 48 criminal justice agencies and service providers to discuss linkages and gaps in serving released individuals. Some released individuals work at the Compassionate Ministry Center to fulfill the community service requirements of their release plans. <p>Gracious Promise is currently building a Grandma’s House to provide care throughout the incarceration period for infants born to incarcer- ated women. Gracious Promise will facilitate 6 weeks of breastfeeding visits, weekly visits, parent- ing skills training for mothers, and planning for housing and career-track jobs for the period after release. Program Examples 21651 2009-09-22 Programs --- - Iowa Iowa’s Sixth Judicial District places high risk parol- ees in a program that issues graduated sanctions through an Administrative Law Judge and leverages community resources by involving leaders from vari- ous neighborhood organizations. <p>The Department of Correctional Services in Iowa’s Sixth Judicial District selects twenty-five high risk parolees to participate in the Welcome and Re- source Notification (WARN) program. Participants are generally career criminals or gang members with a history of noncompliance who have not succeeded in prior treatment programs. <p>Upon release, participants are supervised by an officer from the high risk parole unit. In addition, participants who violate the terms and conditions of their release must report to an Administrative Law Judge, who works in conjunction with the supervising officer to determine sanc- tions. Once an individual has committed a violation, he or she must meet with the Administrative Law Judge on a weekly basis. The Administrative Law Judge also serves as the judicial authority that imposes sanctions for participants in the Sixth Judicial District’s reentry programs for individuals who have mental health disorders or have been dually diagnosed with mental health and sub- stance abuse problems. <p>A number of community leaders also participate in the WARN program to represent the community and leverage resources for the transition process. These representatives include leaders from neighborhood associations, law enforcement officers, members of faith-based communities, and potential employers. Some WARN participants are linked to mentors from these groups. Program Examples 21650 2009-09-22 Programs --- - Iowa The Matrix is an intranet-based data management system developed by Iowa’s Sixth Judicial District Department of Correctional Services to assess the risk and need of offenders and match them with available treatment resources and supervision strategies. <p>This computerized assessment tool synthesizes re- sults from a dozen individual validated risk assess- ment tools, each of which has been evaluated and sold by outside organizations. The Matrix enables community corrections officers in the Sixth Judi- cial District, which has purchased each of these individual tools, to enter results in a single form and adjust supervision methods accordingly. <p>The purpose of collecting this data on one form is to identify available treatment options and necessary accountability measures. The Matrix automates the process of identifying appropriate options, based on risk, need, and responsiveness, and presents those options to agents along with a range of information for decision support. It is also helping the District to develop protocols for delivering effective services while using resources wisely, andit provides administrators useful infor- mation for agency-wide resource allocation. The Matrix consists of two axes: risk (control) and need (treatment). Four levels are possible on each axis: low, moderate, elevated, and high. The client population is divided into groups and subgroups, with specific control and treatment options available to each via Matrix screens. The Matrix interfaces with a database to provide agents data on offender success rates, program effec- tiveness, client profiles, and other information. <p>With this information, staff select the appropriate option, and the Matrix automatically displays the aggregate success rate for the option selected as applied in the District. <p>Courts in the Sixth Judicial District have en- dorsed the Matrix and sentence people according to the graduated sanctions continuum—although the judge retains the ability to set specific sentenc- ing criteria. By placing offenders on this contin- uum, community corrections can move them up and down as they see fit (based on outcomes from the Matrix). Community corrections officers, how- ever, can not send a parolee to jail for technical violations, but can send them to a halfway house and can move a parolee to an unsupervised level. Program Examples 21649 2009-09-22 Programs --- - Iowa The Iowa Department of Corrections offers inmates the option to enroll in online courses offered by community and private colleges. Since the mid 1990s, the Iowa Department of Corrections, through the Iowa Communication Network (ICN), has provided incarcerated indi- viduals the opportunity to take courses online at the individual’s expense. Some 15 to 20 students per semester take 10 to 15 courses at community and private colleges and universities over the ICN, earning college degrees and certificates. Program Examples 21648 2009-09-22 Programs --- - Indiana In 1999, the Indiana state legislature enacted a law providing that state inmates can be transferred to a community corrections program or a program of supervision by a county probation office 60 to 180 days prior to their release date. <p>Indiana courts can assign individuals who have been convicted of a crime to the Community Transition Program (CTP), a community correc- tions program, or (in a county that does not have a community corrections program) a program of supervision by the probation department. To be eligible for the CTP, individuals must be serving a sentence of at least two years, have Indiana resi- dency status, and have no outstanding warrants and detainers. <p>Participants serve 60 to 180 days in the CTP, depending on the class of their crime, after which time they are discharged or released to parole or probation as ordered by the court. Sixty days prior to the date when an individual is eligible to begin the CTP, the Department of Correction sends notification to his or her sentencing court. The court then decides whether to allow the individual to enter the program or not. <p>Individuals accepted into the CTP are trans- ported by the Department of Correction to their sentencing county, where they are supervised by either the local community corrections program or by probation. Programming is up to the discre- tion of each county but may include work release, home detention, and day reporting. Some counties use assessment instruments, such as the LSI-R, to determine programming for individuals being transferred to CTPs. Several counties have formed transition teams to work with participants, parole, and probation. Each county receives 35 dollars per day for each participant during the first thirty days of programming, after which time the rate chang- es to 15 dollars per day. Program Examples 21647 2009-09-22 Programs --- - Indiana Blue Jacket, Inc. is a nonprofit organization that was created by and runs under the auspices of Allen County Community Corrections. The organization offers pre-employment job training, transitional job placement and support services for ex-offenders. <p>Participants in the training program at Blue Jack- et, “Employment Academy,” are referred through Allen County Community Corrections’ Reentry Court and home detention programs. The Employ- ment Academy consists of 60 hours of rigorous curriculum-based and on-the-job skills develop- ment, all of which takes place during a two-week time span. Students at the Academy spend 30 classroom hours learning “soft skills” such as job- searching, interviewing, filling out applications, résumé writing, and workplace expectations. Ivy Tech State College provides class space and com- puters for students to write résumés and complete vocational and interest assessments. In addition to classroom time, students spend 30 hours a week at community service jobs, where they focus on effective communication and problem-solving. <p>After successful completion of the Employment Academy, a Job Developer screens and matches clients with employers using databases of employers with a history of hiring individuals with a criminal record. (The databases are available through Community Corrections and other orga- nizations.) The Job Developer makes cold calls to employers to enquire about positions and sets up interviews for clients. Employment is contracted for three to six months, with the possibility of hiring the employee full time upon completion of the transitional term. Employers receive $1,150 as reimbursement for training and retaining pro- gram participants. During the transitional term, a staff person