Donate

Tag: reintegration

  • DG’s Story

    This month’s story is a recent one from an individual who has experienced the support of one of Better Life’s chaplains.

    His experience reveals what the ‘pathway’ can look like from becoming eligible for parole to reintegration. Hopefully it provides a glimpse into the difference volunteers can make supporting an offender as they are reintegrated back into community!

    In his own words:

    I knew I wanted to succeed…to have a better life…for I’d spoken to God about this many times. I also knew that it was up to me to take the necessary next step, so I went to chat with the prison’s Pastor about expanding my community support.

    Truth be told…God was watching/listening. He always is! No sooner had the idea of contacting Better Life been suggested as a possibility when Glenn, Assistant Chaplain with Better Life, knocked on the door. We engaged in a brief conversation, exchanging contact information, with a promise to connect subsequent to my release. With a week of my arrival at the halfway house and true to his word, Glenn was here to visit me! I must point out; such promises are not always honoured. As with any new acquaintance, I am slow to ‘warm’ to them, particularly when the concept of disclosure is required. However, feeling no pressure to do so, Glenn has proved to be an attentive listener. Moreover, he has provided very timely and sage advice. By and large though, Better Life has secured as a “sounding board” as I continue to navigate life amongst society once again.

    We are months into my release, as well as a budding friendship. I have been truly blessed by virtue of the number of visits from Better Life. They (Glenn) have become an integral component of my effort to successfully reintegrate. I am eternally grateful.

  • ThrowbackThursday with Sheriff Judd

    Yes, this comes from a different context, a different country, BUT it illustrates the difference, the hope, the potential that we can introduce into an individual’s life when they are ‘reintegrated’ from prison into a faith community. It’s a game-changer and a life-changer for many, and such a valuable investment!

  • FCRP Part 2

    In Part 2 of Faith Community Reintegration Projects 101, I want to look at where the process of engagement begins and what the significant steps of the process are—including how volunteers can get involved inside the institutions and help build that “bridge” of reintegration from the institution to their faith community. (Missed Part 1? Read it here.)

    Under Better Life’s contract with Correctional Service of Canada (CSC; in effect to 2025), our work with offenders begins as an individual becomes eligible for parole and one of the following occurs:

    1. A Corrections Site Chaplain or faith-specific chaplain contacts us with a referral.

      The majority of individuals who invite Better Life to provide support for their reintegration back into the community are Christian. However, under the CSC contract, Better Life provides support for individuals from all faith backgrounds.

      This means we may be contacted by chaplains representing any faiths asking if we would meet with an individual to discuss how Better Life can provide support.
    2. Individuals becoming eligible for parole may contact Better Life personally.

      In this case, an offender may have come across information about us independently or have been referred through another offender who has benefited from their experience with Better Life.

    After the initial point of contact, a Better Life Chaplain has an interview with the individual eligible for parole to determine if Better Life is the organization that can provide them with the best possible faith reintegration experience.

    Better Life is part of a wider network of reintegration agencies, and our goal is to provide the most helpful pathway possible for an individual.

    That may mean that we get to work directly with an individual to develop their Reintegration Pathway, or if there is an agency that can provide more resources and support then we can offer, we will refer them.

    For instance, Circles of Support and Accountability (CoSA) is an organization that specializes in working with those who have an index offence of a sexual nature. Research (Wilson, Cortoni and McWhinnie, 2009) demonstrates that sexual re-offending rates for men who participate in CoSA are 80% lower than for men who do not participate in CoSA.

    Since our priority is to provide the best possible opportunity for faith community reintegration, our commitment is to always have an offender’s best interest at heart—whether that means they have a relationship with Better Life or are better served by another agency, in which case we will help connect them.

    Additionally, Better Life’s Organizational Purpose goes beyond the responsibilities specified in our contract with Corrections Canada.

    Our staff/chaplains fulfill CSC’s FCRP (Faith Community Reintegration Projects) contractual statement of work. However—and this is where so much opportunity for valuable and meaningful involvement lies—Better Life is also comprised of volunteers.

    Volunteers work within the Institutions in support of Site Chaplains—the resident chaplains who provide support at individual Corrections Institutions.

    Volunteers may be involved in offering training programs for offenders such as Alpha, Purpose Driven Life, and Real Life Discipleship, to name a few options. They may be a mentor to a specific offender. They may provide a listening ear, or meet with an offender coming up to parole to help establish a relationship with the faith community the offender will be integrating into.

