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Mentoring
and Re-entry Program with Dartmouth House of Corrections
Women’s Center
Since
June of 2007, Faith Seeds Ministries has provided a
Mentoring and Re-entry Program to women at the Dartmouth
House of Corrections Women’s Center. The program
is designed for women who will be returning to the greater
Attleboro and Taunton, Massachusetts area. Our program
meets on the first and third Friday of each month, from
1:15 PM until 2PM. The women enroll in the Mentoring
Program through corrections staff. The ministry has
met 7 women and mentored 5 women since the program began.
Two of the women we met with only one time, just prior
to their release date.
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Mission
Statement: The mission of our Mentoring and Re-entry
Program is to provide the services, support, and structure
needed for female offenders who will be returning to the greater
Attleboro and Taunton area, thereby increasing successful
re-entry back into the community. Our work then continues
with the women, after their release, in assisting them with
job opportunities and training, life skills, housing options,
and mentoring.
Program
Description: Our Mentoring and Re-entry Program includes
two staff from Faith Seeds who meet with selected women at
Dartmouth Women’s Center on the first and third Friday
of each month, during the period of the women’s incarceration.
We offer to the women an option to work on either the Purpose-Driven
Life, using the book by Rick Warren; or our Recovery to Restoration
Program, which uses materials developed by our ministry. This
is a seven-step program, focusing on the issues of addiction,
affliction, and abuse. We have provided women with copies
of the Purpose Driven Life book, as well as our Recovery to
Restoration Program. The majority of the women we have worked
with have selected the 7-Step Recovery to Restoration Program.
As women
near their release, we also work with them on a number of
re-entry issues, including: housing; employment; counseling
referrals; and treatment programs. This work is done in collaboration
with the DWC Re-entry Department. We also encourage the women
returning to the Attleboro and Taunton area to contact our
Resource Center, located in North Attleboro, upon their release.
We believe the program works because it is utilizes an “inside-out”
approach: beginning to form a relationship with the women
while they are incarcerated through consistency in mentoring;
and the continuation of that mentoring relationship upon release
of the woman back into the community.
Goals
and Objectives: The goals and objectives of our Mentoring
and Re-entry Program are indicated below.
1.
To meet with selected women who are incarcerated for a
time period long enough to establish a mentoring relationship.
This is measured by trust, increased sharing, and willingness
of the women to be open to healing and restoration in
their lives. Of the seven women we have met, we had one
or two visits with two of the women. This is an insufficient
length of time to establish the mentoring relationship.
It is evidenced by the fact that neither woman contacted
the Resource Center after their release.
2. To hand out and review the materials given to the women,
based upon their completion of the exercises within each
chapter. We find that women who are actively involved
in the material, complete assignments, and participate
are more likely to continue the program upon their release.
3. To provide resource information to women in the areas
of housing, employment (and employment training), and
life skills. Our work with the Re-entry Department allows
us to determine the best choices for each woman in their
re-entry to the community. The combination of support
through mentoring, services through our Resource Center
or through referrals to appropriate agencies, and structure
through basic life skills, are vital components to a woman’s
successful re-entry.
4. To reduce recidivism through the restoration of women
and successful integration into the community. Our fundamental
goal is that women we mentor will not return to incarceration.
Of the five women with whom we established a mentoring
relationship, four have followed up with our Resource
Center for services and assistance. |
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