New Program to Help Guide Newly Released Inmates

Walking through the gates of freedom after spending decades behind bars can be a difficult adjustment for the formerly incarcerated.

The world has dramatically changed in the past 30 to 40 years with the advent of cell phones, computers, websites and automobiles that plug into an electrical outlet. The impact can result in feelings of loneliness, isolation and even depression, leaving some formerly incarcerated to wonder if life on the modernized outside is even more difficult than behind prison walls.

“Many of these people have been incarcerated for a long time,” said Deacon Tim Messenger, director of Prison Ministry for the Diocese of Baton Rouge. “There is a lot of anxiety for these people coming out of prison. There is a lot they have to be concerned about.”

Deacon Messenger, who has spent the past 15 years in prison ministry not only in Louisiana but Ohio as well, recognizes those challenges and is developing an innovate cohort program that will allow trained  volunteers to accompany the formerly incarcerated on their difficult journeys of reentry. The cohorts will help those individuals in several ways, including identifying such critical services as housing, job placement, transportation and where mental and where physical health services are available.

“This is a ministry where I feel like I’ve been called for a long time,” said Deacon Messenger. 

He broke down prison ministry into two areas, the first being traditional prison ministry, which he calls “behind the barbed wire.” That would be more of the traditional role of chaplain in a correctional facility, which is where Deacon Messenger has spent much of his ministry. 

But during that time he recognized a void for assisting those who reenter society, which has resulted in a new ministry he calls “behind the barbed wire.”

“It’s (an area) that needs more attention,” he said. “It’s taken me a number of years to get to this point, mentoring those who are being released.”

Mentoring the formerly incarcerated first came to Deacon Messenger through a professor at Loyola University in New Orleans, who was conducting listening sessions in attempt to raise the awareness of prison ministry. Deacon Messenger sat in on one of the sessions and thought how similar sessions could be used in the diocese to recruit volunteers for prison ministry. 

He was able to contact Rick Covington, the assistant secretary of the state Department of Corrections and a parishioner at St. Alphonsus Ligouri Church in Greenwell Springs, who endorses the cohort program.

The program, which is being modeled after similar programs in Iowa and Kansas,  will launch with listening sessions for potential mentors  scheduled in July and August.  

“Reentry is a big part of (Covington’s) job, and he was happy to work with us, and we are happy to work with him as a partner in this,” he said.

Deacon Messenger explained the listening sessions will be targeted for people who could be interested in being a  mentor and discuss, among other things, the practical elements of reentry. 

“Those are important but I’ve prayed about it and our focus will be on having mentors who serve as a spiritual probation officer,” he said. “And really kind of walk with the mentee who is also educated in direct services. 

“The mentor’s role will be help (formerly incarcerated men and women) connect to those ministries and to continue to stay present and connected with them.”

The listening sessions will also serve an opportunity for Deacon Messenger to evaluate potential mentors, he said, admitting such a specialized ministry might not meet the needs for some. But after the listening sessions, individuals who believe they are called to prison ministry will be welcome to apply and discernment. 

Once a pool of mentors has been finalized, they will go through a formation process that will consist of four to six sessions during the span of two to three months. The mentors will be educated on where to find the agencies that will provide practical help to those reentering socoety and additional tools to assess their fit of the formerly incarcerated person. 

Additional skills will also be taught to the mentor.

“The reality is that some of (the newly released) have good intentions coming out (of jail),” Deacon Messenger said. “Once they get out, it will be how can a mentor recognize the signs that  (the formerly incarcerated person) is drifting, not saying true to what the agreement was.”

Mentors can be men or women, people who are responsible and have proven how through their lives to set goals, manage their lives and  how to socially interact.

“These are all of things that (mentor must have),” Deacon Messenger said. “In order to be able to teach the mentees this they have to demonstrate this.”

Former inmates who have transitioned successfully and are no longer on parole are also welcomed, he said.

“We would like to have former inmates who have come out and been successful to tell how assistance was so critical.” 

He said mentors should also expect instances of recidivism, saying that is the reality among some of the formerly incarcerated.

“Our goal is something to make a significant impact not eliminate it but mitigate it.”

But even in those cases, Deacon Messenger said mentors, and society as a whole,  must understand that every person should be looked at as a child of God and that they have been endowed with human dignity, just as everybody else. 

“They are God’s creation and for that reason, that reason alone, we are called to help them,” he said. 

Each listening session will begin at 7 p.m. and last no longer than 9 p.m. The dates and the sites are July 26, St. Margaret Queen of Scotland Church, Albany; July 28, St. Mary of False River Church, New Roads; Aug. 2, St. Gabriel Church, St. Gabriel; Aug. 9, Ascension Church, Donaldsonville; Aug. 11, St. Jean Vianney Church in Baton Rouge; and Aug. 18, St. John the Baptist Church, Brusly.