    The role of the volunteer is invaluable and often provides the assurance to an individual coming up to parole that there is hope. Over and over again we experience and hear feedback that one of the primary and essential ingredients is relationship, relationship, relationship.

    Better Life is deeply grateful for our team of volunteers, and works with individuals and their faith communities to ensure security clearance is put in place so that volunteers have access to Corrections Institutes.

    That initial contact of a volunteer with an individual who is coming up to their parole is invaluable in building the “bridge” that leads to healthy reintegration.

    So, to connect the steps in order:

    1. An individual in prison is coming up to parole, and requests the support of or is referred to Better Life.
    2. A Better Life Chaplain has an interview with the offender to both assess whether or not we’re the best partner organization to offer support, but also to begin to engage with the wider network of Corrections members who will be a part of the offender’s Parole Reintegration Plan.
    3. Better Life works with the Site Chaplain, the Institution Parole Officer (IPO), and with others within the Corrections Institution, and may take other steps such as attending a Parole Hearing before the Parole Board, to develop a plan for healthy, successful faith community reintegration.

      Note: while Better Life doesn’t determine outcomes such as which halfway house (CRF, CCC) that an individual will be sent to, we are often invited to the process and may have influence in the best possible halfway home for the individual and their personal needs.
    4. It is at this point—when Better Life has an indication of where an individual will be sent to—that connection with a faith community can begin.

      Our ideal scenario is that we would already have a relationship with a faith community in the area of the halfway house the offender will be sent to and can begin preparing the faith community for the arrival of the individual.

      If we don’t have a pre-existing relationship with a location-appropriate faith community, or if the individual requests a faith community we’re not already connected with, we will reach out on their behalf.

    As you can imagine, the initial welcome and support of a faith community is invaluable in helping a parolee begin to believe that successful reintegration is possible.

    Next month we’re going to look at the essential pieces of the “bridge” provided in that important handoff of an offender from the support of a Better Life Chaplain to volunteer-supported integration into a faith community.

    If you have any questions about volunteering and how to get involved in providing support for an individual’s reintegration, please don’t hesitate to contact our General Director, Adam Wiggins, at adam.betterlife@gmail.com.

  • TH’s Story

    One of the things I love about working with Better Life Integration and Support is having a front row seat to the amazing stories of our care recipients. Viewing God at work in an individual’s life in such radical and transformative ways is such a privilege.

    This month, I’ve been looking forward to sharing TH’s remarkable story with you.

    But first, some background: Better Life works with Federal Corrections, so every offender we serve has a sentence of over two years because of the severity of their crimes. (Sentences of under two years fall under provincial corrections.)

    While in prison for his serious crime, TH had a radical and life-changing encounter with Jesus. It’s important to note that it wasn’t some mystical experience that came about in isolation, but rather was supported by the actions of some very key people. The Institutional/Site Chaplain and volunteers had a significant, invaluable role in engaging with TH—and through their engagement and example, TH encountered Jesus.

    To pause for a moment in TH’s story, this is why the role of volunteers within Corrections Institutions, working alongside Site Chaplains, is so invaluable.

    We’re incredibly grateful for the volunteers who work alongside the Site Chaplains to facilitate training such as Alpha, Purpose Driven Life, and Jim Putnam’s Real-Life Discipleship (“reproducible” discipleship, where a disciple is defined as someone who is discipling others.)

    All of the above influences were instrumental in supporting and leading the way to the experience that TH had with Jesus. But, their impact is also exemplified in what TH decided to do next.

    TH recommitted his life to Jesus and was baptized while in prison, and then, recognizing the value of what he had experienced, began discipling other offenders and helping them to find and follow Jesus.

    The influence of what Jesus has been doing in TH’s life since is almost immeasurable. TH has had the privilege of baptizing three other offenders who came to Jesus and were being discipled. 70 other offenders came out to witness it!

    In a prison culture that often can lean towards cynicism and despair, the example of TH and the others who have come to know Jesus has been far-reaching in multiple ways.

    First, while TH, now out of prison, is in a halfway house, employed, and rapidly moving towards being released from his ‘warrant,’ he continues to recognize that God’s purpose for his life is to invest back into others.

    TH recently shared with one of our Better Life chaplains how he has been struggling with painful areas in his life. During their time together, our chaplain received a phone call from an offender still with prison. TH was able to talk with this other man and encourage him in his faith, and what it means to continue to trust in and follow Jesus, especially through the restrictions of COVID-19.

