LOWERING RECIDIVISM THE OBVIOUS WAY

The PEP Story

PEP’s team recognizes that prison is a storehouse of untapped potential. Many inmates come to prison as seasoned entrepreneurs who happened to run illegitimate businesses. For the truly reformed prisoners, once equipped with education and life skills training, the ROI potential for these men, their families and communities is limitless.

Former Wall Street investor Catherine Rohr founded PEP in May of 2004 when she and her husband toured a prison and noticed that executives and inmates had more in common than most would think. They know how to manage others to get things done. Even the most unsophisticated drug dealers inherently understand business concepts such as competition, profitability, risk management and proprietary sales channels. For both executives and inmates, passion is instinctive.

Catherine wondered what would happen if inmates who were committed to their own transformation were equipped to start and run legitimate companies. Following an unusual calling, Catherine left behind her New York career and financial stability, moved to Texas with her husband and started a one-of-a-kind “behind bars” business plan competition. Her efforts were geared toward channeling the entrepreneurial passions and influential personalities of the inmates—intentionally recruiting former gang leaders, drug dealers and hustlers.

The overwhelming response of 55 inmates and 15 world-class executives to judge the business plans and presentations was the catalyst to launch the Prison Entrepreneurship Program. Since inception, PEP has produced staggering results … click here to view our paradigm-changing statistics.

For a deeper look into PEP’s story click here.

APATHY and the CHURCH

The Yale Journal for Humanities in Medicine (Myles Sheehan)

Apathy is a failure to care or attend to one's own needs or the needs of others. If one thinks about apathy in the context of illness, apathy can afflict a patient or it can afflict caregivers.

One cannot focus on God if one does not know that means caring for others. In failing to care for others, one fails to attend to the center of reality whom Christians know as God. The scene of the final judgment, from Matthew's Gospel, presents a dividing of humanity into sheep and goats on the basis of attention to other persons and their needs:

When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king, will say to those at his right hand, "Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me. I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me."

"Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me." (Mt. 25:31-40. NRSV)

This incarnational faith that equates treatment of the sick, beggars, prisoners, and the needy with how one treats Jesus,
________________________________________Published: September 17, 2004

CENTERFORCE ANNUAL SUMMIT

             


Oct 6-7, 2008, Sonoma, CA

The Centerforce mission is to support, educate, and advocate for individuals, families, and communities impacted by incarceration.



HIGHLIGHTS



Matthew Cate, Sec. CDCR (CA Dept Corrections & Rehabilitation

• 50% of those exiting prison have no knowledge of where spending their first night.
• Overcrowding, and lack of resources will worsen due to fiscal crisis.
• "Lifers" have proved invaluable in calming the angry "25 year old

Ann Adalist Estrin (National Resource Center on Children & Families)

• The pain from incarceration remains for a lifetime. (Need for support groups)
• Children (in silence) mourn for their dad. ("Toxic stress"). Both need to feel "held in mind"
  
• Public Awareness Campaigns exist to expose the "broken" criminal justice system and a call for a response     
• 
  

Eric Bode, Tami Reed (Chowchilla Family Express)

• Bus from major cities in CA to the two largest women prisons in America. Leaves from LA at 4am and returns the next day at 9pm. Supplies food, housing, family photos, teddy bears, and counseling. Links the families together

       
Mike Farrell, Dan Abrahamson, Elizabeth Gaynes – Sentencing reform

• Paroles are essentially unavailable despite eligibility and warden approval. Sentencing from 5 to life, 10 to life, etc will never get out.
  
• More and more prisoners are being transferred out-of-State, guaranteeing family disintergration
• 
  
  85% of the married will be divorced at time of release. (98% of the incarcerated women)
  
  

Angela Irvine, PhD   Planning for Re-entry and Recidivism Prevention 

• Best judges for what's needed are the "clients" themselves. Too often bureaucrats make the decisions
  

• Jobs first, housing second, and diversionary programs a distant third
  
• Success best fulfilled with "exit strategy", life skills and literacy training (rather than focus on academics), health and dental care
• 
  
  Watch vocabulary reaffirming human dignity. Don't identify as "felon', "offender" and "inmate".
  
  
  
  
  Question from the audience: "How do Americans sleep at night?" 
• Answer: They are unconscious, and must be awakened to the exponential crisis. In truth we are all interconnected, and what has happened to the families in our neighborhood, and at our church might well happen to us tomorrow
  
  
  Churches are a solution to the "conspiracy of silence" in making the invisible visible. Their practices of redemption, transformed hearts, and restoration, are to be acted upon. Church leaders are to lead the way from the pulpit and being in the front line

Matt Gray (Sacramento Lobbyist for Prison Reform). Has been on both sides: A victim of violent crime and a family member of an inmate.