will follow up on the employee over the phone and during scheduled meetings. <p>Blue Jacket currently receives its funding from Community Corrections. However, it is interested in becoming an independent social enterprise. Program Examples 21646 Courts 2009-09-22 Programs --- - Indiana The Allen County Reentry Court Project is an early release program in which the Reentry Judge over- sees the development and implementation of a Reintegration Plan for each participant. <p>Release to the 12-month Reentry Court Project is voluntary; offenders receive notification of eligibil- ity 60 days in advance of early release. The court is intended for individuals already involved in the Community Transition Program, which was created by the Indiana state legislature in 1999 to transfer selected state inmates to a community corrections program or a program of supervision by a county probation office 60 to 180 days prior to their release date (see program example). <p>The court is led by the Judge, and staff, em- ployed by Allen County Community Corrections, include reentry case managers, mental health and substance abuse treatment professionals, parole and law enforcement officers, cognitive and behavioral experts, and staff from the community mental health center. The Judge has the author- ity to impose sanctions in response to technical violations using a pre-established grid developed by Allen County Community Corrections. The reentry team helps to oversee participants and makes recommendations to the judge regarding sanctions for technical violations. <p>As soon as an individual is released to Re- Entry Court Project, he or she is interviewed by a forensic mental health professional and com- munity corrections staff, and appears before the Judge for an initial hearing and introduction to court process. The individual is under 24-hour supervision, including six months of electronic monitoring and random home and work visits. As part of the Reintegration Plan, the participant undergoes weekly substance abuse testing and a risk and needs assessment every 90 days. On the basis of these assessments, he/she is assigned to relevant programs. The participant appears before the judge every 2–6 weeks to review compliance to the Reintegration Plan. <p>The reentry court, which has been approved as a supervising authority by the Indiana Parole Commission, receives funding from a SVORI Program Examples 21645 2009-09-22 Programs --- - Illinois Adult Transition Centers (ATCs) offer selected Illinois offenders job training and placement prior to their release from custody as part of an integrated transitional program. <p>The Safer Foundation administers two minimum security male residential transition centers totaling over 500 beds, on behalf of the Illinois Department of Corrections (DOC). One is the 350-bed Crossroads ATC and the other is the 200-bed North Lawndale ATC, both located in the Lawndale community on the near west side of Chicago. (Another eleven ATCs in Illinois are administered directly by the DOC.) During their stay at a Safer ATC, program participants remain Illinois inmates but are required to participate for a minimum of 35 hours per week in outside employment, education, life skills, and/or community service, while also assuming responsibility for daily in-house assignments. <p>To ensure that participants are prepared for and find jobs, the Safer Foundation devotes case managers and job developers to each ATC, along with Basic Skills program and other staff. The Foundation’s overall emphasis is on employment placement, and over 30 years they have developed relationships with a large cross-section of employers willing to hire Safer program participants. Safer ATC staff works with individuals to identify their experience and strengths through skills assessment and when applicable provides job training on-site. <p>In addition, residents are provided with a range of supportive services, including casemanagement services, cognitive therapies, mental health services, substance abuse treatment and family support services. The Crossroads ATC now devotes an entire floor to substance abuse treatment, and Safer hopes to expand those services to the North Lawndale facility with state funding. <p>Participants are transferred to Safer ATCs with a maximum of 2 years remaining in their sentences. They stay for an average of 10–11 months, and seldom for less than 5 months. After release, they are encouraged to continue participating in Safer programs on a voluntary basis; the Foundation is currently advocating to make participation a mandatory condition of parole. Program Examples 21644 2009-09-22 Programs --- - Illinois The Chicago Law Project matches people who have experienced barriers to employment in the past (including individuals released from incarceration) with law firms seeking qualified and productive entry-level employees, and provides training and support to these individuals once they are placed. <p>An initiative of The Welfare to Work Partnership, the Chicago Law Project began in February 2000. Although the program does not specifically serve former prisoners, people with criminal records do fall into their broad target population of individuals with significant barriers to employment. Of the 30 people who have graduated from the program in its first two years, nearly 60 percent of the pilot class and nearly one-quarter of the subsequent class were former prisoners. <p>Candidates receive an initial screening that involves a skills assessment, drug testing and identification of any other potential health issues. Program participants then complete a 13-week training curriculum that covers both “hard skills” (reading, writing, math, spelling, communication and office skills) and “soft skills” specific to working in a law firm environment (office etiquette, prioritizing skills, and giving and receiving constructive feedback). The training also incorporates certain important life skills such as money management, handling stress and balancing work and family. Two weeks into the training each participant is placed in a paid internship with a law firm where they spend two days at the firm and three days in class. In addition, the individual is matched with a mentor, a volunteer from the law firm, who meets with the candidate once a week to discuss their progress, identify challenges and help problem solve. Upon completion of the training, the candidate is placed with a law firm and continues to receive support services (skill development, transportation and child care assistance) for one year. <p>The Chicago Law Project relies on collaborative partnerships with community-based organizations to identify and refer potential candidates to the program. The Project also has community partnerships with Chicago area law firms, which agree to hire at least one person who completes the training program, provide a paid internship in a support staff role during the program, and provide a mentor for new hires. The 13-week curriculum was designed in collaboration between the Welfare to Work Partnership’s Business Resource Group and the participating law firms. Program Examples 21643 2009-09-22 Programs --- - Illinois As a transition center for formerly incarcerated individuals, St. Leonard’s Ministries provides housing and case management services. Services include addiction counseling, life skills and job counseling, employment referral services, and education services. <p>St. Leonard’s House opened in 1954 as a product of the work of Father James Jones, Episcopal Chaplain at the Cook County Jail. In 2000, the agency name was changed to St. Leonard’s Ministries. <p>St. Leonard’s Ministries provides housing and case management services for ex-offenders transitioning back to the community. St. Leonard’s Ministries manages St. Leonard’s House (emergency services for 40 men), Grace House (emergency services for 16 women), and St. Andrew’s Court (second stage housing for 42 men who have completed programs at St. Leonard’s House). Residents learn about the program when they are in prison from field service counselors or from their parole officers. <p>About 350 men and women between the ages of 18 and 65 use the services provided by St. Leonard’s Ministries. These services include: ongoing addictions counseling; counseling related to life skills and coping skills; job counseling and employment referrals services; adult educational programs and educational referrals; aftercare/ mentoring services; community networking opportunities; and recreational activities. <p>St. Leonard’s Ministries works closely with the Illinois Department of Corrections, the Chicago Department of Human Services, the Illinois Department of Human Services, the United Way, and with other social service providers in the Chicago area. Other important collaborative partners include: the Cathedral Shelter of Chicago, which provides drug counseling and tutoring; Lakefront