    But—and this is so significant—TH not only provided support for another, through the phone conversation he gained perspective and clarity about his own situation, re-affirming God’s purpose for his life!

    As the restrictions of COVID-19 continue to ease, Better Life hopes to be able to hold several Vision Nights this fall in various locations (tentatively: Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Victoria).

    TH is going to be the featured speaker during these nights to help all of us envision how to be engaged in this valuable work of healthy reintegration!

    Please keep an eye on our newsletter or the events space on our website for updates as to when and where Better Life Vision Nights will be taking place. We hope you can join us!

    On behalf of our amazing team at Better Life Integration & Support,

    Adam Wiggins

    General Director

  • Faith Community Reintegration 101

    Over the past weeks, I have had many encouraging conversations with individuals and churches about the work of Better Life Integration and Support.

    I’m relatively new to the position of General Director/Lead Chaplain with Better Life and so, like many of you, I am just beginning to discover what the work of Better Life is all about—and what a game-changer it can be for men and women in a Federal Corrections Institute as they come up for parole and look to integrate back into the community. (Federal sentences in Canada are sentences of two years plus a day; otherwise, offenders go into Provincial Institutions.)

    Before I begin defining Faith Community Reintegration Projects (FCRP), I want to provide a brief history:

    Better Life was formed in the early 2000s and motivated by the significant difference helping parolees within the context of a faith community makes.

    Initially, Better Life functioned under Corrections Canada as a Community Chaplaincy, which involves supporting and helping parolees in halfway homes and in the community experience healthy reintegration. This also involves the valuable work of supporting the families of men and women who were incarcerated.

    Many former offenders and their families experienced the care and support of Better Life’s lead chaplain Pascal Bergeron and the team of chaplains who served with him over the years. However, in a summary of the work of Community Chaplaincy, it was noted that the number of parolees to one chaplain was 1000:1 in the greater Toronto area and 650:1 in Metro Vancouver.

    In response to this overwhelming ratio of parolees to chaplains, FCRP’s (Faith Community Reintegration Projects) were developed by Corrections Canada (CSC).

    Rustic bridge across a cascade in a wooded canyon.

    Better Life has the FCRP contract for the Pacific Region (in effect to 2025), which includes Vancouver/Fraser Valley and Victoria/Vancouver Island. There are nine Federal Corrections Institutes in the Region:

    • Fraser Valley Institute (The Only Women’s Facility | Abbotsford)
    • Kent (Maximum Security | Agassiz)
    • Kwikwexwelhp Healing Village (Harrison Mills)
    • Matsqui Institution (Medium Security | Abbotsford)
    • Mission Institutions (2: Minimum & Medium | Mission)
    • Mountain Institution (Medium | Agassiz)
    • Pacific Institution/Regional Treatment Centre (Addiction & Psychiatric Centre | Abbotsford)
    • William Head Institution (Minimum Security | Victoria)

    FCRPs offer a couple of significant benefits:

    Firstly, there is a significant reduction in recidivism when a parolee is connected with a faith community.

    The statistic I’ve heard most often is that a parolee has a 70% likelihood of reoffending (recidivism) if they are not connected with a faith community.

    That’s obviously a huge motivation for connecting offenders of faith to a faith community on their release from prison!

    Secondly—and closely connected—is the importance of the faith community in the healthy reintegration of a parolee.

    In other words, while Better Life Chaplains and other FCRP Chaplains all across Canada work actively to provide care and support to men and women who request it within a variety of different contexts and phases of their experience, the contractually mandated work of Better Life and related organizations is specifically to provide a “bridge” from an offender’s time in a Corrections Institution to a faith community.

    A faith community that welcomes and provides a growth pathway and mentorship for a parolee is the best environment that a parolee can experience for healthy reintegration back into their community and toward become a contributing member of their community.

    Better Life as an organization has a fantastic team of chaplains and volunteers who invest deeply in the men and women who reach out to us looking to connect with a faith community as they come out of the corrections institution on parole. We also extend care to the families of offenders who often feel lost and alone during their loved one’s incarceration.

    But also—and in many respects, more significantly—we partner with local faith communities who are committed, and even have a sense of calling, to provide a place of welcome, safety, and growth for a parolee, knowing that the environment they provide is a game-changer when it comes to healthy reintegration back into the community.

    In Part 2 of Faith Community Reintegration, we’ll look at where the process of engagement begins, and what the significant steps of the process are, including how volunteers can become involved inside the institution and help build that “bridge” of reintegration from the institution to their faith community.