FEATURE STORIES

PACER
Personal Achievement thru Choices Empowering Re-entry


 

by Dr. Steven Hawley and Staff
Posted May 2010


[RED! Editor’s Note: The following information is a supplement to the Program Feature series on P.A.C.E. High School written by RED! contributing writer, Amanda Ridner.]

 

Program Description

PACER (e.g. Personal Achievement thru Choices Empowering Re-entry) is a program for individuals that provides education about positive choices available to them so that they will positively impact themselves and society.  The goals are:

  1. To learn what life skills are needed to legally participate in society.

  2. To understand what a positive community environment is through successful guided participation.

  3. To develop an individual plan/timeline that will be proactively implemented within and /or without the justice system.

  4. To maintain contact with PACER mentors for two years.

  5. To not relapse if/when released from the justice system.

The collaborative partners working on this venture include the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office, P.A.C.E. High School (a dropout recovery school), and court officers in Hamilton County (e.g. common pleas judges, municipal court judges, probation officers, defense lawyers).

The 300 at-risk individuals who are underserved in Hamilton County form the main customers of the school to prison pipeline.  This program is designed to stop the entry and/or re-entry into that system through a series of steps:

 

Step One:  Intake

Individuals come to the program in the following ways:

  1. Recommendation of the judge during the adjudication process.

  2. Recommendation of the attorney during the adjudication process

  3. Individual or parent recommendation during the adjudication process.

  4. Recommendation of the judge as a condition of sentencing.

  5. Recommendation of the probation department as a condition of sentencing.

  6. Individual request after sentencing.

  7. Collaborative partner recommendation.

Once notified, program staff set up an interview time with each client, and ask a series of questions to determine if the individual is serious about making a change in their lives.  If incarcerated, this interview is conducted by an inmate connected to the PACER program who has completed a secondary education/GED and has demonstrated success in the program described in Step Two below.

 

Step Two:  Life skills education

The program begins with a series of fourteen seminars that cover the following topics:

New Beginnings

  1. New beginnings

  2. Justice

  3. Image

  4. Identity myself/Getting around

  5. Parenting

  6. Relationships

  7. Smoking, alcohol and drugs

  8. Health and medical

  9. Working

  10. Education

  11. Housing

  12. Banking and credit

  13. Community

  14. Conflict resolution

For those approved and incarcerated, program staff would come to the prison and conduct classes until all sessions are complete.  For those in school, classes would take place at the school.  For those out of school, classes would take place in a location easily reached by city transportation. 

Program staff would work with groups of individuals and allow them to discuss their ability to change.  They would be asked to fill out a personal workbook which relates each topic to their life in order to develop a plan for positive self-empowerment.

The chief Community Coordinator would serve as the mentor coordinator.  These sessions involve the discussion of the past, the present, and how to bridge to a positive future.  The purpose of these sessions is the build TRUST.

 

Step Three:  Education

Each client’s educational background would be determined.  For those who have not finished high school, they would be enrolled in the existing GED program in the Justice Center or P.A.C.E. High School to pursue either the GES or high school diploma programs.  P.A.C.E. High School classes would be offered in the Justice Center for those eighteen and over.  GED classes would be sponsored by this project for those who need to complete their certificate.  For those incarcerated and released who desire further education, community advocates would act as mentors to support entry into postsecondary or technical education.

For those pursing education beyond the secondary level mentor support would actively support the efforts for the at-risk individuals who seek to better themselves.  Often times, the TRUST that is engendered is enough to allow the individual to step back and perceive that he or she can be successful.  The community advocate or mentor can serve as this bridge to success.  Existing relationships with Cincinnati State and the University of Cincinnati would be utilized to provide opportunities.

 

Step Four:  Aftercare

Program staff will be responsible for integrating services already identified by the agencies in Hamilton County that address the topics covered n the fourteen seminars listed in Step Two.  During the pilot year, for example, ties were made with several agencies regarding child support, housing, welfare, medical, banking and legal needs.  Program staff  has a goal of collaborating with more and more agencies so that the at-risk will have a sustainable support system that they can readily access, something that is not happening at the present time.

Each individual would be teamed up with a community advocate (mentor) to support the implementation of their positive plan for self-empowerment.  Employment opportunities that were discussed with the at-risk in Step Two above would be followed up with actual application and employment at his time.  Those who need paperwork, legal counsel, housing and any other needs specified by the plan would be educated so they can help themselves cross those barriers.

The term Aftercare is actually forever. That is, if TRUST has been established, then continual or periodic communication is essential to be there when needed.  Also, this approach means that research can be continually compiled on how well each individual is doing regarding education, employment, and recidivism.

Community advocates would be responsible for successful transition during the re-entry process.  This includes, but is not limited to the following:

  1. Meeting with the providers of specific services (e.g. Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority, Ohio Job and Family Services, St. Vincent de Paul, Freestore, Cincinnati State, Ohio Justice and Policy Center, Court Clinic, Urban League, ReadDads program, employers) on a regular basis and incorporation of service offerings into the program’s curriculum.

  2. Collaboration with local, state, and federal corrections officials on a regular basis to review project implementation and make improvements.

  3. Regular reporting of such collaboration to all stakeholders in monthly research newsletters that allow all those above to contribute to the implementation of an overall re-entry strategy.

  4. Working with private donors, foundations, and government agencies to sustain the program once federal funding ceases.  To this end, positive community role models will deliver specific parts of the program to offenders.

 

Results

The program has been in operation since February of 2008.  Since that time, one hundred individuals have completed the classes with a recidivism rate of 14 percent.

 


224 West Liberty St.
Cincinnati, OH 45202
Phone:  (513) 225-3318
Fax:  (513) 482-3322

 

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Find out more about P.A.C.E. high school. Read RED's feature story by Amanda Ridner.