Supportive Housing, which helps provide postprogram housing; Chicago Legal Assistance to Incarcerated Women, which provides counseling and support work, the Alder School of Professional Psychology, which provides psychological assessment and counseling services through a contract funded by the Chicago Department of Human Service. Program Examples 21642 2009-09-22 Programs --- - Illinois The Day Reporting Center (DRC) provides a continuum of intense supervision, monitoring, treatment, and educational services for program participants immediately upon release from prison with the aim of reducing recidivism and thereby increasing public safety. <p>The DRC program targets high-risk parolees returning to neighborhoods in south Chicago. For the purposes of this program, high risk is defined as parolees with two or more prior incarcerations, parolees who have served a sentence of 10 or more years, and/or parolees 25 years old or younger sentenced for a violent crime. <p>Parolees assigned to report to the DRC must do so within 24 hours of release. There are four levels of supervision; each parolee begins at the most intensive level and works toward less intensive levels as he or she moves through the program. Parolees are assigned an individual case manager who meets with them at least once a week (and, in some cases, up to seven days a week). <p>All parolees undergo an extensive assessment upon entering the program that helps the case manager to develop an individualized supervision, treatment and education plan. Parolees may be assigned up to three separate rehabilitation activities per week including substance abuse education and treatment, adult basic education, GED preparation, parenting and family reintegration support group, anger management, employment skills training, and career development counseling. <p>Case managers prepare monthly reports for parole officers on parolees’ progress in meeting the goals of their reentry plan. Progression through the DRC is individually paced and based on the parolee’s compliance with the requirements at each level of supervision. For instance, a parolee cannot move to a reduced level of supervision until he/she has been drug free for 30 days. Program Examples 21641 2009-09-22 Programs --- - Hawaii Being Empowered and Safe Together (BEST), administered by Maui Economic Opportunity, Inc. in collaboration with the State of Hawaii Department of Public Safety (DPS), is designed to serve individuals who are preparing to return to the community from Maui Community Correctional Center (MCCC). <p>By providing comprehensive transitional assistance to inmates and ex-inmates, BEST seeks to reduce the recidivism rate and increase public safety. The program serves over 200 male and female offenders returning to Maui communities who have been convicted of serious and violent offenses and incarcerated for over a year. <p>Each BEST client is referred by a BEST review committee or staff at the MCCC. Intake assessments assist BEST administrators and case managers to determine the level of services needed for each client. An Individual Service Plan (ISP) is developed through the collaborative effort of the BEST case managers and the social workers and case managers within DPS. DPS and BEST case managers meet weekly to be apprised of the client’s needs and to achieve a seamless transition from prison to the community. <p>A Housing Coordinator works with clients to locate affordable rentals, and where appropriate BEST will provide financial assistant toward the first month’s rent. Other programs include employment training, on-the-job training, mentoring, childcare and transportation assistance, cognitive restructuring, substance abuse and mental health treatment referrals, and family support and reunification services. <p>BEST is a collaborative effort coordinated by Maui Economic Opportunity and DPS, and includes representatives from local businesses, the Judiciary, the Maui Police Department, IMPACT Drug Treatment Program, the Department of Housing and Human Concerns, the Department of Health, Hawaii Paroling Authority, Workforce Development of the Department of Labor, Maui Community College, and others. The BEST program is funded by a SVORI grant. Program Examples 21640 2009-09-22 Programs --- - Georgia The Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles has authority to grant paroles, reprieves, remissions, and pardons, and remove restrictions imposed by law. Parole officers supervise released offenders and facilitate their reintegration into the community under the direction of the Board, working closely with the Department of Corrections to manage prison bed space. To determine release decisions and manage effective community supervision, the Parole Board has introduced various innovative and effective procedures and programs. <p>The Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles has explored a range of new approaches in release decisionmaking and community supervision, in addition to its innovative Results Driven Supervision (see Program Example write-up). The Board has been recognized with several awards, and is one of the few parole boards accredited by the American Correctional Association, a distinction it has earned every year since 1994. Some of its approaches are described below. <p>To inform the Board’s release decisions, parole staff conduct investigations and provide detailed reports for inclusion in individual case files. A parole officer studies arrest and court records for each individual and may consult with arresting officers, court officials, victims, and witnesses to write a “Legal Investigation” on the details of his or her current offense and a summary of any prior offenses that he or she committed in the same county. <p>To assist supervision officers in determining responses to violations and rewards for positive behavior, the Board designed a Behavior Response and Adjustment Guide (BRAG). BRAG classifies positive and negative behavior as “low,” “medium,” or “high” and provides response options for each of these categories. Positive behavior includes finishing a school semester, completing an outpatient program or cognitive skills class, and performing volunteer work. Rewards for positive behavior include letters of recognition, certificates of completion, six-month compliance certificates, supervision level reduction, and reduced reporting requirements. <p>In order to facilitate convenient and thorough note-taking for parole officers in the field, the Board has acquired Tablet PCs, computers about the size of a piece of paper weighing less than three pounds, to record data on the 22,000 individuals under community supervision in the state. Handwriting-recognition software allows parole officers, who each supervise an average of 60 individuals, to record notes in the field as they would with pen and paper while digitally capturing information. Before Tablet PCs, the Board of Pardons and Paroles found that information from notes taken by hand was often not thorough or properly entered into the data system, and laptops were found to be bulky and difficult to use for data-entry in the field. Program Examples 21639 2009-09-22 Programs --- - Georgia In addition to providing health care during the period of incarceration, the Department of Corrections writes up medical summaries and, in some cases, makes postrelease medical appointments for individuals being released to the community. Patients are also given a two-week supply of medication at the time of their discharge. <p>The Georgia Department of Corrections offers its inmates various kinds of medical care, depending on the type and severity of an individual’s medical condition. Since the mid-1990s, the Department of Corrections has run “chronic care clinics,” which provide health care and health education for inmates with chronic illnesses, such as diabetes or HIV/AIDS. The Prerelease Planning Program (PPP) for HIV-positive inmates arranges for them to be seen at the Ryan White Clinic after their release. <p>Since the early 1990s, the Department of Corrections has supplied all individuals at the time of their discharge with a minimum of two weeks of medication. Mental health patients receive one month’s worth of medication, since the transition to the care of a community-based provider typically takes longer than two weeks. For inmates with conditions other than HIV/AIDS, the ability of the DOC to facilitate postrelease treatment is contingent on the status of an individual’s medical insurance. DOC nurses will set up appointments with community providers when possible and enroll eligible individuals in Medicare. Program Examples 21638 2009-09-22 Programs --- - Georgia Results Driven Supervision is a risk assessment model that focus on four criminogenic risk areas, guiding parole officers in designing a supervision plan. <p>Georgia parole officers and parole administrators, working with