To return to the Reentry Program Database, click here
Alston Wilkes Society Inside Out Program
Alston Wilkes Society Community Service Program works with offenders, former offenders, their families, and homeless individuals to help them become productive citizens in the community. Our services include initial needs assessment and a holistic approach to addressing emergency needs(food, clothing, shelter, hygiene), employment, education, reconnection with family and the community, and with the support of Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), we now have an Adult mentoring program, Inside Out.
Quick Facts:
- Focus of initiative/program:
-
- Education
- Employment/Job Training
- Housing
- Mentoring
- Inititative/program name:
- Inside Out, AWS Adult Mentoring Program
- Year Established:
- 2010
- Lead agency/organization name:
- Alston Wilkes Society
- Population served by initiative/program:
-
- Returning from prison
- Under community corrections supervision (parole or probation)
- Adults
- Men
- Women
- People convicted of a non-violent offense
Alston Wilkes Society Inside Out Program
Contact:
Patti WeldayDirector, Community Service Program
Alston Wilkes Society
Phone: 803-847-0431
3519 Medical Drive
Columbia, South Carolina 29203
pwelday@alstonwilkessociety.org
www.alstonwilkessociety.org
Alston Wilkes Society Inside Out Program
Initiatives and Programs
- Focus of initiative/program:
-
- Education
- Employment/Job Training
- Housing
- Mentoring
- Inititative/program name:
- Inside Out, AWS Adult Mentoring Program
- Lead agency/organization name:
- Alston Wilkes Society
- Funding sources for initiative/program:
- Federal Funding
- X
- X
- X
- X
- X
- X
Funding
Partners in the reentry initiative/program
| Informal Agreement | Formal Agreement (e.g., a written contract or an MOU) with this partner. |
|
| Community- and faith-based services providers: |
|
|
| Housing officials: |
|
|
| Institutional corrections (e.g., DOC, jail, prison): |
|
|
| Members of the community (e.g., people who have been incarcerated, their families or neighbors): |
|
|
| Other criminal justice agencies (e.g., prosecutors, judges): |
|
|
| Work force development and employment agencies (e.g. business associations, unions): |
|
Participants
- Population served by initiative/program:
-
- Returning from prison
- Under community corrections supervision (parole or probation)
- Adults
- Men
- Women
- People convicted of a non-violent offense
- Total number of people who have participated in initiative/program to date:
- 15
- Total number of people currently participating in initiative/program:
- 15
- Total number of people who can be served at one time:
- 50
- If your initiative/program serves people under community corrections supervision, how does your organization work in partnership or work in collaboration with participants’ probation or parole officers?
- AWS has worked with Dept. of Probation, Parole, and Pardon Services for many years, and our existing Community Service Program receives client referrals for picture ID, housing, and employment assistance. We have a collaborative partnership with SCPPPS to support successful client reentry and community supervision. We are in the initial stages of our newly funded adult mentoring program, 'Inside Out', and have full support of SC Department of Probation, Parole, and Pardon Services, from Director to local probation/parole officers in the Midlands and Greenville grant focus areas.
Data Collection
- Does your organization collect demographic data on participants?
- Yes
- If "yes", what kind of data? And what results has this data yielded?
- We collect age, race, gender, city/county of residence, as well as homeless/veteran status. This data collection began with Alston Wilkes Society Community Service Program compliance for funding through United Way, and the process continues with our Second Chance Act funding because it is an extension of our Midlands and Greenville Community Service Programs.
- Does your organization collect data about the process of your initiative/program?
- No
- Does your organization measure and/or track the outcome of participation?
- Yes
- If "yes", what kind of data? And what results has this data yielded?
- We are in volunteer recruitment stage - client data TBA in the future. We are in the Pre-Release phase, but upon release, all participants will be referred to our Community Service Coordinator for community resources/reentry assistance and outcomes will be tracked and reported through Mentors, Mentoring Program coordinators, Community Service Coorinators, and Quality Assurance Coordinator. We have a centralized database for collections of this data.
Activities
- What, if any, activities does your initiative/program include for people while they are incarcerated and how do these activities differ from those offered to the general population?
- Aslton Wilkes Society, since its founding in 1962, has provided Pre-Release, Employment, and Life Skills Workshops within the Department of Corrections through its Community Service Program. We are in the initial stages of implementing our SCA funded 'Inside Out' Adult Mentoring Program as an extension of our Community Service Program. Our focus is former offenders and homeless individuals, but often our homeless individuals have a criminal offense as well. However, the educational workshops are available only to individuals scheduled for release within 1-6 months.
- What activities does your organization engage in post-release and how do these activities differ from those offered to the general population?
- Alston Wilkes Society provides re-entry services to include emergency needs, employment, education, and post-release mentoring.
AWS Community Service Program focus is offenders/former offenders, so the services that differ from the general population are the advantage adult mentoring services (pre and post release), as this is an extension of our pre-release services. - How are people placed into your program?
- Referral SCDC, Chaplain, SCDC program referrals