RE-ENTRY TOOL KIT

1. 2019 WWW.GATEKEEPERSMD.ORG MOTIVATING, EMPOWERING, AND ENCOURAGING CURRENT AND EX-OFFENDERS RE-ENTRY TOOL KIT GATEKEEPERS 

2. Our methods work. We have been able to put together a strong offering of tools and techniques with a proven record of success. We want to help your organization increase it's re-integration program's effectiveness and reduce recidivism. We will show you how to bridge the gap between returning citizens and the community through supported access to housing, connections to employment, and other services critical to re-entry. STOP REINVENTING THE WHEEL WHY USE OUR TOOLKIT? 01

3. bridging the gap What does Gatekeepers mean by bridging the gap? Incarcerated individuals typically return to the community totally unprepared to thrive. While the community may, in fact, offer a variety of useful services, these are not necessarily organized or oriented to formerly incarcerated persons. Gatekeepers establishes relationships with individuals before their release, and collaborates with them throughout the transition process to navigate day-to-day choices in order that they can regain a footing to move forward. . 02

4. NO LEGITIMATE HOME PLAN profile of majority releases FROM INCARCERATION Homeless Godless Mental Health Transportation Short Optimistic Outlook Lack Skills Moneyless No ID Broken Family Child Support "I Got It" Career less Jobless No Diploma/GED Addictions No Phone No Feel for "Boss" College Debt Many inmates go through multiple incarceration periods with an extreme false sense of pride. For the majority, their goal is to own their own business or "my brother or cousin have a home improvement business and a job and a place for me to stay, etc." Realistically, most inmates are totally delusional, dealing with false hope and in their private moments totally frightened to the point many will commit an infraction that will put their release date further from the appointed time, making their future even more uncertain except for one certainty... MORE TIME 03

5. change plan worksheet 1. The changes I want to make are: 2. The most important reason I want to make these changes are: 3. The steps I plan to make in changing are: 4. The ways people can help me are: Person: Possible ways to help: 5. I will know that my plan is working if: 6. The things that could interfere with my plans are: 04

6. IF YOU FAIL TO PLAN YOU PLAN TO FAIL RE-ENTRY PREPARATIONS Napoleon Hill • Obtain proper identification (Birth Certificate, Social Security Card, Driver's License, State ID card, etc.) • Housing • Clothing • Food • Transportation • Prepare to pay child support • Employment preparation • Sign up for health care • Sign up for veteran's assistance (if applicable) • Get a phone • Get help for alcohol or other drug abuse issues • Take care of mental health needs • Take care of health and dental needs • Get more training or education • Prepare to be a parent • Get connected to a caring community • Get assistance regarding domestic violence • Clean up your record and get legal help if needed • Learn to spend/budget money wisely • Register to vote 05

7. OBJECTIVE STEPS sample plan for release Developing an action plan gives current and ex-offenders the tools they need to stay on track and reach their goals Obtain Case Management Information from MCTC Prior to Release Release Date: Resources • Order of Malta • Gatekeepers • Celebrate Recovery • Goodwill • Western MD Consortium • Hagerstown Community College • Church Family Day of Release • Pick up at Gate • Lunch • Celebrate Recovery House Orientation • Gatekeepers Orientation • Celebrate Recovery Meeting (Fridays only) Saturday • Meet at Gatekeepers for Business of Living and Posse Sunday • To Be Determined Monday • Probation & Parole • Identification • Department of Social Services Other Resources for 1st Week • Clothing • Transportation • Mental Health • Medical • Addiction • Library 06

8. NON-PROFITS & BUSINESS PARTNERS GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES CHURCHES AND MINISTRIES a unique community partnership First Minutes of Freedom Maslow's Hierarchy Business of LIving Next Steps Guide Resource Club Housing Project Citizens Meeting Returning Citizens WHAT ORGANIZATIONS SHOULD COME TO THE TABLE? AND WHAT SHOULD THEY BE FOCUSING ON? 07

