Big Names Address ACC IFI, Emphasize Attitude, Change and Opportunity

 
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Why did two respectable men in their late 70s with heralded careers take time to fly from the East Coast to Jefferson City and spend a few hours speaking with offenders at Algoa Correctional Center (ACC)?

Because they believe in change.

The kind of change that 46 offenders incarcerated at ACC hope to make in their lives before they are released from prison.

In the early 1990s, Chuck Colson, Founder of Prison Fellowship Ministries (PFM), heard, and subsequently explored, reports of a Faith-Based Prison Model at the Humaitia Prison in Brazil.

After a site visit and a great deal of examination and planning, PFM began to investigate where such a unit might be placed in the United States.

The State of Texas issued a "Request for Proposal" to establish a faith-based program in a Texas prison located in Sugarland, Texas. In 1997, the contract was awarded to Prison Fellowship for the establishment of the first InnerChange Freedom Initiative (IFI) program in the United States.

The program debuted March 1, 2007 at ACC. A voluntary program, offenders apply for within 18 – 24 months of release and must be willing to participate in a values-based program based on Christian principles.

IFI emphasizes six core values: integrity, responsibility, restoration, community, affirmation and productivity. The participants receive guidance from a mentor and support from a local faith community for at least six months after being released from prison. Volunteers handle much of the programming.

The featured speaker was George Kettle, who is well known in the Washington, D.C. area as a self-made, successful businessman and philanthropist.

While addressing offenders, Kettle told of "21 Points of Success" that a successful person needs to have in their life. He emphasized planning your work and working your plan.

"What I'm sharing with you are traits from other people that I've watched in my life, like the Ed Meese's, and seen what they did and how they handled themselves in certain circumstances," Kettle said.

Kettle told the offenders they have the opportunity to change their path. In order to step away from their criminal routine, they need to create change by being proactive with their life plan.

Attitude, creativity, enthusiasm, organization, listening skills, follow-up and keeping your dreams were points Kettle stressed, among others.

"Whether you're 18 or 79, these things are still applicable to any person at any success level, at any age," Kettle said.

IFI offenders heard another message of change from former U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese III. He served as the 75th U.S. Attorney General from 1985 to 1988 under former President Ronald Reagan.

Meese has called McLean, Virginia, his home for the past 27 years. It's located just outside of Washington D.C. where he has kept his office since 1981. Meese spends part of his time with people from the Prison Fellowship on the subject of the InnerChange Program.

"I've been very interested in the IFI program," Meese said. "I visited the facility in Texas that they have at Jester Prison. I'm curious to see how the program is going here."

Meese has been involved in some form of law enforcement for approximately 50 years.

"IFI represents the best program that I've seen," Meese said. "Many of the people that are in prison have never really had an opportunity to look inside themselves, look for a higher power or to really think where they want their future to go."

The IFI program has proven to help prepare offenders for reentry into the community, minimizing recidivism and giving them a positive attitude towards trying to enter into a constructive citizenship.

According to Meese, "When they are released there are mentors who are available to help them on reentry into the community so they will be successful and hopefully won't come back into incarceration again."

Department of Corrections Director Larry Crawford notes that in 2003, the Texas Policy Council released its study of recidivism in Texas, and found that of the offenders who finished all phases of the IFI program, only eight percent returned to prison within two years, compared with a 20 percent return rate for offenders who were eligible for the program but didn't participate.

"The key is a change in lifestyle. InnerChange promotes change in lifestyle and their way of thinking," Meese said. "I think that's why it's been so successful."

InnerChange Freedom Initiative currently operates in five states: Missouri, Texas, Kansas, Minnesota and Arkansas.

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