researchers in the Board of Pardons and Parole Office of Criminal Justice Research, determined that specialized intervention in four critical behavioral areas—education, substance abuse, employment, and cognitive skills—yields significant results in deterring crime, even in offenders formerly considered intractable. This model, known as Results Driven Supervision (RDS), allows parole officers to assess each parolee under their supervision to determine weaknesses in those areas and then, factoring in the unique circumstances of the case, establish “tracks” of short- and long-term goals to achieve objectives. Failure to stay “on track” results in appropriate sanctions, including revocation to prison. <p>Parole board technology specialists created a tailor-made case management information system, the Field Log of Interactive Data (FLOID), enabling parole officers to record information attained from each parolee’s validated and automated risk assessment and legal and social histories. FLOID aids the parole officer in monitoring progress by the ease of its point-and-click case-entry, its action and deadline prompts, and its continuous summation of the parolee’s performance. <p>Using RDS as the supervision model and FLOID as the organizing tool, Georgia’s parole officers gain control over their extensive caseload documentation to provide what was more difficult to attain in a manual system: timely, progressive encouragement or punishment to prod the individual under supervision toward specified goals. By targeting releasees most likely to return to prison, matching them with intervention programs proven to reduce that likelihood, and tracking results electronically for real-time assessments, the Parole Board seeks to lower recidivism with the most efficient use of the state’s funds. Program Examples 21633 2009-09-22 Programs --- - Florida Project Success was established in 2001 with funding from the Federal Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) grant program. Project Success is a six-month residential substance abuse treatment program for incarcerated adult females, followed by a 12-month after care case management phase. <p>Incarcerated women may volunteer for the program or may be mandated to attend by a court order. Program staff visit the county jail to inform the women about Project Success on a monthly basis. If the women are eligible to participate and have enough time remaining in their sentence to complete the six-month residential component, they are admitted. <p>A “Modifi ed Therapeutic Community” model is at the core of the program. This model focuses on providing services in a holistic manner and draws upon the individual’s desire to change. Women in the program also have a treatment plan where each participant and her counselor meet to establish a number of goals in order for the participant to complete the program. The program includes, but is not limited to, parenting training, family therapy sessions, job and life skills development, computer literacy classes, fi nancial management classes, and community linkages. Commitments from educational facilities in the area have been secured to provide job placement, training, mentoring and peer support upon reentry into the community. The program also focuses on the women’s gender-specifi c needs, including previous victimization. Upon completion, participants move into a 12-month aftercare case management phase. Project Success contracts with the Phoenix Houses of Florida to provide discharge-planning services to assist participants Program Examples 21632 2009-09-22 Programs --- - Florida The Orange County Corrections Division provides intensive educational and vocational programming for most inmates in its 3,300-bed jail. <p>Staffed by 70 full-time instructors, Orange County Jail programming includes adult basic education, GED preparation, vocational training, life skills development, psychoeducation groups, and substance abuse education. Courses are carefully tailored to the short periods of time that jail inmates are incarcerated by focusing on core competencies, demanding an intensive schedule, identifying “early exit” points, and providing a self-paced substance education course. Programming typically runs six hours a day, fi ve days a week. <p>At intake, individuals are assessed for grade level proficiency, vocational skills, and substance abuse. From this assessment, jail staff determine eligibility and placement. Inmates are not eligible for programming if they are classifi ed as a security risk, as having a severe mental illness, or are sentenced for more than 60 days. <p>Inmates who agree to participate and avoid misconduct are eligible for privileges based on behavior, including sentence reduction; inmates who refuse to participate and those who misbehave remain in the main facility where they are denied certain privileges, such as contact visits, television, and recreation hours. Participants are supervised in facilities architecturally designed to allow maximum contact between staff and inmates without physical barriers. <p>The jail also has two prerelease job assistance programs. The first, staffed by four full-time corrections employees, helps inmates search for work and monitors the job performance of the 15 percent of former inmates who are place on county probation. The second, staffed by two job developers from Mid- Florida Technical School, helps inmates enrolled in vocational courses find employment and addresses their medical, housing, and transrporation needs. The Corrections Division fi nances this programming from the inmate welfare fund, local and Federal grants, and State education disbursements to the county school board for adult basic education. Program Examples 21631 Corrections 2009-09-22 Programs --- - Florida The Day Reporting and Reentry Division provides case management and transitional services to individuals who are serving time in the Broward County jail. The Division also has two specialized tracks: (1) a Community Service Work Program for repeat misdemeanants as an alternative to jail; and (2) an Aftercare Program for the successful graduates of the in-custody Military Training Unit (boot camp). <p>The Day Reporting and Reentry Division helps reintegrate individuals back into the community following release from jail. It also provides an alternative to jail for repeat misdemeanants as well as an aftercare program for the graduates of the in-custody boot camp. It combines the benefi ts of intensive supervision with reentry while ensuring public safety. <p>The Division provides individuals with support mechanisms needed to transition successfully back into the community, while at the same time monitoring their activity to prevent recidivism. The Division also provides services to persons released from prison who have no pending charges or outstanding sentence; these individuals are termed “walk-ins.” After they are cleared for having no outstanding warrants, a case manager assesses their needs and refers them to services. All services available to court-ordered participants are also made available to walk-ins. <p>The program begins while individuals are serving their sentence in jail. A supervision and reentry plan is designed and a compliance contract is signed. The plan includes the level of supervision, community service hours, job search, counseling, training, daily schedules, and any court-ordered conditions. Once released from jail, the Field Supervision Unit monitors each participant’s activity in the community through random checks at their residence or place of employment based on daily itineraries each individual is required to provide and comply with. The Unit also performs random drug testing, job and address verifi cation, and curfew checks. All felony participants are also placed on an electronic monitor, providing an added level of security. <p>The Division has a menu of services available on-site and referral resources off-site to address the individual’s needs. A case manager works with a person to build these services into their daily schedule and then works together with the Field Supervision Unit to monitor their compliance. The reentry plan is designed to address each individual’s specialized needs. Participants have access to employment readiness classes, support group meetings, treatment referrals, life skills, fi nancial planning and budgeting, literacy programs, GED/ ABE classes, an on-site computer training lab, and stress and anger management programs. <p>Individuals are required to participate in an Integrated Cognitive Behavior Change Program crafted by the National Institute of Corrections. The Division places primary emphasis on assisting the individual in gaining employment. The Job Development Program assesses the job readiness of each person and, if necessary, requires them to fi rst complete the Employment Skills Workshop before they are sent on job interviews. The