9. first minutes of freedom WITHOUT GATEKEEPERS  Getting released from prison can be one of the happiest moments for some. But that joy can fade quickly when the realities of life in the free world take hold. The reality is that most have great fear about facing the world— and failure—once again. $50 in cash is what you're handed when you're released from prison. You walk out at 5pm and look around. Not much seems different—hopefully it's different enough to keep you from a repeat performance. You head toward your aunt’s house. It’s the address you gave Case Management. Most of your family and friends rejected you after hearing about this "trip" to prison but you hope she will let you stay a few nights. As you walk the streets and ride the bus, familiar faces from your past—drug users, dealers and prostitutes—you are immediately confronted with temptation. You might even be offered the opportunity to make a deal that will increase your start-up funding by at least tenfold: just sell a little crack. You get to your aunt’s house at 7pm only to find out she will not let you stay the night, or any night. She makes you a sandwich and sends you away. You throw your laundry bag containing your prison possessions (a few changes of underwear, socks, and t-shirts and maybe a fan and some shower shoes) over your shoulder and leave. You're hungry, but money is tight. The dollar menu at McDonalds is your lean cuisine—$45 left. It’s getting dark. You look around for a place to sleep for the night and find some bushes and trees in the nearby park that you think you can crawl into and not be seen by the cops. It’s summer time and won’t get too cold at night and it doesn’t look like it is going to rain. An ambulance siren wakes you at 5:00 a.m. It's the next morning, time for your first parole visit ... can't be late or you'll get revoked. You‘re not familiar with the bus system and it takes you 30 minutes to plan your route. One wrong move will cost you time, money and maybe your freedom. One dollar, five busses and three hours later, you arrive at the parole office just in time. You anxiously wait for two hours before you are called in to see your parole officer. She isn't rude, but she sure isn't welcoming you with open arms. $14 in parole fees are due. $31 left. 08

10. first minutes of freedom CONTINUED  It's past lunch by the time you leave parole. You are starving. McDonalds again. $26 left. You use the McDonalds bathroom to clean up a little bit. You search the neighborhood for a thrift store. No one will hire you if you are wearing the ill-fitting clothes you wore walking out of prison. You find dress pants, a shirt, a tie and a pair of shoes at the local thrift store for $10. $16 left. You are dedicated enough to find a local unemployment center that offers computers to start your job search. Tomorrow you will hit the streets and fill out applications after you apply for food stamps. Five days until you owe $300, or you'll be considered for eviction. No address = parole violation = bad. No dinner tonight, need to conserve money. You head back to the park for the night. The next day is a total waste. You spend $3 in bus fares ($13 left) and 12 hours in line at the Food Stamp office, and you walk away empty-handed. If only you would have known to arrive when the line started forming at 4:00 a.m. No food stamps, no job, but you need some food and get a loaf of bread and jar of peanut butter. $8 left.  Morale is taking a nose-dive as you head back to the park again. You have one clean set of underwear and socks left. The rejection you receive job-searching the next day is brutal. The bus rides costs money ($6 left) and time, and HR people do not take kindly to felons. One office even escorted you out with security guards. You have been out four days, and you're not even close to a job lead. Hunger strikes again and all you can get is a candy bar. $5 left. At the bus stop on the way back to the park, a shady character offers a deal that is hard to refuse. You're an expert at selling dope. Go forward with your $5 or revert to a life of fast money? Which would you choose? --Keith Roys 09

11. maslow hierarchy of needs ABRAHAM MASLOW, 1943  The theory proposes that each individual has this natural want to move up the ladder of personal development; however, the progress of this individual may be (and often is) interrupted by a lesser need. Significant experiences throughout one’s life, such as incarceration, may lead to internal stress and therefore a user has to revert to building up those lower levels. There is a natural fluctuation between the levels in a human’s life, and moving through the hierarchy is almost never uni-directional. In fact, it is probable that a human could be working on multiple tiers at once. MASLOW'S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS IS A MOTIVATIONAL THEORY IN PSYCHOLOGY COMPRISING A FIVE-TIER MODEL OF HUMAN NEEDS Safety and physiological needs are generally taken care of on the inside of prisons and jails but they are not readily available on the outside. That is why a strong re-entry initiative, like Gatekeepers, will include efforts to focus on these key areas. 10

12. Spiritual Business of living Gatekeepers implements this strategy by coaching its participants in the “Business of Living.” Gatekeepers’ coaches model pro-social behavior in order to facilitate client discernment of what it takes to move forward. Each individual has the opportunity to jump start his or her own life business. As we examine our own lives, we know we have to get smarter, better at our jobs, and be better people. Our coaches include coordinated service providers and volunteers dedicated to both current and ex-offender re-integration. We work with individuals before and after release as well as group and one-on-one settings. Occupational Educational Personal 11

