Agency Background and Capability
Prison Fellowship is one of the largest and most influential Christian non-profit organizations in the world for those incarcerated, ex-convicts, as well as their families. Moreover, it is a major advocate for criminal justice reforms in the United States. As of 2021, Prison Fellowship is a worldwide agency with one of the most extensive networks of officers, experts, Christian ministries, researchers, and mental health professionals.
Mission, Goals, and Philosophy of the Organization
Prison Fellowship has a set of values, a mission statement, and a clearly defined vision, which the organization follows in all of its operations and initiatives. The institution’s official web-site defines its mission as restoring individuals who have been affected by crime and incarceration (Prison Fellowship, 2021). The vision is “to see all affected by crime reconciled to God, their families, and their communities” (Prison Fellowship, 2021, para. 2). In terms of Prison Fellowship’s philosophy, the institution operates using six key values. They include integrity, community, restoration, responsibility, productivity, and affirmation.
Client Population, Programs Offered, and My Role as a Social Work Intern
The organization’s client population extends to prisoners, former convicts, as well as their families. Moreover, Prison Fellowship initiated partnerships with individual prisons throughout the world. Although it is an international institution, Prison Fellowship’s primary focus is on clients in the United States. In regards to the specific programs offered, they include Prison Fellowship Academy, Hope events, Inside journal, Angel Tree (Angel Tree Christmas, Angel Tree Camping, Angel Tree Sports Camps), Create: New Beginnings, and many others (Prison Fellowship, 2021). In the context of my role as an intern, I would be responsible for planning and implementing re-entry activities for former convicts. The specific client population I am focusing on is African American adults with substance abuse issues and mental health disorders. My personal experience has been rather positive as I learned how to engage with recent ex-convicts and their families in the best way to be both assertive and understanding.
Need and Problem Statements
Target Population
There is a need to address the difficulties ex-convicts face in terms of re-entering their communities and leading a fulfilling life after the release from prison. In the United States, incarceration implies certain racial inequities based primarily on the fact that although African Americans comprise around 12 percent of the country’s population, they constitute 40 percent of the nation’s prison population (Garland et al., 2008).
With the United States possessing one of the highest global imprisonment rates, it is apparent that millions of Black Americans end up in prisons (Collier, 2014). The country constitutes 5 percent of the world’s population but accounts for 22 percent of the global prison population (Collier, 2014). Taking into consideration the aforementioned racial disparities, the trend is likely to affect the African American community even more as it is estimated that 1 in 3 Black men in the nation will go to jail or prison (Collier, 2014). Therefore, it is evident that African Americans are the ones who are much more likely to become convicts, which makes them the primary target of re-entry interventions, including the one proposed in this paper.
Apart from the target population being Black, I would work directly with convicts who have struggled with drug addiction and mental health issues. First, African American population is facing a drug addiction crisis, being the racial group most likely to engage in substance abuse. Second, racial disparities in the access to and quality of addiction treatment put Black Americans at a disadvantage in terms of their ability to recover from addiction.
For instance, Weinstein et al. (2017) suggest that there are significant disproportions in long-term opioid treatment retention, which primarily affect people of color. A study by Manhapra et al. (2016) concludes that demographics are usually the determining factor in the choice of prescribed medication. In addition, it is crucial to acknowledge that with the increase in drug overdose deaths among African Americans, Black prisoners are at an increased risk for overdose and relapse once they re-enter their local community and get access to the drugs once again (Dogan et al., 2021).
Furthermore, in regards to mental health issues, Black people are at a disadvantage as well since they are less likely to get diagnosed and receive access to various mental health services. Evidence suggests that once individuals enter the criminal justice system, the racial disparities worsen. For example, screening, evaluation, and diagnosis tools used in jails generate racial disparities, according to (Prins et al., 2012). Thus, less people of color remain undiagnosed, which, leads to the absence of much needed treatment and support. Therefore, it is apparent that social and cultural determinants of health result in the African American prison population being disproportionately affected by substance abuse and mental health issues.
Factors Contributing to the Problem
The most common factors contributing to the identified problem are public stigmatization, racial inequities in healthcare access and quality, lack of employment opportunities, as well as the absence of a reliable support system. The proposed intervention aims to address all of the aforementioned factors although it is going to be centered on providing recent ex-convicts with a much needed support network. Apart from dealing with the challenges of re-entering real life upon release, the target population has to cope with a mental health diagnosis and drug-related issues.
