TEEM Reentry Model Excerpt

TEEM has an effective reentry program model. Here is an excerpt from its November 2014 newsletter. 

Understanding TEEM's Service Model:
Evidence Based Reentry Curriculum

(left to right, Instructor Aaron Cosar and Instructor/Job Placement Coordinator Becca Barsetti)

TEEM holistically prepares participants for self-sufficiency by offering various courses. With a curriculum that includes over 14 classes, TEEM aims to remove various barriers of incarceration as participants transition back into the community.

Common reentry obstacles facing incarcerated individuals include access to employment, life skills, education and basic resources and needs. TEEM aims to offset these barriers by offering a wide variety of services. Participants have the option to obtain their GED at TEEM. Students enrolled in TEEM’s GED course receive instruction in all six subjects required for the test: Reading, Writing, Science, Social Studies, Math and Written Easy.

Because 95 percent of TEEM’s participants are parents, an interactive parenting curriculum specifically designed for men with children, known as On My Shoulders is available in-house. Another highly populated course offered at TEEM is the Oklahoma Health and Health Administration Training Program. This course provides training for workers and employers of the recognition, avoidance, abatement, and prevention of safety and health hazards in workplaces.

TEEM will continue to expand current curriculum through a new venture with the University of Central Oklahoma. University students will participate in a semester long project to develop curriculum based on the evolving needs of participants.     

Other November newsletter articles:     
                                  
"TEEM Welcomes Participants Home for the Holidays" discusses upcoming holiday fellowship and activities sponsored by Tapstone Energy and TriCorp Security.  

                                                            

"TEEM Partners with University of Oklahoma for New Volunteer Project"

"Message from Director [Kris] Steele: Everyone Deserves a Second Chance" 

Read more about the TEEM model at http://www.teem.org. 

TEEM, Mentor Appreciation & Awareness

When Jenna McCullock, mentor coordinator of The Education & Employment Ministry (TEEM) reported new mentor numbers for the Coaches' Mentoring Challenge, she attributed the new mentors to an event.





TEEM uses research-based programming with lots of love and accountability to guide inmates from eighteen years old and older as they transition to build strong families and create positive futures. Mentoring is a key element of the program. 

TEEM Honors Mentors and Mentees during Mentor Appreciation and Awareness Event

Oklahoma City, OK—It was the perfect evening to be on the rooftop of Plenty Mercantile. The September air was filled with laughter, a cool Oklahoma breeze and the smell of Mutt’s Amazing Hot Dogs. The downtown Oklahoma City skyline provided a scenic backdrop as attendees shared stories of hope, restoration and friendship. On September 23, TEEM honored participants in its mentor program—an initiative designed to positively influence individuals impacted by generational cycles of incarceration and poverty in Oklahoma—and encouraged attendees to provide a hand-up to individuals reentering the Oklahoma City community.

Speaker: Patrick Raglow,
executive director of Catholic Charities 

The event honored current mentors and encouraged the community to join TEEM’s mentor program. One of TEEM’s primary organizational goals is to change the stereotypes commonly attached to formerly incarcerated individuals. Six months prior to their release from the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, the nonprofit aims to appropriately match each TEEM participant with an active mentor.

After a greeting from TEEM staff, attendees viewed a video produced by OKC Good featuring various mentor and mentee stories. They then witnessed a Q&A session between mentor Terry Dyke and mentee Dawan Brooks. After examining obvious differences, Terry and Dawan concentrated on their similarities and highlighted how the unlikely duo have formed a brotherly bond.

“If their goal was to honor TEEM mentors, I think that TEEM’s staff has truly accomplished that,” Dyke said. “I’ve never felt more appreciated in my life.”

Patrick Raglow, a retired U.S. Air Force Cornel and current Executive Director of Catholic Charities, reminded participants at the event that time is valuable. Raglow delivered a message that concentrated on the importance of doing the best with the 24 hours everyone is given each day.



Follow Raglow’s message, TEEM’s Mentor Coordinator Jenna McCullock recounted the power of encouragement in a recent volunteer experience at the Redman Triathlon and offered potential mentors a chance to play an active role by supporting participants in the marathon of life.

“Here at TEEM, we have the opportunity to cheer these men and women on,” McCullock said. “We are able to build relationships and support them as they are transitioning.”

Mentor and mentee

TEEM is an interfaith, 501(c) 3, nonprofit that exists to break cycles of incarceration and poverty in Oklahoma through education, character development and work readiness training. With a service model incorporating evidence-based curriculum, one-on-one mentoring, effective case management, occupational skills training, social services assistance and job placement services, TEEM aims to reduce recidivism rates, strengthen families and increase public safety. Approximately 8,400 inmates are released from Oklahoma’s prisons each year. Of this number, 24 percent will recidivate within 3 years of release. TEEM’s holistic approach works to change this trend by providing comprehensive reentry services to individuals transitioning out of incarceration. 

by Lance Evans, TEEM communications coordinator

For further information on TEEM’s mentor program, please contact Jenna McCullock at 405-235-5671 or via email at jmccullock@teem.org. 

