|
|
Prisoner Re-Entry -
National Awards Recognition |
Tomoka Volunteer Kyle McQuillen honored as Florida Department of Corrections Volunteer of the Year
|
|
 At the
DOC Volunteer Appreciation event, Kyle McQuillen, who serves as Horizon's Transition Coordinator, was honored with the Florida Department of Corrections
Volunteer of the Year Award. Kyle's humble, effective and pastoral presence has been a blessing not just to the 132 men in the Horizon programs, but to the administrative staff at Tomoka (top to bottom) as well as everyone he encounters from the gate to the dorm. The award was well deserved as he has contributed to the betterment of this prison and Horizon programs in ways far too numerous to name. The warden had very kind things to say of him, and we, too, stand in awe of his gifts dedicated to restorative justice and the work of Horizon.
Presented to
Reverend Kyle McQuillen
VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR 2009-2010
In Recognition for Your Overwhelming Dedication and Commitment to Tomoka Correctional Institution and the Horizon Program
"I was in prison and you came to visit me."
Matthew 25:26
HORIZON PROGRAM HONORED WITH 2007 GOVERNOR’S
CRIMINAL JUSTICE VOLUNTEER
SERVICE AWARD
May 24, 2007
(AUSTIN)
– Horizon Communities, Corp. of
Vernon was honored with the
Governor’s 2007 Criminal Justice
Volunteer Service Award today in
recognition of their dedication to
providing faith-based programming to
inmates incarcerated within the
Texas Department of Criminal
Justice.
The award was presented to
representatives of the program by
Christina Melton Crain, Chairman of
the Texas Board of Criminal Justice,
and TDCJ Executive Director Brad
Livingston during a ceremony held in
Austin. Horizon Communities is among
6 organizations and 13 individuals
from across the state recognized for
their efforts to help inmates and
those who are on parole or
probation.
Horizon Communities in Prisons is a
yearlong, faith-based residential
program based in TDCJ’s Allred Unit
in Iowa Park. The 5-year-old program
is led by 30 volunteers who offer
counseling and education in
citizenship, employability and
personal and family responsibility.
“Our volunteers live in Wichita
Falls and the surrounding areas of
Iowa Park, Burkburnett and Vernon,”
said Judy Taylor, Community Resource
Manager for Horizon Community. “The
volunteers come to share their faith
in God, and help the offenders
realize that God does love them.
“The volunteers will tell you that
they receive a bigger blessing than
the one they give,” she added. “They
come to listen with an open heart
and help the offenders grow in their
relationship with God, their
families and others.”
Horizon Communities volunteers lead
offenders in organized programming
three nights each week, focusing on
spiritual growth, mentoring and
rehabilitation. Two additional
evenings are spent in small group
gatherings and participating in a
community night.
In addition to its program at the
Allred Unit, Horizon Communities
also has established faith-based
residential programs in Florida,
Ohio and Oklahoma.
|
Recognition in National Publications
Caliber Associates Research of Virginia
has released their Brief #3
evaluating the pre-release and post-release effects of the
faith-based Horizon Program for the Administration on
Children and Families of the US Department of Health and
Human Services.
To view or download the report,
Rediscovering Compassion
http://peerta.acf.hhs.gov/policies/family.htm#incarceration
The first two briefs are
Promising
Pathways to Prisoner Reintegration and
Prisoner Reentry,
Religion and Research.
NATIONAL CRIME PREVENTION COUNCIL
Horizon Communities in Prison is one of fifty programs
featured by The National Crime Prevention Council
http://www.ncpc.org
in their recently published report: Faith Community and
Criminal Justice Collaboration: A Collection of Effective
Programs
Faith Community and Criminal Justice Collaboration: A
Collection of Effective Programs looks at how people of
faith work with or in criminal justice institutions to
reconcile, restore, and nurture individuals back into
families and communities. You'll read about people of faith
serving across the entire criminal justice spectrum, from
alternative programs for juveniles to support services for
newly released ex-offenders.
This 89-page book is provided in Adobe PDF format.
Corrections and Rehabilitation -- Faith Community and
Criminal Justice Collaboration (124 KB PDF)
Horizon was selected because it promotes the value and
utility of partnerships with faith-based organizations among
the criminal justice community.
FASTEN is a collaborative initiative of the Pew Charitable
Trusts working in partnership with Hudson Institute's Faith
in Communities Initiative, Baylor University's School of
Social Work, The National Crime Prevention Council's Center
for Faith and Service, and Harvard University's Hauser
Center for Nonprofit Organizations. FASTEN's mission is to
strengthen and support faith-based social services,
especially in distressed urban communities throughout the
United States. Please visit the FASTEN website at
www.fastennetwork.org to learn more about this honor.