• State bills in contrast to federal bills have no pork
  
• Legislators spend 50% of their time in Sacto fundraising
  
• Legislators must tow the party line or suffer the consequences from within
• 
  
  Meeting with members: Eyeball to eyeball, two minute maximum, (no stories), seek common ground (never argumentive), be totally humble, provide single page handouts for staff, offer solutions, and make self available for additional help, and thank them for their courtesy
• 
  
  Current bills 6 and 9 are horrific. The will insure every lifer eligible for parole will never get out, nor will it be possible to reverse or modify them in the future

Yearly awards

• Robert Ayers. Present warden at San Quentin. Acts to lower recidivism with multiple innovative programs. His advice to the audience, "KEEP UP YOUR ENERGY".
  
• 
  
  
  Phillip Seiler's mother. Worked for her sons release from 20 years on death row at San Quentin and despite the Governor's veto of the Paroles Commission granting his release, sued the present Governor and won. 
  
  

Socratic Forum (Ron Clement moderator)

• Sasha Abrimsky (American Furies, Crime, Punishment, and Vengence in the Age of Mass Imprisonment). Collapse, the current status of our economic system. Tensions are and will be extremely high. Crime will increase sharply as the unemployment rate will reach towards 25%. It is urgent we fund mental health and drug addiction programs. Jobs and housing are the basic needs. The foreclosure on houses will make the feds landlords for public housing. Legalizing marijuana will be a win win step. The taxes secured will release lots of money to the government.
• 
  
• David Shaw (CA Inspector General). Probation will assume much of the role currently played by the DA's. Present facilities overcrowding demand we must rethink how best to manage our offenders. Seeking alternatives will be the job of Probation

• Paul Wright (Editor: Prison Legal News, Author: The Celling of America. Himself in prison for 17 years.) The experts for reform are the voices of the prisoners. Decriminalizing is critical.
• 
  
• Richard Word. (Police Chief, Vacaville, CA) Too few dollars, too few staff. Must reprioritize. Redeploy staff from traffic supervision to dealing with serious crime. Start "values" programs in grade schools.
• Pam Douglas. (Community stakeholder). Leave the low level drug offender to the local community for "restorative justice" (restoration to the victim, and redress). Save money by ridding unnecessary funding, illegals.
• 
  
• Phillip Seiler. (Releasee, and apprentice plumber). Vocational unions care more for fulfilling the job than one's past record. The hiree must receive help in obtaining the tools to start his trade. Above all, provide "life skills training" to youth mainly from those "experts" who were inmates themselves
• 
  
• David Warren. (Representative. Taxpayors for Improving Public Safety). Literacy is basic. When one can't get a job, he becomes vulnerable to escape with drugs. Give the youngsters "hope".
  
• 
  
  
  Rod Clement (Moderator and Advisor to foundations). Consortiums are basic to find their common ground to improve the criminal justice system and decrease recidivism.
  
  
  
  
  Comments from audience. Implement Restorative Justice for all juvenile offenders. Restore families in crisis. We are all part of one body.

Funding

• Study the foundation websites, their interests, and guidelines
• Speak to their agents and tell of your work, its basis, like work being done, collaborative parties, outcomes, and how to measure success
• Grants are given only to the passionate

26033 Mesa Drive, Carmel, CA 93923, william_ziering@comcast.net

TOTAL TRANSFORMATION

Power In Prison Michael G. Santos 09.24.08

My prison term began in 1987, when I was 23. Although I did not have a history of violence or previous confinement, the bad decisions I made as a young man persuaded a judge to impose a 45-year term. The long sentence induced administrators to lock me inside the impregnable walls of a maximum-security federal penitentiary.

I remain in prison. It is chaotic world of violence, of hopelessness, of despair. It is an environment ripe for me to study power at a primal level.

Administrators control the infrastructure. Their rules rip away a prisoner's identity and replace it with a registration number. Staff members issue every prisoner identical coarse and threadbare clothing from bins. Rules dictate what, when and how much we eat. Guards tell us where to sleep and with whom.

We work jobs according to the needs of the institution rather than according to merit or aptitude. Different rules determine when and how we can communicate with family; meaningful interactions with members of society are blocked. Instead of encouraging men to earn freedom, prison policies are designed to make it clear that inmates have no control over their destinies. Only the turning of the calendar page matters.

In prison, preservation of the institution trumps the needs of the individual. Unlike any other place in America I know, prison administrators rely on the threat of punishment and coercion rather than the promise of incentives to manage inmates. People who seek power inside prison walls learn to manipulate this environment. Yet as recidivism rates show, those who learn to live in prison simultaneously learn to fail in society.

Without hope, men adjust in a myriad of ways to ease their time. They join gangs. They hustle contraband. They ceaselessly plot and scheme. They threaten. Most power in prison is based on fear, on the risk of bloodshed. Through intimidation and violence, some prisoners satisfy their lust for dominance and find immediate gratification.

Preparing for success upon release, on the other hand, requires a far different effort. Rewards do not come for years, even decades. Whereas administrators appease the gang leaders with single-man cells and work schedules, the inmate who focuses on preparing himself for life outside prison toils away quietly in obscurity, motivated completely from within and susceptible to predators and extortionists. As Lion, a gang leader I wrote about in my book, Inside, told me, all a man needed to thrive in prison is hatred and a knife.

