A Corrections, Community and Faith-based Re-entry Partnership
By Dr. Tim Cayton, Assistant Administrator
Gary was getting out after 28 years- over half his life- behind bards. He had not relatives, no friends, no job and nowhere to live. From his prison counselor’s office he called the DOC Re-entry Chaplain. Three phone calls later Gary had housing, job training and a community of supporter ready to receive him upon release.
How did this happen? It happened because of Home for Good in Oregon: A Corrections, Community and Faith-Based Re-entry Partnership (HGO). HGO is a statewide network of community and faith-based individuals and organizations committed to "building strong communities for the successful reintegration of offenders."
We know from research that having non-criminal or pro-social friends and associates and non-criminal or pro-social attitudes, values and beliefs are two of the most important factors that help offenders to successfully reintegrate upon their release. Based on this research HGO provides releasing offenders with opportunities to develop a pro-social support system for their release as well as a strong set of pro-social attitudes, beliefs and values. Recently the American Correctional Chaplains Association gave its 2005 annual national award for religious program excellence to Oregon's HGO re-entry partnership.
HGO has created a model re-entry program that is structured on three organizational and programmatic building blocks that are described below. In each of these three blocks there are opportunities for volunteers to help reduce Oregon's rate of recidivism and make Oregon's communities both safer and more compassionate.
1. Transition Focused Prison Chapel Programs
The first foundation block in HGO is transition-focused chapel programs in the ODOC institutions. Re-entry Coordinators work with institutional chaplains to assist offenders prepare for the challenges of returning to their family and community. Activities in the prison include spiritual-based transition classes, pre-release counseling and help to link inmates to community and faith-based supports and services that will compliment the inmate's approved release plan. This one-on-one work with inmates helps them prepare for and work on the issues they will face upon release. We are also working with the faith-based volunteers who are conducting services in the prisons that are releasing inmates to help them focus some of their services around transition issues.
2. Volunteer Community Chaplains
The second foundation block is a statewide network of trained and experienced volunteer Community Chaplains committed to helping releasing offenders reconnect in healthy and supportive ways with families, community organizations and faith communities. This ever-growing network of 30-35 Community Chaplains works closely with and supports Community Correction’s Probation and Parole Officers. Community Chaplains provide offenders with needed social support, guidance and direction and also hold them accountable for unhealthy, unsafe or illegal behaviors. The Community Chaplains are divided into six statewide regions under the direction of Regional Community Chaplains. To date, we have been able to recruit a Community Chaplain for most of the 36 counties.
3. Local and State Wide Community-Based Organizational Structure
HGO's foundation block number three is a three-tiered organization of Oregon's communities that brings together government and correctional representatives, locally-based service providers and an ever-growing network of community and faith-based individuals and organizations. Functioning over the past year and one-half as a statewide Steering Committee, 30-35 individuals (all volunteers ) from across Oregon have met together once a month via video and phone conferencing (Portland, Wilsonville, Salem, Medford, Bend, Ontario, Coos Bay, etc) to build collaboration and cooperation among Oregon's community and faith-based re-entry and transitional resources. The Committee organized and ran the first statewide re-entry conference in the nation in October 2004. Oregon's conference was attended by over 350 people representing corrections, government, community and faith-based organizations, including the Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs.
This third foundation block is in the process of developing a network of county or area Local Community Re-entry Partnership Councils that will bring together local governmental, correctional, service providers and community and faith-based organizations to coordinate county level re-entry efforts. These Partnership Councils will be developed by a network of Community Coordinators and the many local councils will be represented on the state wide Steering Committee which will, in turn, be represented on a HGO Executive Committee composed of management level representatives of correctional, community and governmental agencies and organizations and the HGO Steering Committee.
HGO Re-entry Office
ODOC
2575 Center Street NE
Salem, Oregon 97310-0470
503-945-0929
Leadership
Tim Cayton, ODOC Assistant Administrator, (503) 945-9087
Corrections Today -October 2004
Home for Good in Oregon Feature Article
http://www.oregon.gov/DOC/TRANS/docs/pdf/home_4_good.pdf
Awards
Received the 2005 Correctional Programs National Award of Excellence from the American Correctional Chaplains Association
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