ORGANIZATIONAL COMPONENTS AND ACTIVITIES
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Juvenile Detention Center Ministry/Chaplaincy Services
Our focus is to lay faith-based counseling and speaking services to youth detained in juvenile detention centers, residential commitment programs, Sheriff youth camps and youthful offender programs. Detained youths are provided with old and New Testament bibles, instructional booklets, gospel tracts, motivational and spiritual videos. Components of the Juvenile Detention Center Ministry are as follows:
Sunday Church Services
Involves inspirational performances, contemporary youth music, group and individual prayer, biblical sermons, testimonial services and invitations to discipleship.
Special Event Services
Involves PTP providing special evangelistic services with detained youth. Youth events are held to encourage youth not to give in to peer pressure and set attainable goals once they are released.
Follow Up and After Care Services
PTP will establish relationship with released youth to provide mentorship, family assistance, and community interventions. PTP will target Community Churches, the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice, and Outreach agencies within the Zip Coded areas were youth live/reside. All youth will be introduced to PTP Group Mentoring Program and provided One-on-One Mentoring opportunities.
Saving Our Youth Program (SOY)
The SOY Program is a component of the PTP Outreach. The purpose of the SOY Program is to bring approved former inmates to share positive personal testimonies regarding their prison experiences while incarnated. Youth will be given selective opportunity to ask questions and receive positive feedback on step-by step ways to avoid the prison system and become a law-abiding citizen.
The Juvenile Detention Center Ministry and Chaplaincy Services are under the direction of the Prison To Power Inc. Ministries President/ Executive Director, Kent Osbourne. He has been actively involved in ministering to youth for over ten (10) years.
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Local Church Outreach Ministries
The focus PTP is to provide faith-based youth oriented programs for local churches and their adjacent departments. PTP looks to provide contemporary Christian entertainment, guest speaking for student lock-ins, retreats, rallies, camps and revivals. PTP is an outreach community-based ministry supported by Churches and Community Agencies. Our ministry looks to assists pastors and youth ministers in addressing the high demand of meeting spiritual needs of youth at their local Church. Components of the Local Church Outreach Ministries are as follows:
Monthly Community Events and Activities
Targeted ages are 8-18 years old. In conjunction with PTP and its sponsors, PTP will invite interested Churches and Community partners. It is the goal of PTP to collaborate or coordinate its efforts to bring all interested Churches and Community agencies together to participate in any youth sponsored event held by PTP. Activities will involve, outside recreation, indoor games, and more.
The Local Church Outreach Ministries are also under the direction of Minister, Kent Osbourne with the assistance of Assistant Cheniera Osbourne.
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Community Outreach Ministries
Our focus is to provide youth with wholesome and constructive Christian activities such as Youth Camps, retreats, and mentorship. These services are targeted towards delinquent youth ages 12-18 years old. This outreach is designed to challenge the youth to evaluate themselves and determine where they are and where they would like to go. This program will be guided by a faith-based curriculum designed to challenge the thinking process and create better outcomes which will impact the youth decision making while in immediate environment and surrounding. Each youth will receive practical information and exercises that will simplify the difficult aspect of their life. The program will assist the youth to set short and long term goals and promotes positive esteem and outlook for the future.
Components of the Community Outreach Ministries are as follows:
Youth Development
Positive youth development is a framework that guides communities in the way they organize services, opportunities, and supports so that young people can develop to their full potential. Positive youth development is not just another program. Communities that adopt a youth development approach emphasize these principles:
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Focus on strengths and positive outcomes. Rather than taking a deficit-based approach, PTP intentionally help young people build on their strengths and develop the competencies, values, and connections they need for life and work.
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Youth voice and engagement. Youth are valued partners who have meaningful, decision-making roles in programs and communities.
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Strategies that involve all youth. PTP support and engage all youth rather than focusing solely on "high-risk" or "gifted" youth. PTP do, however, recognize the need to identify and respond to specific problems faced by some youth (such as violence or premature parenthood).