Myopic prisoners think they can enhance their power by joining gangs or engaging in high-risk, low-reward behavior. And, indeed, in an institution founded upon skewed values, it is easy enough for prisoners to lift their stature--at least inside the penitentiary. Neither administrators nor the prison populace respect the man who educates himself or prepares for a law-abiding life upon release. But those who cultivate reputations of worthlessness, lethal violence and treachery build armies of sycophants.

Early in my term, a gang leader who called himself Gaspipe outlined the path to power. "It's simple," Gaspipe said. "I give respect and I demand respect. Any man who even thinks about testing me had better be ready to bleed. I'm ready to go. I know my brothers have my back."

To embrace Gaspipe's premise, prisoners have to believe that life offers nothing beyond the concrete blocks and steel that confine them. They are content with extortion, reaping windfall profits in the underground economy and dispensing their booty to a coterie of followers. They build an elusive, penitentiary power.

As a long-term prisoner with more than a quarter-century to serve, I rejected this penitentiary protocol, this institutionalized power. From the beginning, I strove to create something different. Real power, I was convinced, comes to those who build a deeper meaning in their lives; true power comes from self-mastery. As I learned from the ancient writings of Aristotle, even prisoners needed to put forth an effort to know themselves.

With plenty of time for introspection, I concluded that I didn't have the spiritual temperament of a monk. I knew I could endure the lengthy sentence imposed upon me, but I found that I could not enjoy fulfillment in a life of solitude. I had to connect with the wider community beyond the prison walls.

To triumph over the sentence, I knew I had to emerge successfully. As Stephen Covey's books taught, I had to begin serving my term with the end in mind.

Under the sentencing scheme in use when I was convicted, I knew that the possibility of good-time credit could mean my release in just over 26 years--in 2013. In 1987, that was longer than I had been alive. But instead of dwelling on the impossible amount of time until my release, I envisioned myself emerging from prison with dignity, a proud and virtuous man.

I had been a mediocre student through my school years. Mediocrity, I knew, would not be acceptable if I was going to excel in prison. By his very nature, a prisoner is inferior and a failure. To succeed, I would have to do far better than average. My goal was to have law-abiding citizens accept me as something more than a prisoner; I hoped they would consider me a peer. I hoped to learn and to create opportunities through mentors. Those opportunities would allow me to transition into society as a fully functioning and contributing citizen upon my release.

A gang leader would build his power base by orchestrating illicit schemes. I identified such behavior as offering high risks with low rewards. A lazy prisoner would sleep excessively and narcotize himself with television. That was low-risk, low-reward behavior.

I sought to empower myself with low-risk, high-reward behaviors. I educated myself, developed a network of support and strove to increase my mental, physical, spiritual and emotional fitness.

Occasionally, I took higher levels of risk, but only for commensurate rewards. For example, my writings have exposed me to the enmity of the system by revealing what I have observed and experienced.

Now I have more than 21 years of confinement behind me, and fewer than five years of prison ahead. My moral compass has guided me through prisons of every security level and has empowered me in ways that allowed me to transcend prison boundaries.

Over the last two decades, I have moved from high-security penitentiaries to minimum-security prison camps. I have earned an undergraduate degree from Mercer University and a graduate degree from Hofstra University. I have built a thriving network of support, and married an extraordinary woman whose beauty takes my breath away.

Publishers have brought books I have written to market and they educate readers across the world about America's prison system. Partners have built and continue to maintain MichaelSantos.net, a Web site that distributes my writings to help those struggling through the criminal justice system.

I have contributed to society while serving a 45-year prison sentence. That is empowering.

Michael Santos is the author of Inside: Life Behind Bars in America. He writes about the prison experience at www.MichaelSantos.net.

REASON ENOUGH FOR A PRISON MINISTRY

FORBES MAGAZINE September 24, 2008

My prison term began in 1987, when I was 23. Although I did not have a history of violence or previous confinement, the bad decisions I made as a young man persuaded a judge to impose a 45-year term. The long sentence induced administrators to lock me inside the impregnable walls of a maximum-security federal penitentiary.

I remain in prison. It is chaotic world of violence, of hopelessness, of despair. It is an environment ripe for me to study power at a primal level.

Administrators control the infrastructure. Their rules rip away a prisoner's identity and replace it with a registration number. Staff members issue every prisoner identical coarse and threadbare clothing from bins. Rules dictate what, when and how much we eat. Guards tell us where to sleep and with whom.

We work jobs according to the needs of the institution rather than according to merit or aptitude. Different rules determine when and how we can communicate with family; meaningful interactions with members of society are blocked. Instead of encouraging men to earn freedom, prison policies are designed to make it clear that inmates have no control over their destinies. Only the turning of the calendar page matters.

In prison, preservation of the institution trumps the needs of the individual. Unlike any other place in America I know, prison administrators rely on the threat of punishment and coercion rather than the promise of incentives to manage inmates. People who seek power inside prison walls learn to manipulate this environment. Yet as recidivism rates show, those who learn to live in prison simultaneously learn to fail in society.

