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Spiritus Christi Prison Outreach Inc.
Spiritus Christi Prison Outreach, Inc. (SCPO) is a ministry of Spiritus Christi Church in the inner city of Rochester, New York. The SCPO is a corporation owned by Spiritus Christi Church; however, the outreach program is non-religious in nature. We welcome any person regardless of religious affiliation. As a faith-based community, we have a strong base of mentors who are committed to offering resources to incarcerated individuals and ex-offenders. Members of this community have been visiting the local jails and prisons for the past 30 years and employ an evidence based approach utilizing Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) as one of the underpinnings for our group facilitations. We welcome ex-incarcerated men and women into our post-release transitional housing programs where both paid and volunteer mentors provide a stable environment and support as our residents build a solid foundation of resources and programs aimed at enhancing their potential for success in their next phase of reentry.
Quick Facts:
- Focus of initiative/program:
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- Housing
- Mental Health
- Mentoring
- Substance Abuse
- Inititative/program name:
- Spiritus Christi Prison Outreach, Inc.
- Year Established:
- 1980
- Lead agency/organization name:
- Spiritus Christi Church
- Population served by initiative/program:
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- Returning from local jails
- Returning from prison
- Not under community corrections supervision
- Under community corrections supervision (parole or probation)
- Adults
- Men
- Women
- People convicted of a violent offense
- People convicted of a non-violent offense
- Gang members
- Elderly
Spiritus Christi Prison Outreach Inc.
Contact:
James DillonReentry Coordinator
Spiritus Christi Prison Outreach, Inc.
Phone: (585) 683-3579
934 Culver Road
Rochester, NY 14609
james.dillon20@yahoo.com
www.outreaches.spirituschristi.org/Spiritus_Outreaches/Prison_Outreach.html
Spiritus Christi Prison Outreach Inc.
Initiatives and Programs
- Focus of initiative/program:
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- Housing
- Mental Health
- Mentoring
- Substance Abuse
- Inititative/program name:
- Spiritus Christi Prison Outreach, Inc.
- Lead agency/organization name:
- Spiritus Christi Church
- Funding sources for initiative/program:
- Federal, State/Local, Agency Budget & Private
- X
- X
- X
- X
- X
- 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. |
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| Community- and faith-based services providers: |
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| Education and training providers (e.g., local public school officials, vocational instructors): |
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| Health, mental health, and substance abuse treatment providers: |
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| Housing officials: |
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| Institutional corrections (e.g., DOC, jail, prison): |
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| Law enforcement agencies (e.g., police, sheriff's office): |
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| Members of the community (e.g., people who have been incarcerated, their families or neighbors): |
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| Other criminal justice agencies (e.g., prosecutors, judges): |
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| Transportation providers: |
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| Victim advocates: |
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| Work force development and employment agencies (e.g. business associations, unions): |
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Participants
- Population served by initiative/program:
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- Returning from local jails
- Returning from prison
- Not under community corrections supervision
- Under community corrections supervision (parole or probation)
- Adults
- Men
- Women
- People convicted of a violent offense
- People convicted of a non-violent offense
- Gang members
- Elderly
- Total number of people who have participated in initiative/program to date:
- 10,000 - 12,000 Since 1980
- Total number of people currently participating in initiative/program:
- 60
- Total number of people who can be served at one time:
- 75 - 100
- 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?
- Our case managers work in a collaborative way with probation and parole to assist the needs of our mentees. Our structured program assists our mentees in adhering to their parole and probation stipulations though empowerment and accountability. If a mentee is struggling we will conduct conjoint sessions with parole or probation utilizing leverage to increase the probability of compliance and successful program completion.
Data Collection
- Does your organization collect demographic data on participants?
- Yes
- If "yes", what kind of data? And what results has this data yielded?
- Name, age, race, SS#, DOB, Criminal history, Homless status, Substance abuse status, Social Service status
- Does your organization collect data about the process of your initiative/program?
- Yes
- If "yes", what kind of data? And what results has this data yielded?
- Type of conviction, Substance abuse & mental health treatment, Lenth of incarceration, Housing status, DHS benefits status
- 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 have recently established a process with the Monroe County Jail to collect this type of data and we will be reporting though this data through PMT/GMS covering the program timeframe of October, 2009 through June 2010 at the end of July 2010.
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?
- We offer 9 different opportunities to incarcerated women and men within 2 county jail facilities and 7 state correctional facilities for meeting in group settings. Our mentors facilitate exploration of the links between thought processes, emotions and subsequent behaviors that lead to incarceration and provide a forum to learn and explore alternative coping skills. To my knowledge, our specific approach in not available outside of our groups however, our groups are open to the general population.
- What activities does your organization engage in post-release and how do these activities differ from those offered to the general population?
- We offer 2 post release transitional housing alternatives, one for women and one for men. We focus primarily on those with substance abuse and mental health issues. The goals our homes are to provide a very structured environment that includes housing, meals and necessary benefits. While with us our residents can establish a firm base of benefits (i.e. DHS) and links to out-patient resources. While a resident in one of our homes, each resident has the same curfew, rotates through daily chores, attends house and recovery meetings and works with a case manager to develop and implement a customized recovery plan. While we do not focus on religion, our program is faith-based and, as such, provides a loving a caring environment from which women and men are challenged to do the tough work they must do to break free of their past and begin to create a plausible future. We also offer a mentoring program to those who exit incarceration and choose not to become a resident at one of our homes as well as to those who graduate from our residential programs and move on to the next phase of their development. We believe that our approach greatly reduces the chances of recidivism while the general population, released from incarceration without having access to the types of programs we offer, too often recommit.
- How are people placed into your program?
- We select individuals for our program based on group participation and interviews and observations when referred.