Impact of the Problem
In terms of the problem’s impact, the most serious implications include the increased likelihood of recidivism, homelessness, relapse, overdose, and mental health deterioration. If an individual recently released from prison fails to successfully re-enter its local community, they face a threat of not having any employment opportunities or even a place to live. Moreover, if they do not have the necessary support system, their drug habits are more likely to reappear, which would, in turn, affect their mental health. Studies demonstrate that a lack of successful re-entry initiatives contributes to the statistics that around two-thirds of the released prisoners will go back to correctional custody within a 3-year time frame following their release (Mears et al., 2008; Kiczkowski, 2011).
As a result, such high rates of recidivism lead to increased fiscal strain, “societal costs, and personal collateral consequences associated with incarceration that weighs on the individual, family, community, and government” (Kiczkowski, 2011, p. 75). Thus, it is apparent that re-entry interventions targeting former prisoners can reduce the risks of recidivism, relapse, overdose, and mental health deterioration.
Evidence-Based Practices and the Need for Relationship-Building among Staff
As for the evidence-based practices utilized for improved results, they include the five-key model suggested by Pettus-Davis et al. (2019), a patient navigation intervention tested by Binswanger et al. (2015), as well as a conceptual model designed by Draine et al. (2005). Pettus-Davis et al. (2019) claim that the five key ingredients of an efficient adaptive re-entry program are healthy thinking patterns, meaningful work trajectories, effective coping strategies, positive social engagement, and positive relationships. Empirical findings and theoretical support indicated the effectiveness of such a five-key model.
The research conducted by Binswanger et al. (2015) and Draine et al. (2005) also demonstrates the efficiency of proposed re-entry practices. Draine et al. (2005) further indicate the importance of a multidisciplinary approach for re-entry, which implies inter-professional collaboration. Thus, successful implementation of a re-entry intervention requires close relationships among different staff members and the existence of reliable communication channels between the collaborators.
Project Goals and Objectives
The primary goal is to provide recently released convicts residing in Chicago with a community network to aid their reintegration. The project is aimed at the creation of multiple groups for African Americans as safe and nurturing environments designed specifically for their personal growth. Weekly meetings with fellow ex-convicts, medical professionals, mental health counselors, and Prison Fellowship staff are expected to benefit the participants in multiple ways. Specific objectives are as follows:
- providing recently released African Americans with drug abuse and mental health issues a safe space, encouraging the participants to make improvements and grow personally;
- informing the participants of the upcoming events, networking platforms, and other opportunities;
- engaging the participants’ families in meetings and discussions;
- motivating the participants to get better through inspirational life stories of former prisoners with the same issues who have been able to turn their lives around.
Strengths, Needs, and Challenges of the Organization and Community
As for the analysis of the organization’s strengths, needs, and challenges, Prison Fellowship is one of the world’s largest institutions targeting inmates and recently released convicts. It has the capabilities necessary for small- and large-scale projects, which make it possible to collaborate with local prisons, healthcare facilities, community centers, and mental health institutions. Therefore, the needs are limited and imply primarily the process of securing the funds needed for the proposed intervention. As a social work intern, it would be a part of my responsibilities to petition for funds from local and state authorities, as well as private beneficiaries.
The State of Illinois is facing a true incarceration crisis, which contributes to its growing fiscal issues due to billions in unpaid bills as well as high unemployment rates, particularly among African Americans (Vogel, 2012). Thus, with the growing number of Blacks being released from prison, the need to help them re-enter the real world efficiently is only going to increase in Chicago Communities. Therefore, the need to establish more community re-entry centers and to create effective interventions is evident.
Outcomes of the Proposed Intervention
In terms of the expected outcomes, they range from individual improvements in the lives of the participants to the state-wide recidivism and overdose rates. First, it is expected that each of the participants decides to get medical and mental health assistance to treat their existing conditions. Second, as a result of weekly meetings, participants will successfully re-enter their local communities by finding a job and engaging in local activities either through volunteering or paid opportunities. Third, over the course of one year, it is expected that none of the participants will participate in substance abuse and each one will be on the path to long-term sobriety.
In addition, the outcomes include a decreased rate of recidivism compared to the expected estimates. Furthermore, it is expected that the target population will experience a higher rate of mental health diagnosis as a result of the support groups serving as awareness methods to encourage early diagnosis and treatment.
Evaluating the Outcomes
Evaluating the outcomes of the proposed macro-level intervention is going to be divided into two distinct categories. First, it is important to assess the participants individual experiences with the program and its impact on their lives. This could be done through monthly surveys, quarterly interviews, and questionnaires distributed to family members and colleagues. However, it is also crucial to make conclusions about the intervention’s efficiency using quantitative data gathered from governmental statistics and individual estimates (number of those employed, number of those in treatment for drug addiction, number of those in counseling, etc.).
