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e-Review Florida United Methodist News Service | ||
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Church prison ministry helps former inmates reconnect By Jenna De Marco | Aug. 9, 2010 {1205} Organizers of a start-up prison ministry hope to fill a critical gap — supporting the needs of ex-offenders re-entering society in Central Florida. Called “Faith Re-Entry Enterprise” (FREE), the program is based at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Orlando and led by executive director Bob Crowley, a lay volunteer. Crowley expects FREE to take on its first client sometime this year, hopefully before the summer ends. ©iStockphoto.com/caracterdesign The program’s vision is to provide coordination and personal support services to ex-offenders — starting before they are released — to increase their likelihood of successfully rejoining the community. Each year, several thousand ex-offenders return to Central Florida counties, according to FREE’s written business plan, and many lack access to housing, transportation and food. Without assistance in obtaining those resources, Crowley said, former inmates are at risk of becoming repeat offenders. In the state of Florida, about 33 percent of ex-offenders will return to prison within three years, according to a June 2010 study by the Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC). The study found a 1 percent decrease in recidivism from 2003 to 2005, which the FDOC said is due to an increase in re-entry programs. Upon their release, former inmates can be in great need “if they don’t get some kind of hope and opportunity presented for them in the first three days,” said the Rev. Bill Barnes, St. Luke’s senior pastor. FREE’s three-step process of coordination and assistance will help motivated inmates prepare for their release and secure basic resources before a sense of crisis builds. Barnes said FREE is an example of the kind of ministry he believes in — finding and meeting community needs. “We’re going to bridge the gap in a holistic way when (they) are released,” Barnes said. “And we’re going to start building the relationship when (they) are incarcerated, and that’s sort of unique.” FREE clients must be males who are leaving a state prison in Central Florida and returning to Orange County. Taking on female clients is a future possibility, too, Crowley said. Juvenile offenders, sex offenders or those with serious mental illnesses are not eligible. “There’s a percentage of guys who are determined to change their lives, and it’s those people we can bring some hope to,” Crowley said. Care for the clients will begin 60 to 90 days before the inmates’ estimated release dates and continue during the year following release. One goal is to get the ex-offenders plugged into “community lifelines,” Crowley said. In step one, clients receive a needs assessment and customized plan conducted by social work graduate students and professionals before the client’s release, including help in gathering documents needed to obtain a Florida identification card. Step two begins immediately following the client’s return to Orange County, with a FREE volunteer meeting the client. “When the guy gets off the bus, the first thing we hand him is a care package,” Crowley said. The care package includes a change of clothing, a store gift card for personal items, toiletries, a limited-use cell phone and emergency information. The client also receives a “FREE Connection Guide” that includes information about identification, emergency housing, medical care, counseling services, employment and more. No promises about getting a job are ever made, however, because “getting it is up to them,” Crowley said. During the first 72 hours after release, a FREE volunteer will also help provide transportation and assist in reuniting the client with family, friends or clergy. “We physically take them everywhere they have to go for three days,” Crowley said. In step three, a “faith friend” offers ongoing spiritual support and fellowship, helping the client make connections with family and a faith community throughout the year. The faith friend will meet with the client for an hour at least once a week. Although about 65 people are serving within the FREE ministry, Crowley said, more faith friend volunteers are needed. All volunteers receive training before they begin. “You may have to visit somebody for a long time,” Crowley said. “It’s the Stephen Ministry attitude of being non-judgmental.” Ministry includes partnerships Launching the ministry has taken about two years of planning, Crowley said. “The list of things to do in order to be able to meet that first client is just daunting,” he said.