13. next steps guide sample 12

14. next steps guide - Continued 13

15. next steps guide - Continued 3 14

16. HOW resources work together 15

17. WHY ATTEND? MEETS EVERY WEDNESDAY AT 9:30AM  The group is a great way to network with other job seekers, hear about positions that are available in the community and make connections to job lead resources through networking channels. REFERRING AGENT: resource club STAFF NAME: CLIENT NAME: TYPICALLY HOSTS SMALL GROUPS OF 8-12 PEOPLE WHO MEET ON A REGULAR BASIS TO TALK ABOUT JOB SEARCHING AND CAREER GOALS SIGNATURE: SIGNATURE: DATE: DATE: 16

18. The Washington County MD project is a collaboration of several groups: Celebrate Recovery, Knights of Malta, Kairos Prison Ministry in Maryland, Street Reentry of Maryland and Gatekeepers. The faith-based organizations got together recently to share a common observation that returning citizens leaving prison with a strong resolve to lead a productive life face a great hurdle if they do not have SAFE HOUSING in a welcoming community. The experience of Gatekeepers is instructive. This organization was started three years ago by a released inmate. Gatekeepers provides a life-skills program called “Business of Living”. Over 200 men and women have come through Gatekeepers’ doors. What became evident is that no matter how well prepared they were for employment, the probability for success dimmed significantly without spiritual growth and safe housing. Life on the streets without a safe place to live and supportive friends leads the returning citizen into neighborhoods with all the old temptations: drugs, alcohol, prostitution, crime. On the other hand, fellowship nurtures sobriety, growth, maturity and stability. The Celebration Ministries housing  program provides accountable and affordable Christ-Centered community housing. The program provides a level of accountability and a place to develop necessary life skills, while providing residents a safe, clean, harmonious, drug and alcohol free housing in a relational community. This provides residents of the housing community the stepping stones needed to help them successfully reenter society as a disciplined disciple of Jesus Christ. Through partnership with Celebrate Recovery, Kairos mentoring that starts in prison and continues after release, and Gatekeepers meet-at-the-gate reentry model, we have a process that works to liberate returning citizens from addiction, reduces recidivism, and makes society safer. The Maryland Justice Reinvestment Act provides for early release of non-violent offenders. More inmate will be released soon. Some will go home to their families but many have lost touch over the years with their families. Where will they go? Back to the neighborhoods where they got in trouble? Or to safe places where religious values are lived every day? housing project SAFE AND AFFORDABLE OPTIONS 17

19. intake form example Date of Intake Staff/Volunteer Initials Referring Agency/Church/Other Last Name First Name MI DOB M/F Race Current Address Phone Number SSN (last 4 digits) Years of Service Veteran? YES NO Marital Status Long Term Disability? YES NO Do you have a mental health diagnosis? YES NO Housing Status: Where did you stay last night? Do you attend a church? YES NO Are you employed? YES NO Do you have medical insurance ? YES NO Do you smoke ? YES NO Where did you live before becoming incarcerated? What Prison/Detention Center were you recently released from? How long were you incarcerated? When were you released? Who is your probation officer? Their phone #: Highest level of Education? HS Diploma GED Some College Some College College Degree Trade School Additional Comments: Signature: Date: 18

20. citizens meeting returning citizens MUCH LIKE AN ACCOUNTABILITY PARTNER OR SPONSOR, PEER MENTORS ENSURE INMATES STAY ON THE RIGHT PATH One way organizations like Gatekeepers can work to reduce recidivism rates in their communities is to offer peer support services.  The goal is to match inmates from prisons, jails, day reporting centers, or recovery houses who have an upcoming expected release date with “alumni” volunteer peer mentors on the outside. The volunteers are not trained social workers, and they don't pretend to be. They are simply caring friends who have previously been incarcerated themselves and want want to step in to help. They work one-on-one to link the inmate with logistical re-entry planning, emotional support and long-term recovery tools to facilitate their transition away from incarceration.  "A STRONG PEER NAVIGATION PROGRAM HELPS SAVE INMATES VALUABLE TIME AND THE POTENTIAL HEARTACHE OF MAKING MORE MISTAKES." BILL GAERTNER 19