MY BROTHER'S KEEPER, by
Jonathan Burnside
Praises Horizon: Lord Woolf, the Lord Chief Justice of
England and Wales (and the country's most senior judge) has
endorsed the book "My Brother's Keeper" by Jonathan
Burnside, with the following high praise for Horizon. Lord
Woolf writes:
"Thanks to the belief and forward thinking of those working
to improve the American prison system, a seed has created
the Horizon [Communities] project. The project has proved
with certainty that by allowing faith to be nurtured within
prisons, changes for the better will take place. Dr Burnside
ands his coauthors display through their case studies on
prisons adopting the Horizon project how the teaching of
Christianity, Judaism and Islam as well as Native American
beliefs can co-exist within the prison environment. The
impact of these teachings demonstrate that prison need not
be confined to being only a space of incarceration but can
be a space for living and learning."
Burnside's book "My Brother's Keeper" is now available at
www.willanpublishing.co.uk
The publishers write, "Ten years ago there were no
faith-based units in prisons outside South America. Today,
they are spreading all over the world, including the United
States, Europe and the Commonwealth. My Brother's Keeper is
the first major study of a global phenomenon. Exploring the
roots of faith-based units in South America it explains why
the Prison Service of England and Wales set up the first
Christian-based unit in the western world in 1997 - and its
rapid expansion. It also explains how, at exactly the same
time, the United States introduced Christian-based units -
and why they were complimented by interfaith and multifaith
initiatives."
Its analysis of what works and what doesn't in faith-based
units around the world makes My Brother's Keeper a valuable
roadmap for all who care about improving prison conditions.
It presents a vision of justice that is not just concerned
with building more prisons but with rebuilding more
prisoners. It argues that by making prisons more human and
punishment more humane, faith-based units can be of value -
and keep faith in prisons.
Contents
Authors'preface and acknowledgements
Foreword by Sir Anthony Bottoms
Prologue: Beatitudes Behind Bars: Christianity and
Imprisonment
1 The prison that started it all
2 From Cursillo to prison: the story of Kairos
3 The rise and fall of Kairos-APAC
4 Kainos Community: views from the inside
5 Kainos Community: views from the top
6 Kainos Community and religious freedom
7 Navigating by the heavens: Horizon Communities
8 Preparing Evangelists: InnerChange Freedom Initiative
9 Psycho-social impact of Kainos
10 The impact of Kainos and Christian-based units on
recidivism
11 Keeping faith in prison: the promise of faith-based units
Report of the Re-Entry Policy Council
www.reentrypolicy.org/ps14
A Project of the Council of State Governments, partnering
with:
American Probation & Parole Assn.
Association of State Correctional Administrators
Corporation for Supportive Housing
Nat'l Assn. of Housing & Redevelopment Officials
Nat'l Assn. of Workforce Boards
Nat'l Assn. of State Mental Health Program Directors
Nat'l Assn of State Alcohol/Drug Abuse Directors
Natioal Center for State Courts
Police Executive Research Forum
Urban Institute
Policy Recommendation 14: Behaviors and Attitudes,
Strategy C. Provide inmates with services that address their
need for basic life skills, including relationship skills.
Example: KAIROS HORIZON COMMUNITIES IN PRISONS
National Institute of Corrections
www.nic.org/Library/020425
Guide to Resources on Faith-Based Organizations in Criminal
Justice - Final Report
"Corrections and REhabilitation: Interfaith Prison Dorms"
Re-Entry National Media Campaign
www.reentrymediaoutreach.org/sp_faith_khc
Strategic Partners:
The Urban Institute, Council of State Governments, The Annie
E. Casey Foundation
"Outside The Walls: A National Snapshot of Community-Based
Prisoner Reentry Programs
Sample Programs - Faith: HORIZON COMMUNITIES IN PRISONS "
The Finance Project: Welfare Information
Network
www.financeprojectinfo.org/win/familyformation
Resources for Welfare Decisions: "Marriage and Family
Strenghening for Incarcerated Individuals" Sample Programs:
Kairos Horizon Communities in 5 states
Caliber Associates
www.caliber.com
"Development of a Guide to Resources on Faith Based
Organizations in Criminal Justice" HORIZON COMMUNITIES CORP
is one of the three organizations profiled.
National Conference of State Legislators
www.nslc.org/programs/cj/conviction
"State Legislators Magazine" June 2002
"Working with Service Groups" Horizon is referenced in
detail at Tomoka C.I.
 Horizon
Interfaith Dorm at Marion Correctional Institution, Ohio
wins American Correctional Association Chaplains Award for
Inovative Program of the Year
Commissioner Reginald Wilkinson of the Ohio Department of
Rehabilitation and Corrections, Jeff Hunsaker, Horizon
program manager, Clifford Smith, Deputy Warden, Programs,
Marion Correctional Institution and Chaplain Paul Rogers,
President of the American Correctional Chaplains
Association, celebrate selection of the Horizon Interfaith
program for this first annual award.
Governor Jeb Bush of Florida chose the Horizon Faith Based
program at Tomoka Correctional Institution to provide the
first recipients of educational assistance awards under
Florida's Children of Prisoners; Children of Promise
Program. Each recipient signs a contract to stay in school,
seek help from a tutor when needed and to meet regularly
with a volunteer mentor. Each recipient receives a promise
that if he or she graduates high school with acceptable
grades, a full scholarship will be provided to any state
owned college or university.
This is a program that will make a difference. Horizon is
pleased to participate in even a small way.
|