Division has created partnerships with over 60 employers, employment agencies, and vocational technical schools to provide a variety of opportunities to these participants. <p>The Division also operates two specialized tracks; one is a Community Service Work Program for repeat misdemeanants as an alternative to jail. This specialized track entails all the services described earlier but emphasis is placed on the participant performing up to 128 hours of community restoration projects (picking up litter, painting, planting gardens, etc.) under the supervision of a uniformed deputy. The second specialized track is an Aftercare Program for those who successfully graduate from the in-custody 90-day Military Training Unit (boot camp). This track provides reinforcement of the boot camp’s training, and continuity of care. Program Examples 21630 2009-09-22 Programs --- - Delaware KEY/CREST uses therapeutic-based programming to treat and modify the behaviors of substance abusers in prison and in a work-release center. In both the prison and the work release center, program participants live in a therapeutic community where they learn to help themselves and other residents in order to change their behavior and to reduce their drug abuse. Inmates can volunteer for the program if they meet the eligibility criteria and are within 18 months of their release date. <p>In 1987, the State of Delaware (with the assistance of the Bureau of Justice Assistance) established the first stage of the substance abuse treatment program, called the KEY. The KEY program is prison-based, but participants in the program are separated from the general correctional population. Participants are separated in a therapeutic community to create an atmosphere where participants will not encounter negative attitudes about drug abuse treatment and so that the participants will be held accountable for their actions. Offenders spend about 12 months in the KEY program, participating in substance abuse treatment and various behavior modification programs. <p>The second stage is a transitional treatment program at a CREST Outreach Center where participants spend another 6 months. The CREST component is a therapeutic community workrelease center that builds upon the prison-based KEY program. The CREST Outreach Center was established with the help of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. <p>Inmates go through four phases of treatment at the CREST Outreach Center. During the “Entry” phase inmates go through an orientation and become acclimated to life outside prison. In the “Primary” phase counselors and inmates work on a transition plan and explore possible triggers of relapse. The third or “Job-seeking” phase requires that offenders work on interview skills and jobtraining skills. During the “Work-release” phase inmates maintain a job while living at the facility and attending drug treatment. <p>Participants are required to stay at the center for the first three months of this phase. After completing the treatment program at Crest, participants may move to aftercare. The aftercare stage lasts for six months, during which nonresident participants maintain contact with the program. Aftercare participants must refrain from all drug and alcohol use, attend group sessions and counseling, and undergo periodic drug testing. Program Examples 21629 2009-09-22 Programs --- - Connecticut The Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS) operates jail diversion programs in all 22 geographical area courts across the state. These programs work with the courts to link to treatment services people with mental health and co-occurring substance abuse disorders arrested on minor offenses. <P>In 1994 DMHAS developed the first jail diversion program in the state for defendants with mental illness in Hartford. The program was the outcome of interagency discussion about the frequent re-arrest of people with serious mental illness. Prior to this program, the courts were helping defendants with mental illness obtain mental health services by finding them incompetent to stand trial and admitting them to psychiatric hospitals. This approach, geared towards enabling the defendants to become competent to stand trial, generally did not focus on their long-term needs. <p>The jail diversion program allows the courts and community mental health centers to work together for the benefit of the defendant. The clinicians who operate the diversion programs work out of the local community mental health centers. When those centers are run by DMHAS, the clinicians are DMHAS staff; when the centers are not run by DMHAS, they receive funding and supervision from DMHAS. All of the clinicians are licensed practitioners (social workers, nurses, psychologists) who receive training from DMHAS Division of Forensic Services. The diversion programs also offer training to the local police departments to enhance police understanding of mental illness and the alternatives to arrest for certain individuals. <p>The goals of the diversion program include the following: reduce recidivism of people with mental illness by providing access to treatment; reduce incarceration of individuals with mental illness for minor offenses; free jail beds for violent offenders; provide judges with additional sentencing options; increase the cost-effectiveness of the courts, Department of Corrections, and DMHAS. <p>The diversion staff conduct assessments of individuals who may be eligible for diversion, generally prior to arraignment. The diversion staff then propose a treatment plan as an alternative to incarceration, and work with the court and the treatment providers to ensure that the defendant complies with the diversion conditions. The only information that diversion staff provide to the court is a treatment plan and what options are available to the client. The nature of the illness and any diagnoses are kept confidential. The diversion team does not make the decision to divert; it simply offers options to the judges. If the client agrees to allow the clinician to share more information with the court it is easier to prepare a treatment plan that can be followed up by the court. <p>If the court does offer diversion to the defendant, possible outcomes include deferred prosecution with the condition of treatment, dismissal of charges, or probation with special condition of treatment. When possible, diversion staff followup on program participants to assess their success in the program. Program Examples 21628 2009-09-22 Programs --- - Connecticut Connecticut Parole and Community Services operates a Special Management Unit to supervise parolees requiring ongoing intensive supervision or specialized treatment. <p>The Special Management Unit focuses primarily on supervision of paroled sex offenders but also works with parolees with severe mental illness. Special Management Unit parole officers receive training in supervision and in medical, and mental health issues and they each maintain a caseload of no more than 25 parolees The unit emphasizes interaction between treatment providers and parole officers; officers participate in both group and one-on-one counseling sessions with offenders. <p>Additionally, this unit includes a full-time victim advocate, who participates in announced field visits (with probation and treatment providers), group therapy sessions, weekly case reviews, and work with the offender’s family. Program Examples 21626 2009-09-22 Programs --- - California Outreach staff from the Community Reentry Program assess inmates with military service records in the LA County Jail prior to their release and provide links to needed services, including but not limited to services provided by the Veterans Administration itself. <p>The Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department sends the names of inmates who report during screening that they are veterans to the Veterans Administration– run Los Angeles Ambulatory Health Center Community Reentry Program, allowing outreach staff from the program to identify and offer assessment and service linkages to eligible inmates. <p>Outreach staff provide connections to health care, housing, and financial benefits provided by the VA. They can also serve as advocates for incarcerated veterans within the criminal justice system and in obtaining services from other communitybased organizations. Program Examples 21625 Victims 2009-09-22 Programs --- - California Resolve to Stop the Violence Project (RSVP) is a restorative justice program that integrates components for victims and members of the community with behavior and attitude change programming for offenders. <p>RSVP is a “victim-driven” violence prevention program that attempts to heal the damage caused by violent crime and to prevent future violent crimes. <p>The San Francisco County Jail has 62 beds designated for the offender restoration portion of the RSVP program. Six days a