Edgecombe Peer Mentoring Program

The Second Chance Act of 2007 (Pub. L. 110-199) reflects a comprehensive response to the increasing number of people who are released from prison and jail and are returning to communities. Section 211 of the Act authorizes grants to nonprofit organizations and federally recognized Indian tribes that may be used for mentoring projects to promote the safe and successful reintegration into the community of adults who have been incarcerated. "Mentoring" refers to a developmental relationship in which a more experienced person helps a less experienced person develop an enhanced sense of self-worth and specific knowledge and skills to increase the chance of successful reentry.

The goal of this program is to promote more effective and successful reentry for offenders through the establishment and maintenance of pre- and post-release mentoring relationships. The objectives of this program are to establish or improve the administration of mentoring programs, including the expansion of mentoring strategies and program design; enhance and improve the organizational capacity, system efficiency, and cost effectiveness of mentoring programs through training and technical assistance and other strategies, and; improve outcomes for offenders in mentoring programs by establishing and strengthening collaborative community approaches.

The Odyssey House, Inc. will use their Second Chance Act Mentoring funds to implement the Edgecombe Peer Mentoring Program (EPMP), a pre- and post-release mentoring and recovery program, serving technical parole violators over a two year period at the Edgecombe Correctional Facility in Northern Manhattan. The service area for the proposed EPMP will be the five boroughs of New York City and the contiguous suburban New York counties of Nassau, Rockland and Westchester. The Edgecombe Facility is located in northern Manhattan, and the majority of detainees are from the immediate New York City area. Services will be provided through two phases. In the pre-release phase one, initial recovery coaching will be provided within Edgecombe Corrections Facility by three part-time peer mentors. The post-release phase two of the EPMP will be delivered in the community, through Odyssey House's Bronx Outpatient Program in the South Bronx.

CA/NCF