Published: March 11, 2006 11:25 pm         

Offenders mark end of four months of introspection, study, growth as part of PLUS program at prison

They have murdered, robbed and molested; now, they study, serve others and cultivate “gentle dispositions.” They have been called criminals; now they call themselves “Visionaries,” “Survivors” and “Messengers.”

The first 82 offenders to participate in the Wabash Valley Correctional Facility’s Purposeful Living Units Serve (PLUS) program received certificates to acknowledge their completion of the first phase of the program Friday afternoon at the maximum security prison in Carlisle.

Following the first phase of PLUS, which began in November, the men will embark on the three remaining quarters to complete the program, for a total of 16 months of study.

The PLUS initiative is one of three pilot programs in Indiana designed to prepare offenders to become valuable, contributing members of their communities upon release. The other two are at the Pendleton Correctional Facility and the Plainfield Juvenile Correctional Facility.

PLUS is conducted entirely through donations and volunteer-hours. Offenders are eligible to participate in the program if they have behaved according to established guidelines, if they are within some number of years of release and if they have earned the equivalent of a high school diploma.

The Indiana Department of Correction implemented PLUS in hopes of reducing recidivism rates and preparing offenders for life on the outside.

More than 90 percent of all offenders in the Indiana system will return to society eventually. The current rate of recidivism is 40 percent (i.e. four in ten prisoners will be back in prison within three years of release).

“The goal is not just to keep them out of trouble when they get out,” said Chaplain Norris Kearn, who oversees the program at Wabash Valley. “We expect them to take an active interest in their community. The emphasis here is on service to others.”

The mood during Friday’s ceremony was celebratory in the central atrium of the “house” where inmates gathered to mark the end of four months of study, introspection and growth. Participants were seated in their designated teams of about eight members, and took turns giving presentations to the assembly about what they had learned during the first phase. Members of the prison staff, volunteers and administrators of the program attended the presentation.

The “house” is really a cell block of the prison, one that has been converted into something like a college dorm, with inspirational quotes displayed boldly along the walls. Five vertical banners remind participants of the fundamental tenets of the program: compassion, responsibility, honesty, respect and tolerance.

Armed officers and bars remind observers this is a prison, and these men have been sentenced to confinement, some of them for the better part of their lives.

The colors of the walls and bars in the PLUS unit are brilliant white and a bright periwinkle blue. Near the presentation area, handmade quilts displaying the offenders’ work are spread over tables. The quilts will be given to needy families and children.

Each group had the opportunity Friday to present “banners” the men created together to symbolize the values they have been exploring since they started the PLUS program in November. The eleven banners — one for each team — were hung above cells on the second level where they could be seen by everyone.

The teams, each one with its own name, relied on symbol and metaphor to communicate their messages, and several of the banners featured animals, such as horses or eagles, representing virtues important to the men.

The “We Care” group’s designated speaker said the group wanted to show “not only who we are now, but who we’ll be in the future, dedicated to our community.” Other team names included the Peacemakers, the Pioneers and the Visionaries.

The PLUS program is a “Faith- and Character-Based Initiative” (FCBI). Similar programs have begun to spring up in the last few years in the correctional departments of Florida, Texas and Iowa.

Florida’s program began in 2003, when Gov. Jeb Bush converted the medium-security Lawtey Correctional Institution into the nation’s first entirely faith-based prison. Faith-based programs that rely solely or heavily on a single religion, such as Christianity, have raised questions concerning separation of church and state.

Kearn says there is a big difference between such faith-based facilities and the kind of program conducted in Indiana.

“The Florida and Texas and Iowa [programs] were a specific faith, a certain flavor of Christianity. Here, we espouse no religion in particular. A person here can be atheist, agnostic, Buddhist, Muslim,” Kearn said. “The majority are Christian, which is reflective of Indiana’s religious makeup, but five to six percent are Muslim, five to six percent are pagan. We have one Buddhist and probably seven to nine percent are of no particular faith.”

Another question Superintendent Alan Finnan said he hears all the time is whether offenders in the PLUS program get perks for their participation, such as a reduced sentence or financial incentives. Finnan said there is no such motivation for participants.

“What you get out of it is what you put into it,” he told the assembled participants during Friday’s ceremony. “You get the tools we give you to ensure you won’t be coming back again. It’s the same amount of time served, but it’s more productive time served,” he said.

The PLUS core curriculum includes components on developing an ethical/moral code, healthy relationships, responsible citizenship, responsibility to right the wrongs done to victims, family, community and self, respecting the religious beliefs and practices of others and anger management, among others.

Upon completion of the re-entry preparation component, offenders will develop a job or education plan, a family and community reintegration plan, a financial management plan as well as a community mentoring, support and accountability system. Kearn said the program emphasizes self-reflection and sets high expectations.

“Usually you get out of people what you expect out of people,” he said. “They can’t just show up. They are expected to work very hard.”

In explaining the spiritual component, Kearn said they look for common ground in different religious and non-religious backgrounds and moral codes.

“All tracks are the same except we split between character and faith,” he said. “The courses are equal, and we look for the expressions of character-building within each tradition.”

Joseph Hartman, 35, of Muncie has been in prison for about 13 years. Hartman was convicted of murder and robbery, and sentenced to 116 years. His sentence was reduced by 50 years back in May, before the PLUS program was initiated.

Hartman applied for the PLUS program, even though at the current rate, he won’t be out of prison until he’s 88 years old.

“I think this program is really going to enhance some lives in ways that these guys don’t even know yet,” he said. “These guys open up a bit more in here. You see where they came from. We’re all just trying to make our lives better.”

When asked if he thinks the program will keep offenders from hurting others in the future or keeping themselves out of jail, he said, “I hope this will keep victims and their families from ever being victims again. I hope it will keep more people from becoming victims. I think if these guys in here put heart and soul in this, they’ll look back on it when they’re out there. They won’t be back.”

Hartman says he hopes to mentor members of the next PLUS group, which is starting up in about two weeks in the cell-block next door.

Kathy and Charles “Dutch” Gunyon have been volunteering at the Wabash Valley Correctional Facility for about seven years, since the death of their 28-year-old son in 1999. When the PLUS program began in November, the Gunyons jumped on board. They teach separate classes for the program and both say they see improvement in the participants.

“These boys are our boys,” Kathy said. “There’s something good in each one… they’ve had to learn that what they did affected more than one or two people. There was a ripple effect. When they realize that, you see a lot of tears shed over it.”

The Gunyons say their goal is to help stop the cycle of violence that they believe causes men to commit violent crimes.

“In a class of 16 men, 14 of them were molested as children,” Dutch said. “They desperately want to learn to live with other people. They want people to know they’re not animals in there. If you talk to some of them, you know that bad things have happened to them. It’s really sad.

“I’ve seen men who came in that were kind of hardened, and within five months, they’re smiling, they’re laughing,” he said. “They’re different people than we met at the beginning. We just think the world of them.”

With his long, strawberry-blonde hair pulled back into a neat ponytail, Hartman beamed and applauded as his “brothers” were awarded their certificates Friday.

“This is what I think the future of the prison system’s going to be.”

Deb McKee can be contacted at (812) 231-4254 or deb.mckee@tribstar.com.



For more info:

— For more information or to volunteer with the Purposeful Living Units Serve program or other initiatives at the Wabash Valley Correctional Facility, call (317) 232-5712.

— More information is also available online at www.in.gov/indcorrection/initiatives/0505plus.htm.

— Donations are always welcome, including: religious reference books; arts, crafts, materials and supplies; three-inch, three-ring binders; used greeting cards, and games and puzzles.