Oregon Prison Project Update 7/29/2010
In this project update you will find:
- An update about current program graduates and program expansion in OSP.
- How we have received increased support from OSP religious services and have established a relationship with OSP prison counselors.
- That we have expanded the number of volunteers in our program by creating a Salem-area training group.
- Of our new collaboration with a Victim/Offender Conferencing program currently being held in Oregon State Correctional Institution (OSCI) sponsored by a group from Portland State Universities Department of Conflict Resolution.
- About our developing relationship with PHOENIX Rising Transitions that offers classes in the Columbia River facility in Portland.
- That we are developing a program in MacLaren youth facility in Woodburn.
- About training in the Bend area for NVC trainers who will be offering classes in the Deer Creek Facility beginning this fall.
- That you can support our program by making donations to our new "Bucks for Books" program to help us provide written materials to our class participants.
On July 27th, 2010, eighteen Oregon State Penitentiary (OSP) participants graduated from a twelve-meeting class addressing the basic skills of NVC. These graduates join eight previous graduates for a total of twenty-six total graduates to date. Concurrently we proposed to the OSP Chaplains to expand our program to be a yearlong and include two further classes and a practice group. The Chaplains accepted our proposal and beginning in September we will be offering both a basic skills class and the next class in the series that focuses on empathy for self and others. Twenty of our current graduates have registered for this class and have stated that they are excited about completing the entire series. The third class in the series focuses on conversational NVC and includes mock parole board hearings and victim/offender conferencing with surrogates.
The OSP chaplains have been continuously supportive of our program, making more space available and helping us develop relationships with other departments within the prison. As an example, Chaplain Kelly Raths introduced me to the OSP counselors in an effort to support the counseling staff at providing inmates on their caseloads with needed services. What is a prison counselor? When a person enters prison they are assigned a counselor who oversees their time in prison. Inmates and their counselors together engage in life assessments in order to determine factors that, if not addressed, could contribute to a parolees return to prison. As a result inmates receive schooling, life skills, employment skills and job training, and a host of other kinds of support designed to address those factors that brought the person to the prison to begin with. I met with the counseling staff and following my presentation they agreed to and stated that they were excited to refer inmates to our classes. We have since received two referrals from counseling staff for our basic skills class beginning in September. They further requested that we establish a Batterer's Intervention Program at OSP that when approved by Child Protective Services (CPS) and completed by inmates, will enable participants that are restrained from seeing their families by CPS to regain active relationships with their children. I am especially excited about this developing opportunity because it has been repeatedly shown that active family involvement in rehabilitation efforts dramatically reduces recidivism.
On July 10th Steve and I offered a workshop in Salem for Salem-area individuals who are interested in teaching NVC in OSP. As a result, six new volunteers have entered our program and will begin supporting our teaching efforts in September. Our first combined Teaching Team meeting will be held on August 28th.
On July 24th I offered an introduction to NVC emphasizing empathy skills to inmate graduates from the Portland State University Department of Conflict Resolution's class on Victim/Offender Conferencing that was held in Oregon State Correctional Institution (OSCI) last spring. As a result we have been invited to provide eight hours of empathy skills training to program participants. These trainings will talk place in OSCI on October 9th and 16th.
In August we will be offering an introduction in the Columbia River Facility in Portland as part of a potential collaboration with PHOENIX Rising Transitions, a Portland-area Non-Profit organization that provides support for those making the transition back into the Portland community. I am hoping that NVC will become a permanent part of PHOENIX Rising Transition's curriculum.
Currently I am establishing a relationship with Oregon Youth Authority at the MacLaren Youth Facility in Woodburn. We were invited by Chaplain and Volunteer Coordinator Rev. Craig Cutting of MacLaren Religious Services to offer a class for 10 youth currently housed in MacLaren. Class participants will be men between the ages of 14 and 24, and who have adequate time left on their sentences to finish our class series. I am excited about this opportunity and have begun filling out the paperwork necessary to working with youth in the State of Oregon. I am hoping that this class can begin in the fall.
Finally, on August 26th, I will be providing training to Bend Area NVC instructors that have been invited to teach classes in the Deer Creek facility in Madras, Oregon. I am excited to support this group with curriculum, training, and materials and am especially pleased that those incarcerated in as many Oregon Prisons as possible are able to attend our trainings because I believe that our communities will be safer as a result.
I am happy to announce an opportunity for you to get involved and support our program. I am calling it our, "Bucks for Books" programs. We donate books and materials to the Chapel Library that program participants can check out to use in our classes. And we give any program graduate that asks the NVC textbook and/or workbook. Additionally, we provide hundreds of worksheets and written exercises that currently are supported by volunteer donations. Last year we gave out about seventy-five each of the text and workbook. This school year I imagine that around 100 of each will be provided, and ideally we would have these books by December at the latest. Here is how you can help. For a $20.00 donation I will give a textbook to the chapel library or a program graduate; for a $30.00 donation I will give both a text and a workbook to the chapel library or a program graduate. A $40.00 donation will support both book donations and support the purchase and production of the other materials that we are providing our class participants. In order to participate please write: OPP Bucks for Books Program on the note line of your check and send it to: ORNCC, 1430 Willamette St. #4, Eugene, OR, 97401, or you can donate using PayPal by going to www.orncc.net clicking on the "About Us" tab and then on the "Financial Donations" tab on the left sidebar. Thanks for your support!
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