For more information about TEEM, please visit www.teem.org or contact Anna Geary at ageary@teem.org.

Oklahoma County and Youth

Drug and alcohol problems involve youths and their families.  In fact, much drug abuse is from prescription medicine found in the homes of parents or grandparents.  Often what happens within a family can impact generations unless intervention occurs.

At a Kiwanis Club of Oklahoma City meeting, Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater talked about “good” happenings in the correctional realm in Oklahoma County.  Many nonviolent offenders, once you get to know them, may be decent people who, unable to control their addictions, made and still make poor choices.  Sending all drug and alcohol offenders to prison is not always the best choice. 

Among better choices in Oklahoma County are: 

• Drug Court (for adults), founded by former District Attorney Robert H. “Bob” Macy
• ReMerge Program (new for women offenders)
• Mental Health Program (within the Oklahoma County Jail, Sheriff John Whetzel)
• Vet Court or Veteran Diversion, founded by David Prater

ReMerge, only about a year old, is currently under the auspices of United Way but is forming its own 501(c)(3) and soon creating its own website.  Excerpts about ReMerge:

ReMerge is a female diversion program designed to transform pregnant women and mothers facing incarceration into productive community citizens.

The majority of these women are nonviolent, drug addicted, unemployed, victims of childhood physical and/or sexual abuse and victims of adult domestic violence who are raising their children alone.  For approximately one-third of these women, their mother and/or father were incarcerated.

ReMerge is a diversion program providing an alternative to incarceration.  Priority selection is given to women who are pregnant, women with a child or children under five years of age, and women with multiple minor children.

Program phases include assessment and stabilization, treatment and education, demonstration of skills and recovery, preparation for graduation and maintenance of acquired skills. 

The Oklahoma County Veteran’s Program (OCVP) is a diversion program designed to divert veterans involved with the criminal justice system from prison, to reduce veteran’s involvement in future crimes, and place them into appropriate rehabilitative alternatives. The program is for veterans who are currently facing prosecution for one or more criminal cases. The program offers offenders a treatment option that is supervised by the OCVP team.
http://www.oklahomacounty.org/departments/districtattorney/Veterans.aspx

[Note:  Sheri Keenan, Ph.D., Cameron University, has stated that courts handle youth offenders differently from county to county and state to state.] 


Oklahoma County Criminal Process [What happens after being arrested]
http://www.oklahomacounty.org/departments/districtattorney/CriminalProcess.aspx

Truancy [What is it and what happens?]
http://www.oklahomacounty.org/departments/districtattorney/Truancy.aspx

Survival Skills for Young Women
...to teach teenage girls to be strong, smart and independent young women. 

This program was developed in response to an ever increasing proportion of females being referred to the juvenile justice system. It is evident that sending these girls to programs designed for a predominantly male audience is rarely beneficial to them. The Survival Skills program was designed to provide a positive approach to preparing young women for a productive life.  [Parents may request daughters be referred, although most girls are court-involved.]

http://www.oklahomacounty.org/jjc/SurvivalSkills/SurvivalSkills.htm

SEA Program “Service-Education-Accountability” (once adjudicated)

The SEA Program provides supervised work for children involved through the juvenile court system to complete community service to pay restitution to their victims.  There are 8-10 juveniles participating on Saturdays and Sundays from 7:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.  Litter clean-up, gardening, graffiti removal, planting, packaging food, organizing clothes, leaf raking and painting are a few examples of the types of work the youth are involved in.  We contract with non profit organizations.

http://www.oklahomacounty.org/jjc/SEA.htm

On another note...

Oklahoma Sheriff’s Department Office – Law Enforcement Explorers
Post #2199 meets at Francis Tuttle two evenings a month.
http://www.oklahomacounty.org/sheriff/explore/

C.O.P. Program

The Oklahoma County Juvenile Bureau has developed a Community Outreach Prevention Program to assist our community and schools on the topics of Bullies and Weapons. We see a great need in our community and schools to bring awareness to the public concerning the effects of Bullies and Weapons. [The statistics on bullying and fear are surprising.]

http://www.oklahomacounty.org/jjc/CommunityOutreachProgram/COPProgram.htm

CRASH Courts Raising Awareness of Students High School
A three-part program taking place in a high school gymnasium or auditorium…
http://www.oklahomacounty.org/sheriff/crashs/