Program Evaluation- Revised

Roles:  Angela Henry – Evaluator 1, Some of the introduction, Editing, Proofing, Reflection, Posting

  Gisele Brown– Evaluator 2, Introduction, References, Additional comments, Editing

Angela commented on Group 1 and 3
Program Evaluation-Revised November 25th

Angela Henry/Gigi Brown

EDAC 634

Ball State University

 

 Introduction

            Our group was assigned a group project. Our group created a program that focused on  Spiritual Awakening and how it relates to spiritual growth. Our program investigation looked at spiritual learning which both focused on helping ex-offenders achieve their goals and their dreams. Spiritual Awakening helps ex-offenders adjust to society by addressing their spiritual, physical, and mental needs. The ex-offender must complete four stages, in sequence, while paired with a volunteer mentor who is a sounding-board, confidant, and counselor. The first three 3-month stages, involving self-evaluation, -help, and -preparation; take place prior to release from prison. Stage four lasts 6-12 months out of prison where the ex-offender learns how to become a contributing, productive member of the community.

  Once the design of the program was complete, we asked one instructor/consultant and one facilitator both in higher education, who we believe would provide us with great and honest feedback to evaluate our program.  We provide an evaluation form for each of the instructors to complete along with a copy of our program design.

     Our first evaluator is Dr. Vicky Smith. She currently serves as a Vice President for Kentucky State University in Frankfort, Kentucky. She is also a consultant for USA Funds, where she helps schools that are having retention and default problems. She has been in education for over 25 years most of them have been working in higher education at different colleges. Mrs. Smith teaches financial literacy at Kentucky State to help prepare her students for life after college.        

     Our second evaluator is Michael Johnson, Assistant Director of Employment and Transitional Services at Public Advocates in Community Re-Entry (PACE) Inc. He also is a board member at the Indiana State Prison in Pendleton, Indiana.  Mr. Johnson provides wrap around case management for clients with multiple barriers including homelessness, transportation, childcare, criminal history, food and clothing needs.  He monitor’s assessments, planning, facilitation and advocacy regarding the services rendered for ex-offenders. He also a local board member for the advisory committee at, National Association of Workforce Development Professionals.  He has experience managing and directing workforce development and educational programs for youth, adults, ex-offenders, dislocated workers, veterans and a wide range of job seekers.  Mr. Johnson is highly resourceful and adept at creating and maintaining positive working relationships with corporate and community based organizations.

Program Evaluator #1

What do you like most about our syllabus design?

• What I like most about this design is learning about programs that I have never heard of. I liked reading how these programs are helping ex-offenders to achieve higher education and career development. The program are great incentives for ex-offenders.
• I enjoyed reading about how the ex-offenders can give back to these programs. I believe being able to give back gives ex-offenders a sense of accomplishment.
• The program allows participants that are underrepresented to be able to have access to higher education.
• The ex-offenders have a role of developing themselves by taking advantage of leadership opportunities that are given to them.
•  I also liked the idea of participants sharing their stories.

What do you think should be improved? Why? How?

• I think it would have been a lot more interesting to provide backgrounds of the teachers and why they are using a spiritual connection. What made them want to connect the programs with spirituality? For example, did they come from an underrepresented background? Did they have a role model?  Maybe it was not part of the paper’s requirement but it would be nice to know why they have such interest in taking part of these programs.
• What about having a mission statement for the programs. Maybe they have one, I just didn’t read it in the paper.
• The last thing is share more about the spiritual learner and provide some examples of some of the success stories of the participants.

 Additional comments:

I enjoyed reading about the programs. Nice job.

Overall, I am glad that we had someone to review our program. It has it benefits. After reading the comments, I knew where I may have fall short on some of my work. Getting more background information on the facilitator would have probably been helpful. Also, adding more information into the program regarding the mission statements would be helpful. We both agree that we could strengthen our program investigation by providing success stories and how the programs have made a difference.

Program Evaluator #2

What do you like most about our syllabus design?

·       Spiritual awakening addresses the danger of negative thinking, the consequences of compulsive and addictive behavior, the importance of honesty, anger management, being a Christian in prison, and good attitudes toward work.

