|
 |
| If I can help someone along the way, my living will not be in vain. |  |
|
| About Our Father's Business ministries |
|
|
|
Alternative to Bail Bonding Program
This program is an Alternative to Incarceration and provides all criminal court defendants that are initially unable to post bail, the opportunity to be interviewed to determine eligibility for release from jail under our supervision. However, pre-trial releases are mainly for defendants who can demonstrate that they live in the community and pose no threat of flight or danger to the community at large. It is assigned third-party custody of defendants who are otherwise not eligible for release but have been determined based on our interview and report to the court, to be released into our program for special release, probation monitoring and supervision. Subsequent to a defendant being released and referred to AOFB ministry, the defendant is assigned to particular monitor who will work with this defendant throughout the duration his or her criminal matter. The judge determines the conditions under which a person will be released from custody, attorneys may be appointed (if appropriate} and the next court date will be set. When a judge releases a person to the custody of our Pretrial Services, that person will be picked up at the prison/jail by a staff member from AOFB ministry. An intake interview will be conducted, and the client must comply with any conditions of release set by the judge and/or Pretrial Services. AOFB ministry is responsible for monitoring the person's compliance with the release conditions
AOFB Transition Home, a home converted to serve as a non-secure home for transition and reintegration of the offenders being released from prison on a post conviction and/or pre-trial basis. People who will live in this “transition home” are arrestees, released to our Pre-Trial Court Monitoring Program and released inmates having served their sentence (re-introduction into society program) for temporal and/or long-term support. It is a six (6) month to 1-year program. Here, pre-trial detainees / arrestees AND released convicts who have served their time of imprisonment can begin rebuilding their lives. The “transition home” supports this fragile reconstruction in two critical ways: first, the prison ministry staff members support them in re-establishing family relationships that have often been damaged, if not severed, by the offender; second, the home provides a therapeutic community-based correctional program which guides and supports the offenders in developing the inner tools they will need to become a better person, self-reliant, and contributing members of society.
Also, the staff that will be professionally trained in education and human services. In their work, they will share a common commitment to minister to each client’s physical, social and spiritual needs.
The AOFB Reentry Program envisions the development of model reentry programs that begin in correctional institutions and continue throughout an offender's transition to and stabilization in the community. This program will provide for individual reentry plans that address issues confronting offenders as they return to the community. The program’s initiative will encompass three phases and be implemented through appropriate steps or phases:
Phases of Reentry Phase 1—Protect and Prepare: Institution-Based Programs. This phase of our program is to work with the detention center’s programs that are designed to prepare offenders to reenter society. Services provided in this phase usually are education, mental health and substance abuse treatment, job training, and full diagnostic and risk assessment. However, we feel it is essential to include a faith-based initiative and add spiritual guidance to assure a greater chance of success in the reentry process. Our Ministry continues to come into the detention center(s) to bring the Word of God to the inmates. We will assist the institution-base programs on an as-needed basis in the way of spiritual guidance for the inmates in group or “one-on-one” ministering. Phase 2—Control and Restore: Community and Faith-Based Transition Home. This program works with offenders prior to and immediately following their release from correctional institutions. Services provided in this phase includes, as appropriate, education, monitoring, mentoring and spiritual guidance, life skills training, assessment, job skills development, and mental health and substance abuse treatment. We identify the offenders who are schedule to be released within 90 days before they are released, interview them to determine there specific needs. We will continue to work with the institution-base programs to enhance their effectiveness in the way of spiritual guidance for the inmates with more “one-on-one” ministering and counseling. Phase 3—Sustain and Support: Community and Faith-Based Long-Term Support Program. These programs will connect individuals who have left the supervision of the justice system with a network of social services agencies and community-based organizations to provide ongoing services and mentoring relationships. We emphasize aftercare and/or relapse prevention in this phase. Successful reunification of offenders with their families requires clear attention to their issues and concerns. In many circumstances families are not well equipped to handle the parolee and in some circumstances are considered high risk for criminal behavior themselves. Methods of Aftercare and Relapse Prevention Telephone Contact / Home Visits Periodic Office Visits and/or Required Drop-ins by the offenders Frequent Unannounced Home Visits Mail-In Reports to the Law Enforcement Drug Testing and Monitoring (6mos.-1yr.) Mental Health or Substance Abuse Evaluations (6mos.-1yr.) Domestic Violence/Performance Evaluations (6mos.-1yr.) Regular Participation / Attendance in Church Services and Bible Study (Note: we are not trying to impose any denomination or the practice of any religion on participants in our program, however, this is our requirement for participation in this program and must be agreed upon in writing in order to register----this requirement for the term of the program.)
“Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepth the law, happy is he.” --- Proverbs 29:18 Our communities are facing enormous problems, specifically because we have been disenfranchised for generations. Moreover, where there is no vision in the community and no aspirations leads to a lack of unity and where there is no unity the community is bound to fail, leading to dysfunctions, lies, teenage pregnancies, high incarceration, high drop-out rates, increased illiteracy, and low social economic environment in the 21st century. Therefore, we have generated a people without a vision for the community. However, the continuation on this road will surely lead us to collectively fail in all segments of our society. Therefore, we must take this concept (Transition Youth Bank) and excel to another level by rebuilding our infrastructure from the ground up. We must start the process of rebuilding our infrastructure today by investing in our communities. "The most important component to remember is that the money is already in our communities, we just need to unite it for a positive cause. Helping our children/youth to become law-abiding, productive citizens is the objective and our goal."
|
|
|
|
|
