The Aleph Institute - Project H.E.L.P.

A unique faith-based social services program for the 21 st century developed by the Aleph Institute, a recognized leader in faith-based rehabilitation programs for 20 years, and offered in cooperation with the State of Florida Department of Corrections and the University of Miami Center for Family Studies.

Mission

The mission and purpose of Project H.E.L.P. is the rehabilitation of inmates and improved family, social, and work ethic accomplished by behavior modification modalities that integrate principles of Jewish law and tradition with psychological principles of:

The program will integrate religious/spiritual, educational/vocational, therapeutic, and case management services to create a comprehensive approach to helping the inmate and his family. This will result in:

2. Use of otherwise dead ineffective time that breeds anger, bitterness and frustration to teach, form, and rehabilitate

4. Improved inmate preparedness to function as a worker, spouse/parent, and member of the community when released - and therefore, reduce recidivism.

5. Improved family connectedness while the inmate is incarcerated - and therefore, improved family re-integration after release from prison

6. Improved adjustment among the inmate's family - and therefore, a reduction of risk to family members, particularly children

7. A reduction in the number of children of inmates who are themselves incarcerated as juveniles and adults

8. A monetary savings for government and taxpayers as the number of repeat offenders declines

This program, jointly developed by The Aleph Institute and the University of Miami Center for Family Studies, will rehabilitate Jewish men and women incarcerated within the jurisdiction of the State of Florida Department of Corrections and improve the quality of family relations, including the inmates' roles as parents, thereby reducing the number of ex-convicts who repeat their illegal behavior and return to prison as repeat offenders. While specifically designed to meet the needs of Jewish inmates, the program's methodology, structure and content may easily be modified and replicated to meet the needs of any religious or spiritual background.

Background

The rate of incarceration has grown exponentially over the past few years, increasing from 1 in every 218 U.S. residents in 1990 to 1 in every 147 U.S. residents in 1999. Accordingly, increasing numbers of non-rehabilitated ex-inmates are being injected into society each year. The failure rate of rehabilitation as we have known it under present programs warrants the implementation of revolutionary new programs.

Existing programs to prepare offenders for re-entry and release into society are glaringly deficient in their substantive content. The correctional systems in place do not approach the sociological issues with an eye to the results of the process that an incarcerated individual goes through. While the system does an admirable job of maintaining the safety and dignity of an incarcerated individual, yesterday's political climate of "lock-em-up" does not translate to make these individuals effective, productive, and contributing members of society on release.

Obviously, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. While most inmates would like to "do the right thing," many have no idea what that is. Faith-based programs allow the inmate to be shown, by example , what "the right thing" is. Clearly, a major prerequisite for staying out of prison, once released, is for the inmate to learn acceptance, tolerance, forgiveness, and understanding of those who inhabit their environment with them, as well as the need to accept responsibility for their actions and interact in an appropriate way with others in society.

In the words of Victoria Mitrani, Ph.D., Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Miami School of Medicine, "any crisis represents an opportunity to make important changes in personal and family life as values and priorities are re-evaluated and individuals are more motivated to make changes. Unfortunately, the typical prison experience, which is dehumanizing and not directed at rehabilitation, makes such positive changes all but impossible.

"Having a family member in prison represents an extreme challenge to maintaining family integrity. The inmate, his spouse, children, and other family members are all affected by their loss, which is compounded by social stigma which can result in isolation and puts family members at risk for problems related to work/school/family functioning, delinquency, substance abuse, and mental health problems."

Faith-Based Rehabilitation as a Proposed Solution

It is commonly understood and agreed that religion in general provides a societal blueprint permitting individuals to develop personal methodology to conflict resolution. If one removes the dogma that separates one religion from another, there is a substantial degree of overlap as to the type of harmony that is promulgated by each.

In an important new book, The Newer Deal , published by Columbia University Press, Ram Cnaan, Professor of Social Work at the University of Pennsylvania, points out that government, the media, and philanthropic foundations are all endorsing a major expansion of the role of religious institutions in the delivery of social services and the struggle against poverty and urban social decay, and they are promoting a new partnership between these religious institutions and other sectors of society.

Ram Cnaan says that religious communities are already providing social services for their surrounding communities "to a degree unimagined and unacknowledged in the social work literature." In his study of six different cities, he found that each congregation provided direct and indirect support for social programs (mostly for persons outside their own congregation) worth over $144,000 per year. If the congregations he studied were typical, that would mean that the nation's congregations (according to his calculations) together contribute about $36 billion in donated support each year for the needy in their communities.