Without hope, men adjust in a myriad of ways to ease their time. They join gangs. They hustle contraband. They ceaselessly plot and scheme. They threaten. Most power in prison is based on fear, on the risk of bloodshed. Through intimidation and violence, some prisoners satisfy their lust for dominance and find immediate gratification.

Preparing for success upon release, on the other hand, requires a far different effort. Rewards do not come for years, even decades. Whereas administrators appease the gang leaders with single-man cells and work schedules, the inmate who focuses on preparing himself for life outside prison toils away quietly in obscurity, motivated completely from within and susceptible to predators and extortionists. As Lion, a gang leader I wrote about in my book, Inside, told me, all a man needed to thrive in prison is hatred and a knife.

Myopic prisoners think they can enhance their power by joining gangs or engaging in high-risk, low-reward behavior. And, indeed, in an institution founded upon skewed values, it is easy enough for prisoners to lift their stature--at least inside the penitentiary. Neither administrators nor the prison populace respect the man who educates himself or prepares for a law-abiding life upon release. But those who cultivate reputations of worthlessness, lethal violence and treachery build armies of sycophants.

Early in my term, a gang leader who called himself Gaspipe outlined the path to power. "It's simple," Gaspipe said. "I give respect and I demand respect. Any man who even thinks about testing me had better be ready to bleed. I'm ready to go. I know my brothers have my back."

To embrace Gaspipe's premise, prisoners have to believe that life offers nothing beyond the concrete blocks and steel that confine them. They are content with extortion, reaping windfall profits in the underground economy and dispensing their booty to a coterie of followers. They build an elusive, penitentiary power.

As a long-term prisoner with more than a quarter-century to serve, I rejected this penitentiary protocol, this institutionalized power. From the beginning, I strove to create something different. Real power, I was convinced, comes to those who build a deeper meaning in their lives; true power comes from self-mastery. As I learned from the ancient writings of Aristotle, even prisoners needed to put forth an effort to know themselves.

With plenty of time for introspection, I concluded that I didn't have the spiritual temperament of a monk. I knew I could endure the lengthy sentence imposed upon me, but I found that I could not enjoy fulfillment in a life of solitude. I had to connect with the wider community beyond the prison walls.

To triumph over the sentence, I knew I had to emerge successfully. As Stephen Covey's books taught, I had to begin serving my term with the end in mind.

Under the sentencing scheme in use when I was convicted, I knew that the possibility of good-time credit could mean my release in just over 26 years--in 2013. In 1987, that was longer than I had been alive. But instead of dwelling on the impossible amount of time until my release, I envisioned myself emerging from prison with dignity, a proud and virtuous man.

I had been a mediocre student through my school years. Mediocrity, I knew, would not be acceptable if I was going to excel in prison. By his very nature, a prisoner is inferior and a failure. To succeed, I would have to do far better than average. My goal was to have law-abiding citizens accept me as something more than a prisoner; I hoped they would consider me a peer. I hoped to learn and to create opportunities through mentors. Those opportunities would allow me to transition into society as a fully functioning and contributing citizen upon my release.

A gang leader would build his power base by orchestrating illicit schemes. I identified such behavior as offering high risks with low rewards. A lazy prisoner would sleep excessively and narcotize himself with television. That was low-risk, low-reward behavior.

I sought to empower myself with low-risk, high-reward behaviors. I educated myself, developed a network of support and strove to increase my mental, physical, spiritual and emotional fitness.

Occasionally, I took higher levels of risk, but only for commensurate rewards. For example, my writings have exposed me to the enmity of the system by revealing what I have observed and experienced.

Now I have more than 21 years of confinement behind me, and fewer than five years of prison ahead. My moral compass has guided me through prisons of every security level and has empowered me in ways that allowed me to transcend prison boundaries.

Over the last two decades, I have moved from high-security penitentiaries to minimum-security prison camps. I have earned an undergraduate degree from Mercer University and a graduate degree from Hofstra University. I have built a thriving network of support, and married an extraordinary woman whose beauty takes my breath away.

Publishers have brought books I have written to market and they educate readers across the world about America's prison system. Partners have built and continue to maintain MichaelSantos.net, a Web site that distributes my writings to help those struggling through the criminal justice system.

I have contributed to society while serving a 45-year prison sentence. That is empowering.

Michael Santos is the author of Inside: Life Behind Bars in America. He writes about the prison experience at www.MichaelSantos.net.