week for 12 hours a day inmates take part in an intensive program that involves drama classes, group learning, and group counseling designed to help the participants take a hard look at the violence in their lives. After the men are released, they will continue their involvement in the program through a six-month substance abuse program or in the Post Release Education Program. The men are also required to participate in community restoration activities. <p>RSVP integrates the jail-based component with components aimed at victims and the community. The victim restoration component provides support to the victims of violent crime by helping them assess the impact of the crime on their life, assisting with their living and financial situations and providing general support. RSVP promotes healing and helps victims to transform themselves into survivors and advocates. <p>For the component addressing community restoration and educating the public on issues of violence, RSVP conducts workshops and discussions at high schools and other public events to increase awareness about violent crime. There is also an annual theater production that brings together offenders and victims. Program Examples 21624 2009-09-22 Programs --- - California To improve job placement for first-time, low-level drug offenders, the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office commission the National Economic Development and Law Center (NEDLC) to determine which industries had the best record of employing ex-offenders. NEDLC’s research culminated in a report. <p>The Ex-Felon Employment Initiative, based out of the the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, identifies ways to move first-time, low-level drug dealers into employment and away from both the courts and the streets. To supplant the Initiative, the DA’s office partnered with NEDLC to determine industries in San Francisco capable of providing good wages and/or career advancement opportunities for criminal offenders. <p>This research culminated in a report, Employing Offenders in San Francisco: A Sector Research Methodology, which contained findings and some recommended strategies about how to work with ex-felons and employers in construction and social services. In researching the report, NEDLC staff reviewed demographic and labor market information and conducted focus groups with employers and ex-felons to learn more about these industries and the experiences of ex-felons in them. The data gathered were then used to identify a target industry that met specific criteria, including accessibility to the target population, demand for workers, high wages, and potential career ladders. The two industries that surfaced from this research were special trade construction and social services. <p>The report was presented to employers, exfelons, government and justice system representatives, training providers, and other community stakeholders in spring 2003. In addition to identifying exemplary industries for employing ex-offenders, the report is also intended to help workforce initiatives understand and make connections to the target population and develop essential partnerships with the community, employers, and training providers. Program Examples 21623 Corrections 2009-09-22 Programs --- - California Treatment services, including psychiatric care, are provided in the San Francisco jail system by employees of the San Francisco Department of Public Health. <p>Department of Public Health staff at both San Francisco General Hospital and the San Francisco County Jail have access to an electronic summary health record for those jail inmates identified as having a mental illness who have been treated in the public health system. The vast majority of treatment occurs within the jail itself, but some jail inmates are also treated in both psychiatric and medical facilities at the General Hospital. <p>The summary record is not a full record, but is rather made up of basic information such as clinical appointments and x-rays. The Department is in the process of converting to a new electronic medical record system that will make the complete record available to all providers in the system, including jail-based medical staff. Enabling jailbased medical staff access to complete medical records will foster improved disease prevention, as well as improved coordination with clinics that provide aftercare treatment. <p>Inmates have access to their summary health record on release upon request. Program Examples 21622 2009-09-22 Programs --- - California The Cornerstone Program provides housing, mental health, and benefit-identifying services to adult homeless offenders coming out of Los Angeles County Jail who have a severe and persistent mental illness. <p>The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department refers inmates to the Cornerstone Program. Cornerstone Program staff go to the jail to assess the inmate for mental illnesses, and to give referred inmates a psychiatric evaluation. Candidates may also enter the program as walk-ins or be referred by other service providers. Many participants in the Cornerstone Program are dually diagnosed with co-occurring substance abuse problems. <p>Case managers ensure that all participants are placed in short-term, transitional, or long-term housing. Case managers also ensure that participants are connected with any benefits for which they are eligible, that they receive mental health counseling and the medication they need, and that if necessary they are referred to substance abuse treatment programs. In addition, case managers work with parole and probation officers and the court systems. When appropriate, the Cornerstone Program provides vocational training and/or job placement services. <p>For emergency housing, the Cornerstone Program has a contract with a Los Angeles family housing shelter that offers 25 available beds. They also have funding for hotels and motels as directed by California law AB 2034. <p>For short-term housing (up to three months) and medium-term housing (three to nine months), the Cornerstone Program has a memo of understanding (MOU) with a landlord who finds property for the program that accommodates the constraints of the participants. The landlord remodels appropriate structures and then rents them to the Cornerstone Program for slightly over market value, an arrangement that provides incentive for the landlord to participate. Because the Cornerstone Program rents each building in its entirety, they are able to decide who moves into each unit. They use these units mainly as transitional facilities. Participants may stay in these houses for a maximum of 18 months. <p>The Cornerstone Program also administers nine duplexes, which participants rent for 30 percent of their income. Through AB 2034, the Cornerstone Program has 85 Section 8 vouchers to distribute to amongst program participants, and these vouchers are used as an incentive to participants to comply fully with program suggestions and opportunities. <p>The Cornerstone Program is also building 36 apartment units through Community of Friends, a nonprofit developer. This construction is subsidized by the Supplemental Housing initiative for a span of 15 years and will be used for long-term housing. <p>The Cornerstone Program assigns resident managers to each house. Resident managers introduce themselves to neighbors but otherwise keep a low profile and do not initiate community meetings. One house did receive some opposition from the neighborhood, but the problem was resolved when the Cornerstone Program brought in its resident managers. Typically the Program promotes their service as serving the mentally ill and de-emphasizes the fact that its participants have served time in prison or jail. <p>In addition to housing assistance, the Cornerstone Program runs a full service outpatient dropin center which targets the needs of all mentally ill homeless individuals with a nonexclusive emphasis on those who have been incarcerated. The center provides immediate assistance for basic survival needs, such as food, clothing, showers, and laundry facilities seven days a week. Program Examples 21621 Corrections 2009-09-22 Programs --- - California The Social Mentoring Academic and Rehabilitative Training (SMART) Program provides health treatment, drug rehabilitation, GED classes, anger management, and life skills training to gay male inmates in LA County Jail. <p>The SMART program provides services to gay male jail inmates. These men are centrally located in the Los Angeles County Jail on the basis of a 1985 federal court order that automatically segregated gay inmates. The program’s founders, who are deputies at the jail, recognized that the recidivism rate among incarcerated gay men was higher than the general jail population, and determined that these men weren’t accessing general education and rehabilitation programs. <p>The program is funded by