NCDA June 30 2015

Empowering, Educating, Employing

2nd Chance University 321.972.8919

The Dream

Personal and Professional Empowerment for Offenders…

but why?2nd Chance University 321.972.8919

In many ways doing time was easy. For 13 years I never had to think, was always told how to walk, talk, eat, shower, go to commissary, and work. Getting out scared me more. How would I survive or suddenly think again? Who’ll give me a second chance or see the real me? Yeah, I dreamed. Dreamed all the time... And that’s what scared me the most.Duck

A Brief History of Time

Where did today come from?• History • Evolution

Tomorrow does not have to be just another day… • Breaking the chain• Creating a connection• Altering the mindset

• Society as a whole• Offender


Homeless Generation, 60 Minutes Feature 2011

• “In Seminole County so many kids have lost their homes that school busses now stop at dozens of cheap motels where families crowd into rooms, living week to week.”

• Any County, USA

Fast ForwardSituation:

• Community degradation, crime, hopelessness

Task: • Educate, Employ, Empower

Action: • Intense / Customized

Cognitive Programs

Result: ?

Look around: The invisible have a face


Seminole County is on the Rebound• 2012 : Just the beginning…• 2013, Seminole County, lift off• 2014, First branch serving Orange County, • 2014, Jewish Family Services• 2015, SafeHouse, Seminole County

Domestic Violence Shelter• 2015, Pathways to Home

Bringing us to today…


The Numbers


Christian HELP / CFEC• Six book multi-layered empowerment series

– Creating Your Job Search Plan– Crafting Your Cover Letter

and Resume– Networking in the Digital Age– Job Search Tactics– Interviewing and Impressions– Performance Excellence

• Four week workshop


Encompassing a sense of belonging


Vicarious and Interactive


Bridging Two Into One

What makes the programs successful?• Realism threaded by sound

cognitive and sociological applications.

• Riding over 75 cumulative years’ research and practice, a proven paradigm expands to support offender reintegration


Welcome to 2nd Chance University


The foundation of change comes from the mind, not the body

Replicable, scalable, we rely on:– Participant commitment/willingness to

change– Consciousness Hierarchy– Affirmation, Visualization, and Journal

Reflection– Looking Glass Self-Theory– Relationship Education– Cognitive Behavioral

Applications


Commitment to self and others


Vicarious Learning


Consciousness Hierarchy

Spirit

Thoughts

Feelings

Emotions

Actions/Reactions

Understanding our mind and how we interact with the world.


Personal ResponsibilityWe are responsible for:• Our thoughts• Our feelings• Our emotions• Our actions Being consciously aware, we are responsible for our own journey and the reactions displayed on that journey, meaning we alone are our biggest obstacle and our biggest asset.


Consciousness Hierarchy• Personal responsibility is awareness that we are

co-creators in our lives, choosing to accept our choices, actions, and reactions

• We are aware we have the power to react • We take personal responsibility for every aspect

of our lives before we can truly mature

From here, to there…


To the MountaintopThe power to move mountains (or at least climb them)

threads each workshop, page, and breath:

• Visualization• Affirmation• Acceptance• journal writing

Belief… forgiveness… attitude…desire to be free is a powerful tool; this is where the above concepts are reinforced and practiced page by page.


Active is the Only Option• What legacy would you like to leave in your life?

• Looking glass: As an ex-felon, social impressions are rarely friendly.

Real or unreal, how can facing this as a reality guide YOUR behavior

and empowerment?

• Affirmation: Freedom, one day at a time (commit by writing on line below).

Felix:

“My father told me many years ago that you can polish shit and make it look all shiny

and nice but it will always be shit.”

• Visualization: Look in the mirror, look again. If you were an employer, who would you

see? Why?


Acceptance, Journal Writing, and Attitude Merge into ONE

Each participant is required to draft, perfect, and express (verbally and in print) culpability, growth, and commitment to potential employers.

Letter of Explanation Value:

• Confidence (from whom?)• ?• ?

… Leading to the Looking Glass Self-Theory


Looking Glass Self-Theory

How we see ourselves does not come from who we really are, but rather from how we believe others see us.


Labeling Theory ExposedBeing prepared for a world beyond brogans

dominates our cognitive process.

Recognizing and respecting offender views begins with listening, by connecting.


Relationship Education, Making a Connection

Facilitator training….enhancing respect, identity, and worth by developing the following skills• Listening• Speaking• Conflict Management• Apology and Forgiveness• Core conditions underlying

these skills– Empathy– Acceptance– Genuineness


Acceptance and approval MUST come from yourself before anyone or anything else.

• For the record, do you want to change? Why?

• For the record, are you willing to change?

• For the record, what are you willing to do to change?

Daryl:

• “When I got out the first time, I gamed

myself into thinking I could go back to

the same things and would make it. I

was smarter out of prison. I didn’t

change the way I lived or how I looked

at myself.” 2nd Chance University 321.972.8919

Taking advantage of CBT, 2nd Chance University assists individuals develop:

• Self-observation and personal change helping each maintain gains

• Realistic thoughts, emotions in proportion to events and circumstances


Ego:• Emotional tension resulting from…• Looking to other people for... Discomfort :• Results from…


2nd CBT Characteristics

In the end, remember that tomorrow has a way of never catching up. I know my tomorrow’s caught up

and with the end here, I share one of my telling pieces, a sliver of who I am, a sliver no one else but you

could understand. Only those doing time could understand. While reading, think about your life and

what you’re trying to escape from, or to.

‘There floats an encompassing balance

beckoning good and evil within forces

forged not by winds of Fate

nor by chance. Within reach

each threading voyage guides destiny

sublime of heart and days before. Here

moments vibrate sheeting bumps

of discarded skin. Choice escapes,

bordering dimples and moonlight.’

Duck


Stick, The RealityThe gray mornings would rise with the bars partially obstructing the view from most of

their cells of the free world, just on the other side of the razor wire fence lines. Frigid

cement floors bit into their bare feet as most of them were making their bunks and

washing their faces, getting ready for another day in prison. The harsh, grating sounds of

the steel doors sliding open signal to the prisoners it was time for work. They stepped out

from what prisoners call their house, but most people would call a cell, into a condemned

miniature population. Some of them are inmates, some of them are convicts, but everyone

is wearing state issued clothing as well as state issued time.

Stick is a true example of a real person who, although labeled by society as a criminal and by

the prison system as number 653322, was able to break the cycle of recidivism. He believes

in 2nd Chance University and what it offers. It offers a chance to redeem, reclaim and

reinforce a positive outlook of ones future and the achievable goals one sets for that future.


“Not every day is easy but I love my life, my new life.”

Hannah

Together we will build

a better tomorrow, today. 2nd Chance University 321.972.8919

Documents

NCDA June 30 2015