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Mentoring teams are usually assembled from members of a congregation or civic group that are willing to work together to support the lives of ex-offenders. The primary role of the mentoring team is to support individual mentors and supporting the overall programmatic goals of the ministry. It is essential that these mentoring teams are supported by their respective faith-based congregations. Mentors, mentoring teams and congregations as a whole will benefit from the Prisoner Aftercare program:
• Mentoring teams will become less divisive and more close-knit as they work together to help ex-offenders during a difficult life transition.
• Congregations will witness positive change in the lives of ex-offenders as hope replaces cynicism and feelings of powerlessness.
• Congregations will rejoice in feeling that they are “walking the walk” as people of faith rather than just “talking the talk.”
As part of the “Circles of Support” mentioned earlier, mentors are part of a larger mentoring team that provides a group support structure. This helps mentors realize that they are experiencing and overcoming challenges similar to those of their fellow mentors—mentors are not alone in their struggles. Although mentors are part of a larger mentoring team, they do need to be prepared for the one-on-one mentoring relationship, and they need the skills to succeed as an individual mentor.
Ex-Offender Definition "for the purpose of this informative material", ex-offenders are persons who have broken the law, have been convicted and sent to federal prison, have been released, and have determined that they will not break the law again. The are men and women with wives, husbands, children, aspirations, dreams, struggles, joys and should be treated with dignity and respect. Many would define and ex-offender as anyone who has been released from incarceration. These persons are better defined as ex-prisoners. Ex-offenders are prepared t begin a new life.
Mentoring Circles of Support
It is important to develop a “Circles of Support” mentoring system of mentoring (as opposed to a one-on-one system). Mentors should understand that they are a part of a mentoring team and do not have to face challenges alone. This guide will help you support both individual mentors and your mentoring team.
Mentoring Success Story
The Life Connections Program is open to inmates of all faiths. Inmates come from several faith backgrounds including Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism and Native American religions.
You will receive recognition from friends and family.
Helping others never goes unnoticed. Not only will you feel satisfied with your own efforts, but you will earn the respect of others—and maybe convince your peers to be mentors themselves.4.
You will feel satisfied, proud and other energizing emotions. When you have a positive effect on your mentees, you receive positive feelings of pride, satisfaction, happiness, contentment and excitement, along with the enjoyable physiological reactions that go with them.5.
You will help your organization. Mentoring others can bring your group or community together. Strengthening bonds by helping others is one of the best ways to grow your organization.6.
You will leave the world better than you found it. Although it may sound cliché, taking the time to reach out to others, listen to their struggles and convey your respect for them is one of the least expensive and most powerful methods to change the world, one life at a time.|
Prisoner Re-entry Characteristics • Approximately 600,000 people are released from prison every year, or about 1,600 a day. Within this group, more than 100,000 prisoners are released without any form of community correctional supervision. • Approximately 67 percent of all re-entering prisoners are likely to be re-arrested within three years. • Approximately 4 out of 5 re-entering prisoners are men. • The median educational level of released prisoners is 11th grade. • Approximately 75 percent of re-entering prisoners have a history of substance abuse. Of those, only 18 percent received treatment while incarcerated. • In 1996, 6 percent of state prison budgets were allocated to support rehabilitative prison programs—vocational, educational, treatment— and 94 percent was spent on staffing, building prisons, maintaining and housing prisoners. |
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