private contributions, which come in large part from members of Los Angeles’s gay community. Other organizations have assisted the program by providing jail-based services: the Hacienda La Puente Unified School District provides high school, GED, and computer classes; the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services tests inmates for sexually transmitted diseases; and the Tarzana Treatment Center provides treatment for inmates with HIV or AIDS. Program participants who are proficient in a certain area or skill are often put in charge of teaching their peers. Participants are also enrolled in a mandatory drug treatment program. <p>The jail-based phase of the program lasts 10 weeks. SMART staff also help connect participants with employers after release by reaching-out to organizations that oppose homophobia and prejudice towards people with criminal records. Program Examples 21620 2009-09-22 Programs --- - California The Delancey Street Foundation acts a residential education center that assists individuals released from prison or jail, former substance abusers, and people who were formerly homeless to acquire basic and employment-oriented skills and to achieve economic independence. <p>The Foundation encourages behavior change through a structured, supportive, “market driven” environment where individual responsibility and accountability are emphasized. Participants are required to stay in the program for two years, although the average stay is about four years. When participants arrive they live in dorm-style rooms with as many as nine roommates and take on basic chores such as mopping and cleaning the parks. The system at the Foundation is based on an “each one teach one” premise where participants learn from each other and hand down skills so that others can move into new work positions. <p>One of the first goals set for participants by the Foundation is to pass a high school equivalency test. Afterwards, participants learn skills at one of the Foundation’s training schools, which include a moving and trucking school, a restaurant, and an automotive service center. <p>All the staff members at the Delancey Street operations have been incarcerated, were substance abusers, or were homeless. Most of the money from the Delancey businesses goes back into the community; residents get food, housing, and a small sum of money. Over 14,000 people have successfully graduated from the program and are leading independent lives. The Foundation has expanded over the years, and there are now about 1,000 residents in five facilities across the nation, located in New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. <p>Delancey is self-governed by a Board and resident councils that are one-third African American, one-third Latin American/American Indian, and one-third Caucasian. The Delancey Street Foundation has developed the Delancey CIRCLE or Coalition to Revitalize Communities, Lives, Education, and Economies. This coalition’s goal is to network with cities and states across the country to educate others about Delancey Street and to advocate for policies that support the Delancey Street model. Program Examples 21619 2009-09-22 Programs --- - California Centerforce staff and volunteers provide services, including the personal change programs Time to Change and the Prison Meditation Project, to incarcerated individuals in jails and prisons in Northern California and the California Central Valley. <p>Through the Prison Meditation Project, Centerforce instructors (many of whom were themselves incarcerated or have family members who were incarcerated) teach inmates and prison custody staff spiritual development, stress reduction, and anger management through half-day, full-day and multiple-day programs. Program participants also learn “mindfulness meditation,” which helps them work on topics including addiction, anger and violence, and forgiveness. <p>Time to Change (TTC) is a coaching, training and empowerment project that offers tools for rebuilding the lives of incarcerated individuals. TTC trains inmates to become “co-active coaches” to other prisoners at San Quentin State Prison so that inmates can move out of patterns of victimization and into lives of choice, effectiveness, and fulfillment. Co-active coaching gives inmates the skills they need to interact with their children, families, employers and communities in healthy, successful ways. Program Examples 21618 2009-09-22 Programs --- - California Get Connected is a multiservice demonstration project focused on health issues for inmates and their families at San Quentin Prison and the Central California Women’s Facility. <p>Get Connected provides the following services: <ul> <li>Peer Education: Staff provide 30 hours of health and skill-building training to inmates who are interested in becoming peer health educators. Trained inmate health educators lead daily health education workshops for new inmates. <li>Reentry Education: Centerforce staff, inmate peer educators, and community service providers conduct workshops on various health topics for inmates preparing for release. <li>Prevention Case Management: Centerforce staff provide five months of intensive case management services to returning prisoners that includes development of an individual risk assessment and reduction action plan prior to release and postrelease support through facilitated referrals to communitybased service providers. <li>Health Promotion Initiative: Community health specialists provide workshops and resource fairs for inmates living with HIV and/or hepatitis C as they prepare for release. </ul> Program Examples 21617 2009-09-22 Programs --- - California Working for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, prison inmates respond to conservation emergencies such as wildfires and flooding. Inmates are housed in conservation camps throughout the state and receive intensive fire prevention training. Nonemergency relief work assignments consist of repairing roads and aqueducts and maintaining state parks and trails. <p>More than half of California’s 3,800 full-time wildland fighters are prison inmates, who earn $1.45 a day and $1 an hour while fighting fires. Additionally, participating inmates earn two days off their sentences for each day of work. At intake, prisoners are carefully screened and informed of the program; those interested are invited to submit an application. They must be physically fit and have no history of violent crime, sex offenses, arson or escape. Generally, the California Department of Correction (CDC) only selects individuals with little sentence time remaining in order to reduce the incentive for flight among participants. <p>Participants are housed in “conservation camps” across the state, which are located in the wilderness areas they are designed to preserve. Before participants are transferred to a camp, they must complete a rigorous two-week training program in the correctional facility. At the camp, the CDC oversees security and general operations. Camps are minimum security, consisting of about 10 buildings, including military-style barracks, a dining hall, administration building, and work areas. Approximately 90 inmates are housed at each of the state’s 39 camps. <p>The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF) trains all inmate fire crews and supervises most camp crews on the fire line. 14 inmates generally serve on a single crew. Overseen by a Fire Department foreman, fire crews are “on-call” to respond to an emergency anywhere in the state. If not responding to an emergency, crews report at 8 A.M. for work assignment, which consists of road, park, and trail maintenance. At the end of the work day, which generally ends around 3:30, the inmates are returned to the camp in the custody of a CDC officer. Program Examples 21616 Victims 2009-09-22 Programs --- - California The California Department of Corrections’ Office of Victim Services and Restitution (OVSR) is responsible for sending crime victims a written packet that includes a request for notification of release. Forty-five days prior to an inmate’s release date, the OVSR sends letters to victims who have requested notification. <p>After an individual has been sentenced, the OVSR mails a packet to victims, including Form 1070 (“Request for Notification/Special Conditions of Parole”) and a brochure that provides information about how the correctional system can serve victims of crime and their family members. The victim’s requests become part of the confidential section of the inmate’s central file at the Department of Corrections and are also forwarded to the prison facility where the inmate is serving time. <p>Forty-five days prior to an individual’s release date, the OVSR sends letters to victims who have requested notification, informing them of the individual’s release date, region of parole, the telephone number of a regional parole office, and information about any special conditions of parole requested by the victim. The OVSR works closely with reentry coordinators and parole representatives to help facilitate requests for special conditions. The Board of Parole has the option to approve or deny a victim’s request for special conditions of parole. However, if a victim’s requests are denied, the OVSR will advocate for the Board to reverse their decision. <p>The OVSR has established several impact of crime programs for offenders in the California correctional system. Currently, the OVSR is piloting a program entitled Victim Offender Mediated Dialogue Program (VOMD) at San Quentin Prison. The OVSR train staff and selected volunteers to act as mediators during one-on-one meetings within the correctional facility between the victim of a violent crime and the individual who committed the offense. These meetings take place prior to the inmate’s release date. Program Examples 21615 Corrections 2009-09-22 Programs --- - California Amity Foundation operates therapeutic communities in four California correctional facilities. <p>Funded by the California Department of Corrections, the Amity Foundation operates in-prison therapeutic communities (TCs) in four prisons which span a variety of custody levels. 