Operation
Outward Reach
For Inmates of the State Prison System, Operation Outward
Reach Provides Training through Community Service.
Based in
Youngwood, PA, Operation Outward Reach provides training and counseling for
inmates of the State's prison system.
The
longest running division of Operation Outward Reach is the Community Restoration
Works Program. With CReW, participants learn the skills of masonry and
carpentry, as well as job discipline and tool maintenance. Projects benefit the
rural elderly, low-income, and non-profit organizations, while classroom time
prepares the inmates for blueprint reading, construction math, estimating, and
safety procedures.
CReW's history stretches back to 1972, when it originated as
"Repairs on Wheels," a project of Greensburg's State Correctional Facility. One
sign of the program's success is the lobby wall in Operation Outward Reach's
Youngwood office. It is covered with awards and plaques of appreciation, one of
which bears the signature of former President Bill Clinton. An estimate of cost
savings achieved by Operation Outward Reach between 1990 and 1997 is at least
$5,874,000.
Others signs of success are more personal. Program graduate D.J.
Watkins acquired a job with Unifirst Corporation of New Kensington, where his
recent promotions to team leader and route driver show that the efforts of
Operation Outward Reach, combined with the dedication of sincere inmates,
results in adding skilled tradesmen to the workforce, as well as returning
valued citizens to their families and communities.
"In preparing to reenter the community, inmates need more than
vocational training and a GED," explained OOR President Ray Thompson. "How do
you relate to your family, wife, and children after years of incarceration? How
do you do deal with a demanding boss, resolve conflicts with co-workers, or set
and achieve meaningful goals?"
ESCAPe is designed specifically to impact the emotionally
intelligent behavior of pre-release inmates. It includes individual and group
counseling. The goal is to assist inmates in developing self-awareness and
control of a variety of emotional skills, including mood management, problem
solving, and interpersonal skills.
"Emotional Intelligence," said Ray Thompson, "often stops developing
for those who become involved in drugs and crime. Things like self-regard,
empathy, impulse control, problem solving, and even basic optimism go out the
window. Using a tool called the BarOn Emotional Quotient Inventory, we can
assess an inmate's beginning emotional intelligence, and then assess any changes
over the course of the program."
Operation Outward Reach and its Crew and Escape programs offer more
than a local success story. Reduced recidivism and lower prison costs are the
smallest part of the story. Lives both in and out of prison are being affected
positively by the continuing work of OOR, an agency not content with its decades
long history of service, but which even today looks toward the future in
establishing a model counseling program which may one day benefit communities
across the nation.
For more information on Operation Outward Reach and its programs, please
visit the website at
www.operationoutwardreach.org.
You may also contact them via email
at,
crew.oor72@comcast.net or by
phone at 1-800-253-5719.