WELCOME TO
THE A NEW DIRECTION INITIATIVE MOVEMENT (A.N.D.)
Rehabilitaion the right way with proven result.
What if we could take advantage of the inmates’ presence in prison to forever change their worldviews and behavior? What if we could dramatically reduce recidivism by altering behavior “on the inside”? As everyone knows without needing to ask, no prisoner is going to do well on the outside if he or she chronically misbehaves on the inside. Furthermore, the challenge of rehabilitation is compounded when taking into account the proliferation of drugs inside the institutions themselves and the aggressive recruitment for members from various gangs and criminal organizations.
With over 23 million inmates incarcerated in the United States, the most disturbing thing about these large numbers of incarcerated men and women (boys and girls) is that when they are released, approximately two-thirds of them, on average, will be re-arrested within three years, and more than half will return to prison. Be aware that these figures are only part of the story; many re-offenders are not caught, leaving the new victims and society as a whole to suffer the consequences without remedy.
If we can change behavior inside, we will reduce the violence on the inside of prison and re-offences on the outside. Can we do it? That is the challenge we must meet. Cutting the prison violence and recidivism rate by half, a third, or even a quarter would be a tremendous “WIN” not only for the prison culture, but also for society. Can it be done? We think it can that’s why A.N.D. is here.
So instead of waiting until former convicts are released and at rock bottom, we suggest that even more good can be done when the focus is placed on teaching inmates how to behave and deal with the issues that brought them to prison while incarcerated. If that focus is not maintained, it is nearly certain that the status quo of prison violence, high crime rates, high recidivism, and high taxes for prison will continue.
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5 out of 6 inmates released from prison will be rearrested for a new crime within 3-5 years according to a 2019 report.
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The Upper Room Encounter
The Upper Encounter is the spiritual division of the A New Direction Initiative program at Desoto Correctional Institution. The Upper Room Bible Study is every Friday night at 5:30PM in the chapel, the Upper Room Encounter worship service takes place every 3rd Sunday at 5:30pm in the chapel and is overseen by the A.N.D. inmate leadership team.
In addition to the bible study and worship service, an Upper Room card with a bible verse is passed out to the compound every week and upper room members hold prayer circles in their wing.
Our goal is to shape lives through, prayer, wisdom and good leadership. We believe that true change cannot start or be maintained without an intimate, personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Frequently Asked Question
COMPOUND PROGRAMMING
The Phase I requires a total of 450 Hours.
The Phase II requires Completion of Phase I and 450 Hours.
The Phase III requires Completion of Phase I and Phase II an additional 300 Hours.
DORMITORY PROGRAMMING
12 – 18 Months 1000 Hours of programming
Aftercare groups are recommended to be at least 6 months in duration, meeting bi-weekly for 1½ hours.
Achievement levels are determined by the inmate’s completion of standards for each Trimester (4 months). Inmates completing 3 Trimesters within each phase are credited with a completion.
Yes 90% percent of our classes are evidence based materials and some have already been approved by the Department of Corrections.
We do have an housing unit for our participants, but the participants do not have to live in our housing units to be a part of the A.N.D. program. The housing unit is for those who want more structure and want to live with other men who are going in the same direction has them.
They can either send an inmate request to the Chapel or to their classification officer or their family members can sign them up by scrolling to the bottom of this page.
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