St. Vincent de Paul prison reentry programs use Bridges, Getting Out

Upcoming St. Vincent de Paul prison reentry initiatives will use Bridges Out of Poverty and Getting Ahead While Getting Out, according to Catholic news site Crux. As the federal government and a number of states are changing criminal justice legislation, Bridges sites are gearing up to influence the implementation of programming for returning citizens.

In Ohio, focus groups made up of Getting Ahead While Getting Out returning citizens and family members who completed Getting Ahead in a Just Gettin’-By World are meeting to gather information about the system. They will be examining the entire process, starting with policing and arrest and continuing through to incarceration and reentry. That information will be used to inform the network of Bridges/Getting Out reentry programs in the state.

Now is the time for Bridges sites to join the national movement to help returning citizens and their families.

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Check out Getting Out Graduate Stanley Smith’s testimonial. (Sorry for the rough audio!)

About the Author: Philip DeVol

Phil DeVol is an international consultant who has been working with aha! Process since 1997. He used aha! Process concepts to make institutional changes at the addiction treatment center where he was the executive director for 19 years. During this time he also co-wrote Bridges Out of Poverty with Ruby Payne and Terie Dreussi-Smith. His book Getting Ahead in a Just-Gettin’-by-World is being used to engage people in poverty in the work of building communities where everyone can live well. It worked so well that DeVol used it as a basis for a prison reentry model called Getting Ahead while Getting Out. He works with community leaders to help them move quickly from an attraction to application of Bridges concepts. Getting Ahead and Bridges are being used in hundreds of communities in the U.S., as well as a number of sites in Canada, Australia, Ireland, Scotland, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic. His books have been translated into Spanish, Slovak, and Czech.