·       Spiritual awakening provides additional teaching materials, resources, and small group activities to promote discussion.

·       Spiritual awakening require ex-offenders to demonstrate effective life skills, communication abilities, team building and problem-solving skills.

·       Spiritual awakening offers a unique opportunity for ex-offenders to connect with peers and share their aspirations and challenges as ex- offenders after they leave prison.

·       Spiritual awakening is designed to take ex-offenders on a journey to eliminate obstacles that often inhibit progression to successful outcomes after they leave prison.

·       Spiritual awakening work is challenging, but the reward is developing an objective perspective for successful self-improvement.

What do you think should be improved? Why? How?

One improvement this program could offer would be to develop a financial literacy program. Poor money management is a fundamental barrier to rehabilitating and reintegrating offenders into the community, and a criminal conviction can often affect ex-offenders’ financial circumstances. Lack of money management skills can also be a contributing factor that leads to offending or re-offending.

Recommendations:

Engage offenders produce a DVD of scenarios on essential money skills training, aimed at ex-offenders at risk of offending in order to be self-sufficient.

·       Allow the ex-offenders to create the DVD with staff assistance, this way the participants take ownership of the next stage of development, by researching topic areas and creating solutions for their financial challenges.

·       After released from prison provide the participant will need ongoing financial support to avoid future debt problems and empower the ex-offender to make informed choices about their finances and build lasting and effective working relationships with creditors.

 

Employment recommendation:

   Employment for ex-offenders can be an uphill battle after release from incarceration, especially in an ailing economy, ex-offenders face a daunting challenge in seeking employment.  However, their best hope of avoiding recidivism is to obtain steady employment that pays a living wage and can serve as a foundation for putting their lives back together. However, many employers are hesitant to hire ex-offenders. Ex-offenders who are willing to put forth the effort don't have to resign themselves to a revolving door of periodic imprisonment. For some ex-offenders with a long period of incarceration, it is possible or even likely that their skills have become outdated, although this can be countered by work and training received while imprisoned.   The truth is that some companies hire many people with a record. They look for people who have the skills and abilities to do the work, even if they have a criminal record. Others may be afraid that people who have criminal records won't be good workers. In those cases, it's up to you to show them that's not true.

·       Federal inmates who participated in the Federal Prison Industries program, also known as UNICOR, may be bonded through the UNICOR Federal Bonding Program.

·       An employer who hires a felon within one year of his release from prison or the date of his conviction may receive a substantial federal tax credit through the Work Opportunity Tax Credit program.

Additional Comments:

Hiring ex-offenders is the right thing to do for local communities. Business, big and small, can play a huge role in hiring ex-offenders. Imagine what would happen to our recidivism rates, gang participation rates, crime rates and drug abuse rates if every business in the US opened their doors and their hearts to hire just one ex offender.   Hiring an ex-offender gives small business owners the chance to do something great and impactful, quoting Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in saying "everyone can be great because everyone can serve." We cannot wait for politicians to fix all the problems in our communities.
Reflection:
 We are glad that we were able to get good people to evaluate our design framework. We are both satisfied with what they said, however we both can agree that we can build and expand much more than what we initially did. The feedback concerning financial literacy is a great comment and could surely be used to help in the success of the program. We had discussed the need for additional programs that will only help in the advancement of the program. The evaluators I am sure will agree with us on that. However, as the learners we do understand the need to include some improvements on our program. We did discuss that we probably should have had some measurable things in this program. We know there is a need to do that in any program. In the future we will include some evaluations for the ex-offenders to evaluate the program so that we can make sure that we are on target and the program is effective.

 

 References:

Citizens Advice Scotland . Money Advice for Addiewell Prisoners, Ex-Offenders and Families Project: Money Adviser (Full Time, Fixed Term), Motherwell and Wishaw Citizens Advice Bureau. (2014). http://www.cas.org.

Lainie Petersen. Government Programs That Help Ex-Offenders Get Jobs (August 31, 2014). http://www.ehow.com

Chad Brooks.  5 Reasons to Consider Hiring an Ex-Prisoner. (June 28, 2011). http://www.businessnewsdaily.com