Implementation Plan
Specific Activities and Strategies
As for the strategies integrated into the proposed intervention, they include creating a safe space for every participant, maintaining a highly structured environment, as well as providing resources and opportunities for housing and employment. Furthermore, ensuring that each participant receives the necessary care would imply facilitating the appropriate channels for contacting healthcare providers. Using the five-key model, the intervention would focus on developing healthy thinking patterns, meaningful work trajectories, effective coping strategies, and positive relationships among the target population.
Moreover, it is crucial to ensure that the participants engage in beneficial social experiences, which would either directly or indirectly involve other community members. All of the aforementioned strategies will allow ex-convicts to successfully re-enter real life, which is far more chaotic, demanding, and unpredictable than what they might have experienced while incarcerated. Activities include weekly support group meetings, regular events and presentations, monthly reviews, and quarterly interviews. Additionally, each participant would be encouraged to seek help and advice from a network of counselors and medical professionals Prison Fellowship provides.
Timing and Sequencing
Figure 1. The Intervention’s Timing and Sequencing.
Staffing and Costs
In regards to the staff and funding needed, it is crucial to estimate the scope of the project and the availability of resources first. This could only be done in collaboration with local and state authorities. However, a rough assessment shows that each of the project’s stages would need a multidisciplinary team of professionals and volunteers. The planning stage would require 1 project executive, 2-3 project managers, 5-7 researchers, 1 financial advisor, and 2 local administrators.
However, to secure funding and collect all the data necessary, the project executive would have to contact prisons from an existing network, collaborate with state and local authorities, and engage with a group of experts. The implementation stage would include the same group, adding counselors, medical professionals, advisors, event planners, drug addiction experts, and location managers. Evaluators, methodologists, and statistics experts would join during the evaluation stage. It is hard to calculate the precise cost of the intervention, but it is estimated that the program would require at least $150,000 in funds each month to support 4 distinct support groups in Chicago, IL.
Contribution to the Organization’s Overall Mission
Prison Fellowship’s overall mission is to restore and improve the lives of those who have been unfortunate to get involved in criminal activity and incarcerated. Therefore, an intervention targeted at addressing the challenges faced by recent ex-convicts is in perfect alignment with this mission. It is expected that the support groups will encourage the members to get better and turn their lives around by providing them with the necessary information, opportunities, and personal testimonies of former prisoners who have managed to succeed.
References
Binswanger, I. A., Whitley, E., Haffey, P.-R., Mueller, S. R., & Min, S.-J. (2014). A patient navigation intervention for drug-involved former prison inmates. Substance Abuse, 36(1), 34–41. Web.
Collier, L. (2014). Incarceration nation. Monitor on Psychology, 45(9), 56. Web.
Dogan, J., Stevens-Watkins, D., Knighton, J.-S., Wheeler, P., & Hargons, C. (2021). Perceived need for drug treatment among African American male drug-using prisoners. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 120, 1–10. Web.
Draine, J., Wolff, N., Jacoby, J. E., Hartwell, S., & Duclos, C. (2005). Understanding community re-entry of former prisoners with mental illness: a conceptual model to guide new research. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 23(5), 689–707. Web.
Garland, B. E., Spohn, C., & Wodahl, E. J. (2008). Racial disproportionality in the American prison population: Using the Blumstein method to address the critical race and justice issue of the 21st century. Justice Policy Journal, 5(2), 2–42. Web.
Kiczkowski, U. (2011). Successful community reentry after incarceration: Exploring intangible aspects of social support during the reintegration process. Columbia Social Work Review, 2, 73–85. Web.
Manhapra, A., Quinones, L., & Rosenheck, R. (2016). Characteristics of veterans receiving buprenorphine vs. methadone for opioid use disorder nationally in the Veterans Health Administration. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 160, 82–89. Web.
Mears, D., Wang, X., Hay, C., & Bales, W. (2008). Social ecology and recidivism: Implications for prisoner reentry. Criminology, 46, 301–340. Web.
Pettus-Davis, C., Renn, T., Veeh, C. A., & Eikenberry, J. (2019). Intervention development study of the five-key model for reentry: An evidence-driven prisoner reentry intervention. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 58(7), 614–643. Web.
Prins, S. J., Osher, F. C., Steadman, H. J., Robbins, P. C., & Case, B. (2012). Exploring racial disparities in the brief jail mental health screen. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 39(5), 635–645. Web.
Prison Fellowship (2021). About us. Web.
Vogel, C. (2012). An end to mass incarceration. School of Social Service Administration Magazine, 19(2). Web.
Weinstein, Z. M., Kim, H. W., Cheng, D. M., Quinn, E., Hui, D., Labelle, C. T., Drainoni, M. L., Bachman, S. S., & Samet, J. H. (2017). Long-term retention in Office Based Opioid Treatment with buprenorphine. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 74, 65–70. Web.