The S.O.A.R. Personal Development Program: A Faith-Based Community Restoration Initiative …Unity of Spirit…Excellence in Communication…Singleness of Purpose… THE NEED:S.O.A.R. Advocacy The Problem: Ex-offender Recidivism Nearly 650,000 people are released from America’s prisons each year. They return to their communities needing housing and jobs, but their prospects are generally bleak. The majority of ex-prisoners have not completed high school. In addition, close to three quarters of them have a history of substance abuse, and more than one third have a physical or mental disability. These former prisoners are going home to some of the nation’s poorest neighborhoods, where they often lack stable social bonds and support networks and where there are few services to help them restart their lives. Given the huge gap between their complex challenges and their limited opportunities for addressing them, it is not surprising that recidivism rates are high. In fact, more than half (52 percent) of former state prisoners are back behind bars within three years after their release, either as a result of a parole violation or because they have committed a new crime. This cycle of recidivism produces many negative consequences. Households that are already fragile become overwhelmed. Communities that are already struggling fall further behind. The lives of those who move in and out of prison are wasted. And the cost to taxpayers is enormous. Overall, the US spends more than $60 billion a year on prisons and jails. (It costs more than $23,000 to incarcerate someone in a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility for one year and approximately $3,500 per year for probation; incarceration in a state prison can run as high as $45,000 per year or more.) Without the development of effective approaches for reducing recidivism, the problem is certain to grow. The number of Americans behind bars has increased steadily and now includes more than 2.1 million men and women. Almost all of them will eventually be released, and, unless something changes, more than half of them will not be successful in reentering their communities and will return to prison. The Solution: Society for Offender Advocacy & Restoration - Reentry Program The Society for Offender Advocacy & Restoration (SOAR) provides reentry services, including work-readiness training, employment and post-release transitional living assistance, to incarcerated individuals and ex-offenders who are committed to avoiding re-incarceration and want to become established in their community as productive, responsible citizens. The S.O.A.R. Advocates act as resource consultants, problem-solving facilitators, member advisers, and employment counselors, but the objective in all circumstances is to empower our members toward the goal of self-maintenance. Our S.O.A.R. Advocates assist men and women through major life transitions directly or indirectly related to the individual’s criminal justice status and/or history. For additional information see our FB Page: Society for Offender Advocacy & Restoration
Posted on: Sun, 03 Aug 2014 02:54:08 +0000
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