THE PROGRAM
PURPOSE: About Face is a rehabilitation program for non-violent female offenders helping them pursue a new life course focused on education, health, spiritual well being, and aid in the prevention of recidivism by equipping them with the tools to become productive citizens.
​
How are we going to accomplish this mission?
​
First: We have partnered with other non-profit groups such as Prison Fellowship ministries and Celebrate Recovery for Life Skills Training and Counseling.
Second: We will offer GED classes and help those interested in college courses accomplish that task.
​
Third: We will offer other classes such as gardening for nutrition and different forms of exercise for healthy living.
​
Fourth: We will help the clients return to society over a period of time; by helping them find employment and using all the skills they have learned over the course of the first year. This part of the program is designed for the second and third years of the program.
​
​
​
THE HARD TRUTH
The population of women behind bars is rising by 1% per year according to the BJS.org
2.7 million children under the age of 18 have a parent who is incarcerated according to Prison Fellowship Ministires.
More than 60% of women behind bars have a child under the age of 18 according to the Sentencing project.
The statistics above explain why it is so important to help these young offenders before the revolving door of the Criminal Justice System snags another victim. In the power point presentation, you can see the issue of the recidivism rate. It is time to step up and help stop not only the revolving door syndrome but the generations of families who become trapped.
Why About Face? I (Dr. Shawna Reynolds) have been working for over 17 years in the Correctional System. I have worked for a total of 15 years as a full-time Corrections Deputy and for the last 2 years and I have worked part-time in the community corrections sector still as a Deputy. Over these years I have watched people go through their lives living most of it behind bars. I have also watched many of them leave for the last time only to die within a short period of time. Many of these people were mothers and now there are orphaned children of a parent who overdosed. This is a sad situation that needs to stop and About Face is up to the challenge.