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Community involvement and collaboration. Positive youth development includes but reaches beyond programs; PTP promotes organizational change and collaboration for community change. All sectors have a role to play in making the community a great place to grow up.
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Long-term commitment. PTP provide the ongoing support young people need over the first 20 years of their lives.
Project PTP Mentor Program
Nationwide studies have proven that the involvement of positive adult role models in the lives of young people makes a tremendous impact in molding and shaping the youth to become responsible and productive adults. The purpose of Project PTP is to match program youth with positive and responsible adult role models to provide guidance and support. Interactions among the youth and mentors are conducted in-group and individual settings. Youth will engage in group counseling sessions, field trips, workshops, sports and recreational activities, community service projects, employability skills enhancement, tutoring sessions, conflict resolution sessions, spiritual and family enrichment sessions among other self-development workshops. The program will operate after school and during the summer months at a leased facility within the city of Stockbridge, Ga. 30281.
Economic Development Assistance Program
Many youth and families served by PTP are in desperate need of financial assistance. The ministry aids and assists the youth and families by providing financial assistance to families in need. Assistance is awarded to families based on need and is not subject to geographical location.
The ministry also collaborates with other non-profit organizations to assist families with clothing and housing. Youth that are of age to be employed are provided with employment assistance and employability skills assistance.
The Community Outreach Ministries are under the direction of Executive Director, Kent Osbourne with the assistance of Assistant Direct, Cheniera Roberts and Treasurer, Kenny Davis. This component of the ministry is in its infancy stages of development.
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School Outreach Ministries
Our focus is to provide youth with appropriate behavior modification strategies as an alternative to inappropriate behavior while in school, the community, and at home. Our purpose is to also provide the youth with appropriate social and peer relationship skills to handle negative peer pressure, illegal drugs, premarital sex, gang activity and violence. These services are conducted through the avenue of classroom presentations, assemblies, workshops, health clinics and fairs. Components of the School Outreach Ministries are as follows:
Abstain from Intoxicants, Drugs and Sex (AIDS) Prevention Program:
The AIDS Prevention Program is a school-based abstinence program for middle and high school students. There is an increase percentage of teenage pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases (STD) and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). This component of the AIDS educates youth of the consequences and complications of premarital sex. Youth are educated on the fact that:
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They do not have to be pressured into sex.
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Having sex early can change their life in a way that they may not be ready for.
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The best way to avoid an unwanted pregnancy, STD and HIV/AIDS is by not having sex.
Avoiding sex as a teenager is difficult, however, it takes a lot of will power, parental support and sexual avoidance education. The AIDS program seeks to provide participants with 2020 resource materials, presentations; videos and value-based curriculum during classroom instruction, health fairs, and school pregnancy prevention assemblies. Our message will advocate the importance of values, sexual avoidance, positive peer pressure, and wise decision-making alone with positive leadership skills. The youth are informed of over 20 different sexually transmitted diseases that are rampant among young people. In addition, other problems associated with promiscuous behavior are infertility, abortions and infected newborns. The cost of this epidemic is staggering, both in human suffering and in expense to society. There are a lot of reasons for youth to choose not to have sex. For the PTP Ministries, the most important reason for sexual avoidance is a moral one. We believe intimacy belongs only in marriage. For either religious or personal reasons, this belief is strong.
This component of the School Outreach Ministries has been under the direction of Executive Director, Kent Osbourne. Since the inception of the PTP Ministries in 2017. This program is currently funded by K.O Trucking LLC.
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Successful Truancy Empowerment & Intervention Program (STEP)
About Prison 2 Power
Prison to Power (PTP) Inc. birthed in Stockbridge, Georgia, is a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit youth ministry dedicated to meeting the total needs of youth and their families through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We have discovered over the years, the best way to reach families is to connect with them on a spiritual level. It is from that understanding that the ministry of Prison to Power was established and incorporated on October 26, 2017. The mission of the ministry is to bridge the gap between churches, schools, and communities by meeting the spiritual, physical, social, emotional, and economic needs of youth and their families.
With that in mind, our intensive prevention and intervention services are comprehensive and are based on best practices which have been modeled after proven, time-tested, researched models for at risk children and their families. To that end, our enriching life-impacting services are designed to deter and decrease truancy, increase school attendance, decrease gang and crime involvement, and ultimately increase the high school graduation rate.
Prison to Power is unlike any other service of its kind in that we use a holistic approach to fulfilling the needs of children and their families by creating a ONESTOP shop in service delivery. Through this unique and holistic approach and in subscribing to John Assaraf’s quote, "If an egg is broken by an outside force, life ends. If broken by an inside force, life begins. Great things always begin from the inside," we understand that real change has to come from within the individual and the family nucleus. Through this concept, our efforts are designed to break the cycle that perpetuate truancy and delinquency in communities of color; transform children into engaged and empowered participants in their respective communities.
Successful Truancy Empowerment & Intervention Program (STEP) Summary
At PTP - STEP, we specialize in serving students at-risk of dropping out of school, and those who have been entangled in the legal system and those endangered of becoming permanently involved in the juvenile justice system. Truancy has many consequences. In a literature review commissioned by the National Center for School Engagement (Heilbrunn, 2007) it was found that, compared to non-truant students, students who are truant:
▪ Have lower grades
▪ Need to repeat grades more often
▪ Have higher rates of expulsion
▪ Have lower rates of high school graduation
Furthermore, truancy not only affects youth, but it also impacts the adult they will become. Research has shown that adults who were chronically truant from school as children or adolescents are at an elevated risk for a number of problems, including poor physical and mental health, poverty, incarceration, and raising children who exhibit problem behaviors (Baker, Sigmon & Nugent, 2001).
Most school districts have a robo-calling system, which reportedly notifies parents when their child is absent on a given day. Research findings have proven that this approach is not as effective with truants due to the lack of
personable touch.
A review of best-practice strategies shows that the programs that have been most effective in curtailing truancy are those that are not punitive in nature but instead are based on personal approach inclusive of home visits, direct parent contact and continuous face-to-face engagement with students.
Understanding that students from low socioeconomic and underserved communities and dysfunctional families present with many factors which pose as barriers to high school completion, workforce engagement and becoming productive members of society. Collectively, our services are designed and aligned with research models that address the four most important risk-factors that increases a child’s likelihood to engaging in delinquent behavior.
To be effective in our practices, collective research on delinquency prevention and intervention call for our holistic efforts to explore and focus on the following risk factors:
(1) Individual Risk Factors
(2) Family Risk Factors
(3) Peer Risk Factors
(4) School and Community Risk Factors
In response to these identified risk-factors that contribute to delinquency, combined research shows that the most effective services are those that build protective factors to offset the risk. The address the following areas:
1) Involvement of Family
2) Focus on Deterrence in Crime
3) Implementation of Wrap-around Support Services
4) Address Academic Failure & Disengagement
5) Exposure to Family Violence
6) Exposure to Gang Influence and membership
Truancy is the “absence from school that is not excused by school and/or a parent.” According to published research, truancy is a primary risk-factor that can be linked to other behaviors such as substance abuse, school dropout, and involvement with the law.
Extensive research at the federal and state levels have been conducted in search of best-practices to curtail truancy, a chronic problem that is prevalent in many school districts, particularly those in low-socioeconomic communities. In a published evaluation by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) of seven nationally reputable truancy reduction programs, it was found that the most effective programs consisted of the following:
▪ Parental Involvement
▪ Continuum of Care
▪ Concerted Collaboration (with law enforcement, mental health, mentoring
and social services)
▪ School Administrative Support
▪ Ongoing Evaluation
Furthermore, among the fourteen recommended effective strategies to reduce truancy, published by the National Dropout Prevention Center/Network (Smink and Reimer, 2005), PTP has infused five of the following as best practice.
1) Family engagement
2) School community collaboration
3) Mentoring / Tutoring
4) Afterschool opportunities
5) Career and technical education
As such, our comprehensive services are designed to reverse the patterns of truancy, while breaking barriers to high school completion, and workforce enrollment and engagement.
Defining Truancy
While there is no reported national definition of truancy, it is agreed that if a student is absent without an excuse from the parent/guardian or if the student leaves school or a class without permission of the teacher or administrator in charge, it will be considered an unexcused absence and the student shall be considered truant (Seeley, 2006).
Truancy is a problem in every county and school district that has mandatory school attendance. According to published research, there are different types of truancy:
1. Habitual Truancy: Is characterized by frequent unexcused absences during a semester or academic year (Seely, 2006).
2. Chronic Truancy: Habitual school absences, despite intervention attempts.
3. Chronic Absenteeism: Another type of truancy manifested in younger children with age ranging from 6 - 8. More often than none, children may miss at least 10 percent of school time in an academic year. It is believed that the cause for the absences may be parent related (Chang & Romero, 2008).
A literature review commissioned by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) found a correlation between truancy and the following related problems:
• Substance abuse
• Delinquency
• Gang activity
• Serious criminal behavior
• Suicidal ideation and attempts
• Early sexual activity
• Dropping out of school
According to Florida Statute 5500.05 – Code of Student Conduct, Student Attendance, children between the age of 6 and 16 are required to attend school regularly in a calendar year. The same statute defines an unexcused absence as one where a student who is not in class for at least one half of a class period and provide an acceptable reason for the absence (F.S.S1003.210)(1)(a).
Moreover, published research and the Florida legislature found that “poor academic performance is associated with nonattendance…” (F.S. 1003.26). Furthermore, in the state of Florida, if a child accumulates a minimum of 15 unexcused absences within 90 days, it is a violation of the Compulsory School Attendance Law. Despite written policies established in each school district, truancy remains a
serious problem, particularly in inner city schools.
Deliverables
In an effort to reduce recidivism, increase school attendance, and improve high school graduation rates, PTP Successful Truancy Empowerment & Intervention Program (STEP) services are delivered in six types of
programming:
1. Family Engagement: Through our Family First Program (FFP), PTP conducts a general needs assessment to determine the risk-factors. Following the first step, participants will be assigned to an advocate who will further
assess immediate academic and social needs. Parents and guardians will be assigned to a social service advocate who will also determine the immediate needs of the family by engaging the parent / guardian. An orientation will be to convey program benefits and expectations. Following the orientation, parents / guardians will be referred to a support group which has been created and designed to provide continuous support and encouragement. Family First Program will offer social events and non-denominational spiritual groups to
foster a community of nurturance, strength, and healing.
2. School and Community Collaboration: Through the STEP program, we subscribe to the village concept; as such, PTP understands that our engagement alone will not deter truancy and/or decrease recidivism. For this
reason, we believe that intentional collaboration with school, community and faith-based organizations are essential to the effort. STEP will implement a School Based Intervention Component through which participants will be assigned an Academic Success Coach to effectively monitor students’ progress, academic success coaches will use a proactive approach to tracking student performance to address issues such as absenteeism, failing grades, behavioral and social problems to ensure timely intervention.
3. Mentoring / Tutoring: It has been proven that the “positive youth development” approach where youth are linked to a caring adult are more effective at reducing crime, decreasing drug and alcohol use, increasing school attendance, decreasing school dropout and improving overall school performance. Through mentoring ministry, STEP will match participants to a mentor who will serve as a confidant during their engagement in the program. Such mentors will be recruited from the community and serve as role models.
4. After-School Opportunities: Academic Success Coaching service, also known as “tutoring,” provides individual support for students in need of additional assistance in core academic courses including math, reading and comprehension, language arts, English, and science. Our Academic Success Coaches take our mission a step further by teaching hands-on, practical skills, while empowering students with the confidence to function independently.
5. Career Education: Through the Workforce Ready Advancement Program (WRAP), participants will receive intensive job and career-readiness training, infused with leadership, life, and social skills-building, designed to prepare students for their successful entry into the workforce. In order to break the cycle of poverty, which is a significant factor of truancy and youth violence in any community, there needs to be a deliberate attempt at providing for economic self-sufficiency amongst the youth population. WRAP services provide a bridge between high school and the workforce. We specialize in teaching 21 st century workforce skills necessary to facilitate an effortless transition into the workplace.
6. Referral and Linkage: PTP has established reciprocal relationships with local organizations that allow for the transfer of referrals for those participants that may have needs beyond the reach of STEP. Those services include
mental health and substance abuse service which are also known risk factors to truancy.
Focused Deliverables
Prison to Power ministry specializes in the delivery of services for lasting impact. In addition to the above deliverables, the STEP intervention activities will include (but are not limited to) strategies that produce effective and inclusive results,
such as those activities listed below:
• Parent & student orientation
• Truancy inventory and needs assessment
• Truancy contract
• Restorative justice training
• Weekly check-in with school attendance staff
• Monthly follow-up with probation officer
• Non-clinical peer group sessions(ongoing)
• Interpersonal and life skills sessions
• Relationship-building activities
• Workforce readiness skills building
• Field trips (when social climate permits)
• Guest speakers (including law enforcement personnel)
• Monthly attendance rewards and recognition opportunities
Youth Workshops
"If an egg is broken by outside force, life ends. If broken by inside force, life begins. Great things always begin from inside." - Jim Kwik, Entrepreneur
Using an inside-and-out approach as our compass, our youth workshops are designed to have life-changing impact. Some workshop topics include:
▪ School Attendance
▪ Truancy & Delinquency
▪ Consequences of Truancy
▪ Self-Confidence
▪ Self-Advocacy
▪ Self-Awareness & Self-Management
▪ Communication (Verbal & Non-Verbal)
▪ Active Listening
▪ Self-Motivation
▪ Leadership Development
▪ Decision-Making
▪ Problem-Solving
▪ Teamwork & Team Building
▪ Dependability & Accountability
▪ Responsibility
▪ Patience
▪ Flexibility
▪ Interpersonal Relationship
▪ Empathy
▪ Emotional Management
▪ Self-Control
▪ Critical Thinking
▪ Stress Management
▪ Public Speaking
▪ Financial Literacy & Money Management
▪ Knowing & Understanding Your Values
▪ Valuing & Expressing Respect
▪ Valuing & Expressing Love
▪ Self-Discipline
▪ Self-Care & Good Hygiene
▪ Prioritizing Your Life
▪ Personal Survival Skills
▪ Career Exploration & Career Planning (Developing Your 5-Year Plan)
Parent Workshop Topics
STEP was created to include the whole family unit, in support of the referred client. As such, the following are workshop topics are designed for parents.
▪ Parenting Skills: An Overview
▪ Parenting Styles and Decision Making
▪ School Attendance and the Law
▪ Truancy Intervention
▪ Coping with Daily Stress & Frustrations
▪ Love is a Powerful Vitamin
▪ Dealing with Crisis and Trauma
▪ Self-Advocacy & School Advocacy
▪ Self-Care
▪ Communication Problems and Strategies
▪ Structure and Limits: Preventing and Managing Problem Behavior
▪ Sibling Rivalry
▪ Balancing Work and Family Life
▪ Helping Your Child Succeed in School
▪ Promoting Nonviolent Solutions
▪ Communication Skills for Fathers
▪ Communication Skills for Mothers
▪ Communication Skills for Caregivers
▪ Resolving Conflicts
▪ Promoting Nonviolent Solutions
Why Stay in School? The Need for Truancy Intervention
It is our belief at Prison to Power that the lesson that a student is not in class to learn will not help improve their academic standing. It has been proven that students who report to school regularly and on time will accomplish the following:
• Earn good grades
• Advance to the next grade level
• Have fewer rates of school expulsion
• Graduate high school on time
Target Population
The STEP program is a faith-based program born from the Prison to Power Ministry. Our mission is to increase school attendance, reduce truancy and school dropout rates, increase high school graduation, decrease involvement with the juvenile justice system. Our aim is to break down barriers to access to effective family engagement opportunities, afterschool care and school support.
