Transition From Prison Ministry Program
Ministry Action Plan
2017-2018
Statement of Purpose:
The Transition From Prison Ministry Program [TPMP], a program of the Board of Christian Social Action, will grow in love of God and neighbor by assisting individuals who have recently been released from prison to make a successful transition back into their community.
Our Performance [Sept, 2016 – Aug, 2017]
- Major Accomplishments:
●Retained several experienced members of reentry teams.
●Added 4 new individuals to reentry teams and recruited 2 individuals to rejoin the group.
●Reestablished our relationship with Bridges and received several referrals.
●Established a relationship with Women at the Well, a reentry program that works with women being released from Mitchellville.
●Received several referrals through the members of the congregation, who were aware of the program.
●Worked with individuals reentering society from Fort Des Moines.
2. Critical Success Factors:
●Received referrals from several sources which eases the burden on relying on one referral source.
●Had several team members attend the Right Door Conference, which dealt with helping individuals reentering society.
●Retained several team members long enough for them to gain valuable experience and a greater understanding of their role in the program.
●Slowly building our numbers of dedicated team members.
- Primary Disappointments:
●Despite some headway, still having trouble maintaining a steady flow of referrals.
●Despite advertising and trying to recruit new members for a training, we could use additional team members.
●We currently have more referrals than we have teams, yet oddly have times when we have teams ready and can not find a referral for them.
Preparing For The Upcoming Year [Sept, 2017 – Aug, 2018]
- Essential Goals:
●Referrals - Explore other referral sources and build relationships with appropriate programs in order to have steady stream of referrals for our teams.
●Enrichment - Provide training/growth/educational opportunities for TPMP team members in order for us to be able to build better relationships with the individuals were are trying to help.
●Recruitment - Recruit new team members and/or approach old participants about rejoining the program in order to meet the need of people who could benefit from our program.
- Strategies To Meet Goals:
●Referrals - Explore possibilities of forming formal relationships with Fresh Start, state’s women’s halfway house, and Fort Des Moines, state’s men’s halfway house.
●Enrichment - Re-organize meetings to have a 30 minute check-in session followed by speaker/educational topic for the next 30 - 60 minutes - speakers from Bridges, PO officers, Project Iowa, Baptist Friendship Center, etc.
●Enrichment - Have a delegation attend the Right Next Door day long conference again this year.
●Recruitment - Ask former members to rejoin, post meetings and ask for new mentors in current happenings, follow-up with interested people from new members class and have people do personal asks to friends/fellow congregants.
Resources Needed to Succeed:
1. Church Resources:
●Volunteers to dedicate their time to the ministry.
2. Community Resources:
●Programs that support our mission and send referrals to the program.