FALL FORUM, OCTOBER 4, 2008

COALITION of CHURCHES for REENTRY & RESTORATION PART 1 SATURDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2008 Carmel Presbyterian Church (Ocean and Junipero) Carmel, CA 9am to 12:30 INCARCERATION: EFFECTS ON THE INDIVIDUAL, and THE FAMILIES SPEAKERS: The Rev. Connie White Director, Victim Offender Reconciliation Program, Monterey. (“Is it all about crime and punishment”) Pastor Fred Anderson 7th Day Adventist Church, Seaside (“Rescuing souls before and after sin”) Charles Russell Director, Prison Ministry, (“The one answer to making it through the system”) Janice Little Field Director, Prison Fellowship, Fresno (“What about the families and children left behind?) ___________________________________________________________ PART 2 RE-ENTRY WITH FAITH-BASED ALTERNATIVES SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2008 SPEAKERS: Josef Corbin Corbin Building, Inc., From con to industrial giant Pam Hogan, MA From Prison to Paycheck: What No One Ever Tells You about Getting a Job Sheriff Kanalakis Director,Monterey’s state contract Prison Re-entry Facility “The new model” Pastor Joe Avila Executive Director for Prison Fellowship, for Northern California and Nevada (“In the prisons with Jesus”)

NEWSLETTER August 6, 2008

JULY 2008 =================================================================

Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ. Thanks to so many of you in so many churches for joining God in this work of his in our local communities. I continue to be amazed at how much has been accomplished in so short a time. Your prayers and work have already produced a harvest. I stand and watch, joyful and in tears of thankfulness.

Below is a report to you on activities over recent weeks. It concludes with requests for continued prayer and acts of service. Contact me or others in this ministry with your offers of stewardship and prayer via email or phone or letter.


In our Savior's name,

Bill Ziering
===================================================================


Activities during the last 30 days:

 -To conduct in-prison evangelism and discipleship.

Charles Russell, Chairman of Prison Ministry at the 7th Day Adventist Church in Seaside is now approved and is disciplining youth at Juvenile Hall in Salinas. Sue Creel has provided him Bibles in Spanish and English. Chaplain Robert and Pastor Phyllis Auhll have been solicited by Prison Fellowship Ministries to disciple each Monday at the Soledad Prison.

To identify, actively nurture, and support those families left behind who reside in a prison of their own.

Gail Howard with the Zubick family continue to do food preparation each Wednesday and are teaching Jack how to prepare food. Pam Ziering assists Laura Wells each two weeks with her ladies support group, "Hope Together".

To link with other post –prison and aftercare organizations towards total reintegration of the individual back into the family, community, church, and workplace with full rights under the law and equal status among man.


Charles Russell, Robert Auhll, and Bill Ziering accepted the invitation from CDCR (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation) to speak in favor of the proposed Secure Prison Reentry Facility at the July 22, 2009 Board of Supervisors Ila Mettee and David Potter both commented how their 3 minute presentations were more impressive than the hour long one from those representing CDCR. Subsequently the Board voted to continue exploring the State project aimed at reducing recidivism.

Come aside the family in love on a continuous basis.

Some of the components include: Prayer, Christian counseling, small group fellowship, Church outreach, visitations, food, clothing, child care and activities, assistance with community services, home repair, healthcare, business counseling, job training, physical and nutritional mentoring, Pen-Pal, and Angel Tree.

We have begun distributing the gifting of the $500 in vouchers from the Yellow Brick Road to needy families in our ministry.

Each Friday at our weekly coalition meetings (Coalition of Churches for Reentry and Restoration") after the opening prayer followed by bible study (relevant to the agenda items) we go to corporate prayer before deliberating on the week's agenda.

Bill Ziering visits Pastor Mike's (Casey) Monday evening "Bridge" fellowship. Pastor Mike's "board" purchased a house in PG which currently is home for 6 parolees who lack family and a place to live. Later in August, we will participate at Jesse Alvarez' PACT meeting; there, parolees learn of the variety of programs/services provided in our community directly from representatives of those organizations.

We are active in pen-pal with Jeff Wells and Jay Zubick.

Laura Wells delivered a testimonial this Sunday to the 6pm group.

Answered prayer during the last 30 days:



We pray that more of our church members who have had family incarcerated would be attending one or more of our several groups. We too are surprised how resistant (humiliation? anger? depression?) are these families who know not yet how releasing it is to share their hurt though testimonials, and support of others in the same boat. I am learning that although these 21 (known) families have finally opened up to their being personally affected by incarceration, they are highly resistant to sharing their bottled up feelings.


Planned activities during the coming two months:

We are readying another forum at CPC, the "Second Annual" set for Saturday October 4th from 9am to 12:30. Guest speakers tentatively include (pending their availability):

• The Rev Connie White (Restorative Justice, Victim - Offender Reconciliation)
  
• Charles Russell (Spent 20 years in prison over 4 arrests, now gainfully employed as a meat-cutter while heading up a prison ministry at his church)
  
• Pastor Frederick Anderson (7th Day Adventist Church, Seaside. (Topic: Prevention through family unity and Bible obedience)
  
• Janice Little, Field Director for Prison Fellowship Ministries (Topic: Coming aside the family left behind)
  

Help needed requests:


Pray that other churches on the Monterey Peninsula led by their pastors join with us in unity through developing a prison outreach ministry. We are prepared to assist then as they want our counsel. We ask you to pray for their boldness to join God in this work of His. Pray for a Christian imperative that more churches come to the understanding that God refers to prison and captives more than 250 times. While government is invested to maintain law and order, the church is to reach in compassion and support, a position many seem to have forgotten.



