What is Aftercare and Re-Entry?
When released from prison, a man receives $35, a prison uniform without the number, and a bus ticket to anywhere in Tennessee. Many men have burned bridges to family members and friends and now have nowhere to turn. Employment possibilities are limited due to a lack of skills and a criminal record. Many end up living with other ex-felons and addicts or becoming homeless, falling back into the same behaviors which landed them in prison.
Thanks to MOV’s Aftercare/Re-Entry program, prisoners participating in Men of Valor are released into a yearlong Aftercare/Re-Entry program aimed at giving them the support, skills and accountability they need to succeed in the community. Men who complete MOV's Phase I six month Aftercare/Re-entry program, have a recidivism rate of below 15%. The participants are picked up at the prison door upon release, and MOV provides new clothing, job placement, bus passes, transitional housing as well as assistance in securing identification.
Aftercare/Re-Entry programming includes:
- One-on-one mentoring
- Training in biblical values and morality
- How to achieve freedom from “criminal thinking”
- Sessions on crime’s impact on victims
- Biblical definition of a “real man”
- Marriage and parent training
- Addiction counseling (both individual and group)
- Food, clothing, transportation, legal and housing assistance
- The men work for our Lawncare Company (EDS) for job readiness training, with the goal of working toward full-time employment (Currently, MOV has a 100% placement rate for Aftercare participants!)
- Money management (budgeting, saving, goal setting, etc.)
- Community service activities
- Connection to local church congregations
Men who have completed MOV’s Aftercare/Re-Entry Program have a recidivism rate of less than 15% - beating the national rate of 70%.
For more information on the Aftercare/Re-Entry Program contact: