Visionary Prison Reform(VPR) is dedicated to improving prison conditions and exposing unethical activities within the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) system, and the court system. We advocate for positive inmate development programs, rehabilitation programs, and provide support to those incarcerated. While working to create positive change and public awareness around the issues facing the Texas prison system. Also while advocating for reforms, we will work to reduce recidivism, and advance public safety and interests.
We are advocating for additional authority to be bestowed on the TDCJ Independent Ombudsman Office, because their authority does not meet all the needs of the complaints filed to their office. For example, given their current scope and authority allowed, should the IO office find a legitimate issue on a TDCJ unit, they can provide their suggestion only, of what should be done on behalf of that inmate. However, we feel the IO office should have the authority to enforce its findings, should a Head Warden refuse to act on their findings. Yes, this does happen in TDCJ, with Head Wardens refusing to act according to the findings of the IO office.
We are also advocating for the creation of an External Oversight Committee, to collect raw data from the IO office for further analysis, and dissemination to local State Representatives, should it be needed. This Committee would also have the authority to receive, investigate, and act on issues and complaints that fall outside the scope of the IO office's limitations, for investigation.
We also are continuing our long fight in advocating against mass incarceration, predatorial pricing for inmates and their families, cruel and unusual punishment, wrongful convictions and incarcerations, faulty forensics used in criminal cases, abuse of discretion by a court, prosecutorial misconduct, ineffective assistance of counsel, and more.
Part of our solution is a paradigm shift from mass incarceration to restorative justice, with a focus on rehabilitation and re-entry; more accountability for law enforcement, prosecutors, trial and appellate counsel, and judges. A system implemented to ensure fair trials and just punishment, void of excessive charges and sentences; while advocating for a complete overhaul of a flawed system, to restore the integrity to the systems both in TDCJ and Texas courts, and abolish all prejudices.
In focusing on that shift is why we are partnered to bring the New Life, New Hope Project to the Polunsky Unit, as a massive prison reform and rehabilitation project, which is on a scale and magnitude never before implemented in TDCJ-CID.
We are putting this introduction together in the hopes of convincing some or all who read this to assist in bringing this project to fruition, by taking an active role in it, or even just donating time or funds for the creation of this project.
You will never be able to fully comprehend, what type of an inspiration you can be to the inmates (residents) in TDCJ. Your actions will inspire new life and hope in the masses. Getting this project approved by TDCJ and off the ground is VPR's attempt to be both an inspiration to those who need it and a visible role model to the inmate population at large.
Yes, there are other self-help and rehabilitative programs/projects already operating in TDCJ, and we are not trying to undermine their results or replace them. However, we have been listening to the unit populations in regards to other programs. The vast majority of these programs employ a christian faith-based program and/or approach. While this is attractive to a certain segment of the inmate population, it alienates many others.
The New Life, New Hope Project incorporates a secular model, which is more inclusive as it encourages participation from inmates of all faiths and backgrounds.
TDCJ has programs and projects running all over the state. Some have extensive waiting lists and require inmates to be transferred to another unit to attend. This Project is compromised of a variety of programs in an attempt to be a one-stop shop for rehabilitation. It can be run on any unit, from the minimum security 500 man facilities to the 4,000 man level 5 maximum security units. By duplicating our model, wait times will be slashed and inter-unit transfers are reduced.
Yes, we piggybacked off some of the existing programs, but we wanted something that was not only different it had to be better; and it needed to be ours.
The Polunsky Unit is the perfect facility for implementation of the New Life, New Hope pilot project, as it has many programs already running on it. The inmate cohort on Polunsky has a positive attitude towards programmatic activities and the administration is progressive and supports positive change.
Former Polunsky Head Warden Mr. Daniel Dickerson was recently promoted to TDCJ Region I Director, and he was instrumental in the implementation of several progressive initiatives, such as the Prison Fellowship Academy (PFA), drug rehab pods for all custody levels, and other faith based pods/programs. He was also instrumental in furthering the reach of the programming on the unit's inmate driven radio station 'The Tank', airing on 106.5 FM.
His support of the New Life, New Hope Project, and its initiatives at the project design level lends it great credibility and visibility at some of the highest levels within the agency.
Also the Polunsky Unit is home to Head Warden Ronald Ivey, since the promotion of Director Dickerson, and who from the start of his tenure, has voiced his wanting to bring other large rehabilitation projects to the Polunsky Unit as well. We aim to make the New Life, New Hope Project one of them.
Six of the programs in the project are very interesting, and are new to this type of project, while the other nine programs are utilizing already proven curriculums from www.reentrylifeskills.com, who use no labels. We are mindful to not use any type of labels in our course materials. Nor do we employ manipulative content to motivate participants.
As already discussed, there is no ulterior agenda in the Project's content and it has no agenda for race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or political preference. We have a single focus of helping inmates face and overcome their self-defeating thoughts and also their behaviors.
A lot of people are scared to take a chance on inmates, often with good reason. When it comes to the penitentiary, one does not have to look hard for reasons to say "no". Inmates may have broken the law, but that does not mean they are all criminally minded or unredeemable 'screw-ups'. At some point we must acknowledge that the 'all stick, no carrot' approach does not suit today's penitentiary. We need to identify those inmates that are sincere about changing and reward their good behavior.
It has been proven in hundreds of scientific studies in dogs that positive reinforcement is significantly more effective in achieving desired behavioral change. Shoving your dog's nose in his feces may make some of us feel like we have now taught him a lesson.
However, if we want him to learn to do his business outside, praising and rewarding him when he does so will result in behavior modification that is both quicker and permanent. When it comes to changing these core behaviors and thought patterns, the carrot far outweighs the use of the stick. We are following that same concept in this Project.
Here is a Quick Snapshot of the New Life, New Hope Project Courses:
#01 - Contentious Relationships class, with the curriculum from the www.reentrylifeskills.com website.
"With a focus on cognitive restructuring, this course is designed to help couples resolve their differences by helping them overcome their negative thoughts, feelings, and emotions."
#02 - Domestic Violence class, with the curriculum from the www.reentrylifeskills.com website.
"Domestic violence is a serious crime against humanity, because of its far-reaching tentacles and its effect on future generations. This course is designed to help perpetrators recognize self-defeating thoughts and behaviors."
#03 - Parenting class, with the curriculum from the www.reentrylifeskills.com website.
"Abuse and neglect are learned behaviors that, without proper intervention, continue. Raising children who are successful in life is difficult by negative scripting. This course teaches parents important cognitive skills to help them in their parenting." This applies to grandparents as well.
#04 - Personal Responsibility class, with the curriculum from www.reentrylifeskills.com website.
"This course is a study in how self-defeating thoughts and behaviors keep people trapped in the swinging door of recidivism. For those who are caught in self deception, this course offers solutions for moving forward."
#05 - Resident Resume building and Employment class, with part of the curriculum from www.reentrylifeskills.com and the other part developed by VPR Vice-Presidents Fred Hoffman and Steven Blass. "The number one reason people remain underemployed and unemployed, is thinking errors. Often this faulty thinking has been programmed from one generation to another. This course follows two cousins, Chad and Jessie, and their journey to gainful employment."
#06 - Cognitive Awareness class, with the curriculum from the www.reentrylifeskills.com website.
"This course is designed to help students recognize faulty thinking patterns and behaviors; we do not always control our beginnings, but we can control our endings."
#07 - Anger Management class, that does not require a psychiatric caseload from mental health to take it, and with the curriculum from the www.reentrylifeskills.com website.
"Once you let anger in, you have to either squelch it or expose it; both are harmful. The more we can learn to avoid anger, the more productive our life becomes. Those who anger us, control us!"
#08 - Resident Corrections class, with the curriculum from the www.reentrylifeskills.com website.
"If we keep on doing what we have been doing, we will keep on getting what we have been getting. This course examines how faulty thinking patterns can keep offenders in a cycle, repeating self-defeating behaviors."
#09 - Substance Abuse class, with the curriculum from the www.reentrylifeskills.com website.
"This is not an ordinary substance abuse course. It is based on historical fiction of two families, the Millers and the Johnsons. The course follows their lives through their victories and defeats as they fight the drug monster. It provides timely cognitive thinking and practical skills that have proven to help users recover from their addiction. It is a story about freedom versus captivity."
#10 - Time to change: Becoming a better version of yourself in less than a year,with the curriculum modified for project use by VPR Vice-Presidents Fred Hoffman and Steven Blass.
This curriculum is integrated to accompany the reentrylifeskills.com curriculums, and builds on their lessons, principles, and workbooks. This is a generational curriculum, with graduates being in the unique position to help others, establish projects on other units, and to build and improve the curriculum.
#11 - The New Life Victims Impact Program and Restorative Justice Program (V.I.P.), with a curriculum from the Office for Victims of Crimes, using their VICTIM Impact Listen and Learn curriculum, and it is modified to include the Restorative Justice component as well.
#12 - The New Life "Rebuilding Humanity" Initiative and Community Outreach Program, which does include, but is not limited to: 1) manufacturing of dentures for inmates using locked 3D printers, 2) the use of laser engravers for producing products for TDCJ's use at a system wide level, 3) the use of laser engravers to create promotional products for multiple projects, 4) tattoo removal, 5) provide incentivized housing areas for project graduates and coordinators, and 6) placing benches, swings, and tables in public places, schools, community centers, and churches.
This program is also a multifaceted outreach program, designed to bring both awareness and educate the students on topics discussed in other classes and expand on them; specifically on domestic violence, bullying, at risk youth, substance abuse, and suicide prevention.
This program will be leading the charge that will provide for numerous charities, their causes, and organizations. This will show a united and comprehensive front to the Polunsky community and the local community, while providing a effort to reduce recidivism.
#13 - The Legal Assistance for Resident's Program (LARP), is to allow students and the unit population access to the assistance of a competent Texas Prison Litigator ('Jail-house Lawyer'), who will assist in identifying, articulating, and also researching claims of Actual Innocence.
This will enable residents to be more prepared with better access to the judicial system through advice, and the physical preparation of meritorious and meaningful legal papers such as writs, motions, notices, exhibits, and memorandums of law having legal merit.
This is all being done to reduce the amount of frivolous litigation entering into both state and federal courts.
#14 - Resident Creative Writing, Music, Art, and Special Skills Development classes, covering various skills, and helping residents identify their own skills.
Part of the curriculum will be provided by the Pen American Center (www.pen.org) and the Offender Preparation and Education Network (OPEN), Inc. (www.opening.org), which both provide them free to inmates.
#15 - Toastmasters International Members Club, with a revamped course helmed by the former Toastmasters Polunsky Club Unit President, Mr. Austin Eversole.
#16 - Introduction to Computer Technology courses, with the curriculum still in developmental stages, that teaches usable real world tools in the use of a modern computer system, using workstations provided by us.
The curriculum is being developed by VPR Vice-Presidents Fred Hoffman and Steven Blass, who are both technology industry experts.
#17 - The New Life, New Health program: A Work-out Program for the body and mind, with the curriculum being developed by Program Coordinator, Moses Macauly.
This is going to provide a full body workout program for the students, and also will bring to bear a deep look at their inner selves at the same time. This program will educate students on proper eating habits, physical training, managing life's stresses, all while helping them become a fitter, better person.
The plan will keep them on a path of accountability, to protect their own health and well-being.
The VPR staff estimates it will take students 14-16 months to complete the Project, based on 2 semi-annual shakedowns halting classes a year.