200 inmates are enrolled in the Amity TC at Level IV (California prison security levels range from minimum security Level I up to maximum security Level IV) Lancaster State Prison in Los Angeles; 200 are enrolled in the Level III Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego; 120 in the Level II Ironwood State Prison in Blythe; and 208 in the minimum security California Training Facility in Soledad. <p>While each of the TCs has unique characteristics based on the security level of the facility in which it operates, they share some common features. Participants take part in workshops, classes, and peer circles that try to help them understand their personal issues and accountability in criminality, violence, gang involvement, drug use, self-esteem, parenting, family dynamics, moral development, and relationship-building. Treatment is built on the peer circle group, which meets regularly and undergoes a 24–26 hour workshop every six weeks in which issues among the men are examined intensively. Amity also sponsors voluntary evening activities, which include classes on anger and violence, parenting, relapse prevention, grief and loss, family dynamics, grief and loss, as well as classes or tutoring for GED, in art, and 12-Step study classes. <p>Once a participant is paroled or released, he or she can take part in Amity’s aftercare continuance residential facilities, as well as the numerous activities sponsored by the Amity Alumni Association. Prisoners who are not eligible for parole may serve as peer mentors and role models for inmates new to the program. <p>In the Lancaster facility, Amity participants live together and attend sessions in a separate housing facility, but mix with the prison’s general population for all non–Amity-related activities. Men in the Amity program at R.J. Donovan interact with the general population and take part in programming when they are not working or attending school and/or vocational training. At the Ironwood and California Training Facilities, inmates attend Amity programming on a rotational basis, although services are available throughout the day. Program Examples 21614 2009-09-22 Programs --- - Arizona The Data Link Project allows Value Options, the Maricopa County Regional Behavioral Health Authority (RBHA), access to the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office booking information in order to identify individuals who may be eligible for diversion from the criminal justice system. <p>When individuals are booked into the county jail, their name, date of birth, social security number, and gender are electronically sent by the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office to the management information system of Value Options. The system electronically and simultaneously cross-references the demographic information with the RBHA’s roster, which includes names and information for more than 12,000 clients who receive mental health services in the area. The data link provides for continued identification of clients throughout the day, regardless of booking charge, time of booking, or current mental status. The information flows only one way: from the jail to the mental health provider. <p>Clients matching all categories are considered a full match, and their names are immediately sent electronically to the RBHA’s jail diversion staff as well as the client’s case manager. Full match screens contain the client’s booking number, a maximum of three booking charges, court jurisdiction(s), and general demographic information. Clients matching at least one of the categories, with the exception of gender, are considered a partial match and are sent only to the jail diversion staff. The jail diversion staff further investigates partial matches, which are either converted to full matches or deleted from the system. If converted to a full match, the case manager then electronically receives notification of the client’s admission to jail. <p>After full matches are determined, the jail diversion staff use various criteria to select candidates for the jail diversion program. The criteria include, but are not limited to,the nature of the current offense(s); history of incarceration; current mental status; availability of community mental health resources; public safety factors; and past performance in treatment settings. <p>The jail mental health diversion program consists of three types of intervention: Clients may be released from jail with conditions that include treatment; clients may be placed on summary (unsupervised) probation, which includes mandatory treatment; or clients may be given the opportunity for deferred prosecution in an intervention that includes increased judicial participation and supervision, and required treatment participation over a specified period of time. Successful completion of all requirements results in dismissal of criminal charges. All three types of diversion programs require mandatory group therapy sessions, including integrated treatment group for co-occurring disorders, which accounts for about 70 percent of the diversion population. <p>For individuals who are eligible for diversion, case managers are required to send pertinent clinical and care information to the jail diversion staff within 24 hours. They also must visit the client in the jail within 72 hours of incarceration, and at least once every 14 days thereafter until the inmate is released from jail. Program Examples 21558 2009-09-22 Programs --- - New York The goal of the Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO) is to provide immediate, comprehensive, and effective employment services for men and women returning from prison and those under community supervision in New York City. <p>CEO offers a highly structured, job-focused “second chance” to people released from prison or jail. Intervening immediately after release, CEO provides rigorous pre-employment training, short term work crew experience, and long-term job development services leading to support through the first year of permanent employment.</p> <p>Created as an innovative demonstration project by the Vera Institute of Justice in the late 1970s, CEO has been an independent nonprofit corporation since 1996. Each year CEO serves more than 2,000 individuals released from New York State prisons and—more recently—New York City’s jail system, Rikers Island. Ninety percent of CEO’s clients are men, and many are under 30, with children and families they hope to reconnect with and support.</p> <p>The CEO program involves seven structured steps to sustainable employment. Each participant begins the program by completing an orientation, intensive four-day “Life Skills” training workshop and initial meeting with their job counselor for an in-depth skills assessment. Participants are then put to work immediately on day-labor work crews. The crews are paid for by city and state agencies and involve a variety of assignments, including providing custodial services to government buildings, maintaining nature trails, painting classrooms, and cleaning up roadways. The program pays the crew members minimum wage at the end of each work day. While the participants are employed through this program, they continue to work with CEO staff on job readiness and eventual placement in full-time unsubsidized employment. CEO specializes in finding jobs in customer service, food industries, manufacturing, office support, and semi-skilled trades. CEO also provides a range of post-placement support services for a minimum of 12 months, and has developed an expansive employment network with government agencies and a number of private sector employers.</p> Program Examples