In Christ's name,


Bill Ziering

Lowering Recidivism

                FOR THE LEAST OF US    

Challenging Churches and Restoring Families  

RE-ENTRY FACILITY

Monterey County has been awarded $80 million in state funds to renovate the present jail building in Salinas, followed by constructing a 491 bed prison re-entry facility for inmates 18 months before release. (The state grants were made available under AB 900 which provides $750 million to approved applicants). With the ever-increasing incarceration rate resulting in perpetual over-crowded and illegal conditions, the State is looking for innovative approaches to reducing crime and need for imprisonment.

 

A prison re-entry facility is being touted as one such remedy. With recidivism (return to prison) now approaching 80%, these transition facilities can prepare the inmate for a more successful adaptation back into the community. 

 

A practical curriculum incorporating life skill preparation, job training and procurement, counseling (mental health, spiritual, anger management) recovery programs, provision of social services, mentorship, opportunities for fellowship and support, and financial aide for basic needs, are to be incorporated within the facility as a one-stop resource. Programs to reduce recidivism benefit not only the inmates and families, but the greater community and improve public safety. 

DEMONSTRATED NEED

 

United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world with a five-fold increase in the last 30 years. The following statistics, while frightening, explain why the current system of incarceration and release is not working and instead only compounding the problem. ^{1, ,2}

• 
  
  2,271,000 inmates currently serving time.
• 
  
  One in 34 Americans has been in prison.
• 
  
  One in 3 African-Americans will spend time in prison.
• 
  
  One in 6 Latinos will spend time in prison.
• 
  
  700,000 prisoners are released nationwide each year.
• 
  
  Most will return to prison, most unable to make a living or successfully rejoin family life.
• 
  
  Most marriages of prisoners end in divorce.
• 
  
  

  The children of inmates are 10 times more likely to become inmates themselves. 

Recidivism is an on-going issue that harms all parties, the inmate, his family, and the community  

• 
  
  Three of four former inmates will return to prison within three years.
• 
  
  Imprisonment has proved little more than a temporary "warehousing" of criminals.
• 
  
  Prisons are commonly viewed as "post-graduate schools for crime". 

This "revolving door" issue has several causes. Considering these issues is critical to determining the structure of any re-entry facility program as well as measuring success of such programs. Typically a former inmate is in a substantially downgraded position socially and economically than when the inmate entered prison.

Recidivism contributors include: 

• 
  
  Released prisoners return to a new era; their old skills often are antiquated and employment opportunities are not readily available.
• 
  
  Service programs (skill training, job procurement, support, etc.) are hard to find.
• 
  
  Abandonment by their families, friends, co-workers and community is prevalent.
• 
  
  Mental health issues (depression, anxiety, etc) commonly develop in prison.
• 
  
  Marginalized, ex-inmates readily pick up substance addictions.
• 
  
  Mentoring ex-inmates has not been a community priority.
• 
  
  Basic services for shelter, clothing, recovery and discipleship are lacking.
• 
  
  Financial aide is limited in availability.

 

Details of Proposed Re-entry Facility    : The state corrections department has plans for 280,000 to 300,000 square-foot secure buildings designed to blend in with surrounding communities. Possible architectural plans - Contemporary, Mission, and Tuscan models. 

 

Possible location: Fort Ord, Seaside

 

Management: CDCR

 

Facilities: It is suggested that the rehabilitative/habilitative services be located on grounds, coordinated and supervised by an experienced administrative professional staff in collaboration with CDCR and with continuous and regular team meetings occurring at weekly/monthly intervals

 

Possible Program Offerings:

• 
  
  Employment: basic job skills training, specific trade skills training, literacy education, life skills education (financial, academic, vocational navigation), internship program, financial assistance, transportation support (bus voucher program),
• 
  
  

  Mental / Social / Physical: mental health assessment and treatment, substance dependency recovery programs (residential and outpatient), women's abuse/shelter services, small group fellowships, counseling services,
• 
  
  Community: youth outreach, facilitation with other community organizations (e.g.; Kairos, Koinonia, Prison Fellowship), local volunteer opportunities, facilitation of community education and participation
• 
  
  Emergency and Temporary: on-site meals, shelter, clothing, transitional housing
• 
  
  Voluntary mediated dialogue with victim and offender if appropriate; victim impact classes where victims are brought in to tell their story to inmates as a group. 

Prison Statistics. US Department of Justice. Retrieved on 2008-04-18.¹

Nell Bernstein, All Alone in the World: Children of the Incarcerated (New York: The New Press, 2005) ²

 

 

 

 

 

Think Outside the Cage: Ending The Cycle Of Crime: Ex-Cons Get A Hand

Think Outside the Cage: Ending The Cycle Of Crime: Ex-Cons Get A Hand

A: Getting Started | Reentry Policy Council

A: Getting Started | Reentry Policy Council

Think Outside the Cage: The Ex- Con Next Door -

Think Outside the Cage: The Ex- Con Next Door -

Think Outside the Cage: A Second Chance NY TIMES EDITORIAL

Think Outside the Cage: A Second Chance NY TIMES EDITORIAL

Larry James' Urban Daily: People always ask. . .

Larry James' Urban Daily: People always ask. . .