To that end, STEP is designed to serve minority males with age ranging from 14 -17. All students referred to STEP will have one or more episode of truancy / delinquency, and / or legal involvement as a first offence.
Referrals for intervention may come from the following sources:
• Juvenile Justice System
• School Administrators
• Family Members
• Church Pastors
Implementation
The STEP program is designed to support minority males ages 14-17 with one or more episode of truancy / delinquency. Students who are at risk for chronic truancy. Students who have reached 10 or more unexcused absences (not due to medical circumstances) within the first three months of the school year and an episode with the law.
Referrals will come from the juvenile justice system (i.e. probation officer, the courts, counselors), school administrators, family members or pastors. Upon referral, both the child and parent/guardian will complete a needs assessment to determine risk-factors, followed by assignment to a Student Success Coach (SSC) and a Family Success Advocate (FSA). Parents will be required to attend and engage in family support group which meets weekly to learn effective parent skills while networking with other parents, for support and encouragement.
In addition, students will be required to complete a Truancy Inventory. Additionally, information will be gathered, and a contract and success plan will be developed for each participant. Such plan will include the following:
1. Required need to report to school as scheduled, referral and linkage to mental health and substance abuse services (as needed), as a way of removing barriers to mandatory school attendance.
2. Need to make-up educationally related activities as assigned by designated Attendance Review Committee or school staff
3. Monitored progress towards completion of mandatory activities as well as progression towards graduation
4. Designed external support and encouragement
Projected Timeline
To be determined.
Cost Benefits For Evidenced Based Intervention Program
Truancy has been linked to being a strong indicator of future delinquent behavior. According to published data, more than 1,000,000 adolescents are processed by juvenile courts annually. Moreover, the National Center for
School Engagement estimates that the lifetime societal cost for each high school dropout is about $200,000. Furthermore, it has been found that programs that are targeted to high-risk populations, prevention and
intervention programs provide long-term savings at a cost of $3,268 per child. Lastly, it has been found that minority males who are supported during their school years are more likely to stay in school and graduate.
Outcomes Measures
With the implementation of STEP, Prison to Power ministry is committed to achieving the following outcomes in the first year of participation:
• 25% decrease in truancy and delinquent behavior
• 25% increase in school attendance
• 35% matched with adult mentor
• 40% increase in grade level promotion and high school graduation
Evaluative Method / Data Collection and Reporting
Prison to Power subscribes to “our success is in our results” motto. As such, we measure every aspect of our services through formal and informal means, using pre and post-tests, informal survey, and sign-in logs following each session.
In order to fully assess the effectiveness of the STEP program, while tracking its progress during the service contracted period, a formal data sharing agreement, signed by parent or guardian, is required to allow for access to comprehensive student data prior to service delivery and during contracted period. Such data will include but not limited to the following:
▪ Participants’ name (first and last)
▪ Participants’ address
▪ Gender and ethnicity
▪ School attendance (10+ absences)
▪ Standardized test scores
▪ Academic records / School transcript(s)
▪ Out-of-school discipline
▪ Access to legal involvement report
▪ Progression to graduation status or grade promotion
▪ Graduation status (year-end)
▪ Residency verification
Contact Information
Created by:
Marlyn Paris-Lawson
marlyn@cramsconsulting.com
Phone: (754) 248-9775