Desperation that leads to the so-called “revolving door” syndrome of repeat offenses means “something has to be done from a taxpayer standpoint and cultural standpoint,” Mears said. It was through this awareness that Mears and Crowley developed FREE. But before starting up, the FREE program had to pass a new ministry launch process at St. Luke’s, designed to “ensure viability, longevity and staying power,” Barnes said. Meanwhile, the Florida Conference passed a prison ministry resolution in 2009 that includes more coordination between churches working with prisons. Tammy Fisher, project coordinator for Florida Conference Justice and Outreach Ministries, praised the FREE organizer’s perseverance and said she is eager to see the results. “I know it will help and bless many coming out of prison to successfully transition back into society and live the life God meant for them to live,” Fisher said. The pilot FREE program, which can accommodate up to four or five clients per month, will be evaluated using key performance indicators and recidivism rates. It could eventually be replicated in other locations. “I couldn’t be more excited about it because my vision is that someday every … Methodist church will be involved in some way, and that will spread throughout the country,” Mears said. Many opportunities exist for other churches to help with FREE, Crowley said, and several partnerships have been established in the community — with Kairos Prison Ministry, FDOC, the Homeless Service Network and University of Central Florida. St. Luke’s is providing office and administrative space to launch FREE, although more funding for the program will be needed for the longer term, and several possibilities are under consideration, Crowley said. Other churches offer re-entry ministry As part of a comprehensive look at prison ministry across the Florida Conference, Fisher has been gathering information about how churches are involved. Through that process, she discovered a program at Anona United Methodist Church in Largo that is a variation on re-entry programs. Led by lay volunteer Ian Lennox, the church offers assistance to individuals serving probation in Pinellas County through “Fresh Start,” which is about a year old. Seven churches, including St. Paul United Methodist Church in Largo, help with the program, which is a partnership with Good News Jail and Prison Ministry, an international organization. Fresh Start is structured so that a voluntary probationer is assigned to one of 20 trained mentors. The two will meet about once a week for at least six months. Mentors listen to probationers’ concerns and coach them based on principles found in “Coach Net International Ministries,” a Christian organization. Mentors also pray with their clients. The key to the relationship is “asking good questions and listening to what the probationer has to say so that they themselves come up with the solutions to their problems,” Lennox said. The mentors, who are recruited periodically, may be from other denominations and are screened for “where they are spiritually,” Lennox said. Training takes two eight-hour days. An important goal is helping the client avoid violating the terms of probation. After one year, 11 clients finished in the “successful” category, completing at least six months with a mentor and meeting probation requirements. “We had one young man that’s been with us for nine months,” Lennox said. “He wanted to continue, and the mentor wanted to continue.” Thirteen clients failed to complete program requirements, and 14 are still participating. Even with the probationers who did not finish, Lennox said, “we’ve completed the pilot program and the probation officer … considers this a great success.” The probationers’ offenses range from illegal use of legal drugs to property offenses, burglary, credit card fraud and driving under the influence. Some of the probationers have been incarcerated previously, Lennox said. Fresh Start operates on a shoestring budget of $1,100 annually, Lennox said. Three pancake-breakfast fund-raisers sponsored by his church’s United Methodist Men support the program. “We do not take any federal dollars and find money ourselves,” Lennox said. Lennox, who is retired, has a master’s degree in criminology. He spent his career serving in numerous professional roles “dealing with the problem of crime,” he said. His hands are now full keeping up with Fresh Start, and he anticipates the program could spread to other locations. Before that happens, however, organizers need to find a “compassionate, caring individual who is really dedicated to helping these folks,” he said. More information about Fresh Start is available by contacting Anona United Methodist Church at 727-595-2581. More information about FREE is available by contacting St. Luke’s United Methodist Church at 407-876-4991, extension 298.
Related story *Parham is managing editor of e-Review Florida United Methodist News Service. |
Among the other volunteers is FREE board member Doug Mears, who was a key player in establishing St. Luke’s other prison outreach, Shalom Prison Ministry, which assists chaplains in visiting inmates at the Orange County Jail, among other services. Through that work, Shalom volunteers became aware of inmates’ fears about what would happen to them when they were released from jail with nowhere to turn, Mears said.