Think Outside the Cage: American's In Prison

Think Outside the Cage: American's In Prison

ONE LINERS ON PRISON MIINISTRY

FOR THE LEAST OF US
Challenging Churches and Restoring Families


...be doers of the Word, and not hearers only..." James 1:22

• One of our volunteers put it this way: “Jesus said if you visit a prisoner you visit Me. I don’t know why it took me so long to figure out He really meant what He said!” How about you? (Mark Earley, CEO Prison Fellowship). 
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• Mayor Dennis Donahue, Salinas, CA, plans for cleaning up crime is three-fold: Strengthening families, increasing literacy, and providing for after school programs.
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• Hostility and prejudice toward the incarcerated are impediments to ministry. The criminal justice system is dominated by notions of retribution, vengeance, punishment and isolation. The core values of the Christian gospel--forgiveness, compassion, redemption, reconciliation, restorative justice--run counter to prevailing sentiments in the justice system. (Pastor Kenneth Carder, Duke University)
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• In Matthew 22:34-40, we see the Sadducees trying to trap Jesus with the question of what the most important commandment was in the law of Moses, which of course is to love the Lord your God. But then Jesus goes on to say that “…..the second is equally important: Love your neighbor as yourself.”

“Whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant... for even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” (Mark 10)

• "There is crisis in the spiritual well being of the inmates," he continued. "If you can reach them with the word so they can see where they're at within the bounds of God, then prison becomes a more peaceful place. There's an awful lot of anger and denial brought into this place. Usually the anger is at others and at themselves. You try to point out in scripture the dangers of anger and try to get them to seek sharing their anger with the Lord because He can handle it. But if they don't know the Lord they don't know about that resource." (D. Winters, New Covenant Church, Ala)
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• After all, 80% or more of the 2 million prisoners now "doing time" will be leaving their prison cell within the next few years. After-care and job development loom as an area of prison ministry calling for the creative commitment of the Church. Model programs have developed in the Oklahoma Conference, Central Pennsylvania Conference, and some ecumenical and community center programs. Perhaps the most critical aspect of transition back into society as constructive citizens is the involvement of ex-offenders and their families in the full life of a local congregation. This is a challenge to each of our local congregations. (Marian Styles – McClintock)
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• Prison is a lonely life, both for the inmate and the loved ones who have to get along without him or her. It's a vicious cycle: Absent fathers and mothers create broken homes, and broken homes often lead to even more crime. So how can churches help? Former inmate Manny Mill encourages Christians to reach out to prisoners' families and offers practical suggestions for ministering to this forgotten segment of society. "I say to prisoners ... 'You have the power in Jesus Christ now to break the cycle of crime.'" - Manny Mill (President of Koinonia, a prison ministry)
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• Dr. Richard Kern, executive director of the Virginia Criminal Sentencing Committee, described how Virginia has done away with its parole system. Their prisons had been loaded with non-violent offenders. These people are not simply turned loose after they have been found guilty. But instead of being sentenced to prison, many are sentenced to various types of work-release programs. Recidivism has been reduced to 49%
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• Most churches today live in fear of lack of resources, the "what ifs," and have forgotten that our primary call is to "give ourselves away." We're not here for ourselves. We're here to bring good news to the poor. So instead of having a servant "lose my life" mindset, we have a fortress mentality. "Build these walls, protect these walls, and don’t let anybody in." (Pastor Jimmy Dorrell, Mission Waco)

Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth," (I John 3:18).



In His Service  Bill and Pam Ziering  26033 Mesa Drive, Carmel, CA93923  831-250-7921

A COMMUNITY AND NEIGHBORHOOD HEALTH CENTER – A faith-based ministry in human development

Clearly, if you want to build somebody's self-esteem, it's not giving them money and helping them out through the next crisis. It is giving them value, it is in helping them identify the gifts they have and giving them the confidence the world has beaten out of them. (Pastor Jimmy Dorrell, Mission Waco). People possess the power, the capacity and the desire to solve their own problems, if they are given the resources they need and the opportunity they crave. People don't need help nearly as much as they need a chance. (Larry James)

PATRONS

The homeless

The poor

The aged
The addicted
The felons
The disabled
The pregnant


PROVISIONS
Shelter, Food, Clothing, Transportation, Health care, Child care, Respite care, Recovery/support, Social services, Financial aid, Mentorship, Community center, Activities (Interactive lectures, parties, dancing, singing, bible study)

TRAINING
Literacy, Employment skills, Family matters (marriage, child rearing)Social adaptation, Ethics

WORK PROJECTS
Creation of jobs (construction, landscaping, cooks, food servers, meat cutting, auto servicing, health aides, secretarial, cashiers, delivery, clerks, On-the-job counseling

ELECTIVES
Worship services, Bible
study, Adult ministries, Teen center, Children activities
Senior luncheons, Town Hall

The poor are the Church. Whenever the Church is understood as separate from the poor, it is no longer the Church… Only by understanding that those In the Fourth World are our moral equals and by embracing them as full members of society – neighbors, friends- can we possibly begin to deal with the problem of extreme poverty. It suggests that giving charity, paying higher taxes, voting correctly, and political advocacy are not nearly enough. It is only by fundamentally changing our relationship to the poor that true change will be possible.”

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” - Matthew 25:40

“The LORD will answer and say: If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. - Isaiah 58:9-10

“But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous." - Luke 14:13-14

Therefore because you impose heavy rent on the poor And exact a tribute of grain from them, Though you have built houses of well-hewn stone, Yet you will not live in them; You have planted pleasant vineyards, yet you will not drink their wine.
Amos 5:12 For I know your transgressions are many and your sins are great, You who distress the righteous and accept bribes And turn aside the poor in the gate.

MISSION BASIS

We as a community, faith based and secular, are called to care for those who are suffering, to assist those who are unable to do so for themselves. It is a calling at the highest level, compassionate, sacrificing, loving, for which all are ennobled.

“Crisis care” in our outreach ministry is to be provided for by trained and professionals within the proposed neighborhood center, in collaboration with the multiple outside public and private service organizations. Clearly, these endeavors and provisions will be immediate and life sustaining. The need for such services is constant. Man will forever find himself victim of untimely events whether preventable or unanticipated.

To minimize the cycle of poverty, however, simultaneous to emergency intervention, is long term habilitation/rehabilitation. While short term immediate assistance mainly for food, shelter, health care and transport is an imperative, until there are job skills and available jobs, stop gap assistance is just that, a postponing of personal and family disintegration. For families to take their rightful place alongside their more productive and affluent neighbors, there is need for them to be adopted into the general community as brothers and sisters with equal acceptance and status. This will take intention and effort on the part of the rest of the community.

The poor and “others” can be empowered to take control and manage their predicament. Neighborhood health and resource centers located in areas of poverty and need, can work effectively with government and other civic institutions on a holistic (physical, mental, spiritual) basis.

In development, leadership and management are to be transferred to the neighborhood itself thus providing political power to those who are served. Employment opportunities are available. Those servicing the neighborhood center are to be recruited from within, to provide jobs in the food bank, restaurant, clothing store, outpatient health facility, transportation service, and function as clerks, intake supervisors, literacy teachers, respite caretakers, homemakers, computer mentors, bible and small group leaders, etc.

I got my energy for this work from other people, so the self must stay in connection with others, new others, others that have more talent and more vision and more power than you have others that have more talent and more vision and more power than you have. That energizes you and keeps you going. You've got to be in relationship with real people.

PRISON MINISTRY FORUM (CPC Jan 12, 2008) BREAKOUT POINTS

A letter to my church brotherhood:

Whereas the recidivism rate on re-entry is the same for Christians as for non-Christians (now approaching 85%) and whereas the releasee must return to his/her old neighborhood and the “friends” who prompted the original criminal behavior, it is critical that the church body come aside the family as a counterforce.

Neither the criminal justice system nor the home environments have proven helpful. The large majority of those released were sentenced for non-violent crimes and have completed their time, yet within two years most will be returned to prison on a technical “violation”, related to the lack of mentorship, family support, and inability to obtain or keep a job.

John Wesley defined true religion as love for God and neighbor. Wesley considered regular visitations of and friendship with the poor and imprisoned as essential to discipleship as prayer and Holy Communion. Ministry with offenders and victims, then, is not optional; it is mandatory if the church is to be the church. The church has no choice but to cast its lot with the ostracized, victimized, and marginalized.


Consequently, as part of the Great Commission, it is likely a Christian imperative that each of us pledges to share our unique God given gifts with some family at this church or in this Monterey county who God loves and desperately needs our help. (In the 4 months of this ministry, the number speaking transparently of incarceration in their family swelled for “1” to “22”).


I believe each of you will identify one (or more) roles (as a team member) that you we might call upon when the need arises? Won’t you return this form to me with your pledge within the next day?

Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth," (I John 3:18).

For the prisoner:

o In-Prison Ministry. Unleashing Christ’s power in prisoners’ lives through “transformational discipleship.”

o An adopting church (policy, staff, membership)

o Prayer teams

o PenPal

o Visitations from church body

o Bibles and other Christian books

o AngelTree

o Training for re-entry. Koinonia, Kairos, etc

o Mentorship on re-entry (spiritual, physical, emotional”

o Rehab on re-entry (alcohol, drugs, pornography, sexual)

o Job training and opportunities

o Counseling (Mental health, marriage, parenting, employment, social, etc)

o Mediation: Victim repayment

o Transitional housing

For the family left behind.

o A welcoming church (staff, deacons, membership)

o Emergency food

o Financial aid

o Housing

o Healthy relationships as Covenant Small Groups

o Child care

o Secondhand clothing

o Transportation

o Job training

o Schools (tutoring)

o Social services, legal services, medical and dental Rx

o Business counseling

o Household help

o Respite care

o Fellowship (small groups, membership)

o Prayer warrior team

o Loving mentors (professionals, membership)

“Take tender care of those who are weak; and be patient with everyone. See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try to do good to each other and to everyone else. Always keep on praying. For this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.” (1 Thes 5:14-19)