Cnaan and others underline the special strengths that religious institutions offer for serving and empowering needy neighbors. Serving the poor is a central part of their self-defined mission; they have a semi-organized pool of volunteers; during the week, they have unused physical space; they can raise discretionary funds; they have a place and authority to assemble the community for discussion; they have the potential for political influence; they offer moral authority and evidence that people can leave behind destructive behavior; they provide a sense of family which can substitute for dysfunctional family life; and they have links to a larger community which can offer jobs, resources, and political influence. Finally, they are present - almost everywhere.

Legislators and prison officials have also recognized that penological and societal interests are advanced when an inmate is accorded the availability of spiritual and religious development. Indeed, "[s]incere faith and worship can be an indispensable part of rehabilitation . . . ." 146 Cong. Rec. S 6688 (July 13, 2000) (statement of Sen. Orrin Hatch). Inmates who are permitted the opportunity to practice their religion, or who are otherwise allowed to join religious outreach groups, have far lower recidivism rates than non-practitioners. See 139 Cong. Rec. S 14465 (Oct. 27, 1993) (statement of Sen. Orrin Hatch ("exposure to religion "is the best hope we have for rehabilitation of a prisoner")). A 1990 study conducted by the Institute for Religious Research at Loyola College in Maryland compared two groups of ex-offenders. The groups were similar in terms of crimes committed, age, gender and race. One group, however, regularly attended religious programs while the other had not.

The study found that, overall, offenders who had taken part in the program were nearly 22 percent less likely to be re-arrested than those who had not. Among women, the difference was even more notable. Women who attended [religious] seminars were 60 percent less likely to be arrested. And those who were re-arrested were charged with less serious offenses.

Another controlled study involving nearly 1600 medium security male inmates at Lieber Prison in South Carolina found that less than 10% of those who attended religious programs had infractions, compared to over 23% of those who did not attend. The Impact of Prison Fellowship on Inmate Infractions at Lieber Prison in South Carolina , Prison Fellowship Ministries Research and Development (April 23, 1997).

The State of Florida has one of the largest per capita prison populations in the country. The 1997 Florida Legislature enacted §944.803, Florida Statutes, which provides, in part, "The Legislature finds and declares that faith-based programs offered in state and private correctional institutions and facilities have the potential to facilitate inmate institutional adjustment, help inmates assume personal responsibility, and reduce recidivism." Michael Moore, Secretary of the Florida Department of Corrections ("FDOC"), stated, "[a]ny real change must come from the soul. When it comes to faith based programs, it's the right thing to do."

As a socially enlightened agency, the Florida Department of Corrections recognized the benefits of faith-based rehabilitation programs and entered into a partnership with Kairos Prison Ministry to conduct faith-based programs for Christian inmates. Recidivism studies performed by the FDOC on previous participants in the Kairos programs at Union Correctional and Glades Correctional institutions demonstrated the efficacy of faith-based programs. They further revealed that continued participation in the faith community's programs significantly influenced the recidivism rate in a positive manner. Legislative and departmental statutes and policies were passed or modified to enable more extensive participation in corrections by faith communities. A full faith-based curriculum was implemented at FDOC's Tomoka Correctional Institution. Initial results were again encouraging and, after initial funding was provided by the Foundation for Partnerships in Correctional Excellence and the Responsible Fatherhood Faith-Based Community Prison Project, FDOC proposed another full-time faith-based initiative, this time for Jewish inmates. The agency selected to develop and implement the program was the Aleph Institute.

Aleph: Twenty Years of Experience in Faith-Based Rehabilitation Programs

The concept of faith-based rehabilitation is not new to Aleph. Indeed, Aleph has been a leader and innovator in faith-based multi-media rehabilitation programs. As a not-for-profit, national educational, humanitarian and advocacy organization founded in 1981, Aleph has addressed significant issues relating to our criminal justice system for twenty years. During that time, Aleph has created and implemented a host of programs that rehabilitate offenders, counsel and assist them and their families, reduce necessary periods of incarceration and provide moral and ethical educational programs designed to inculcate universal truths and act as a preventative long-term solution to ameliorate society's criminal justice needs.

Aleph's innovative educational and counseling programs have focused on moral and ethical teachings that are universal. The main goal is to transform "dead time" into purposeful time, provide an opportunity for the restructuring of personal priorities and goals, and maintain the integrity of essential family ties while promoting deterrence through fostering respect for the criminal justice system.

The methodology employed by Aleph with Jewish inmates is behavior modification through active adherence to a lifestyle consistent with traditional Jewish beliefs. While other rehabilitative programs often try to modify a person's thinking process in order to effectuate changes in behavior, Aleph's success results from the implementation of the Jewish tradition that rightful behavior and actions leads to rightful thinking.

The underlying premise and essential belief of Judaism is the existence of one indivisible, omniscient and omnipotent G-d, who is the creator and ruler of the universe and who revealed the law, the "Torah, " which is eternal and of utmost importance to the Jewish people, and who has established an eternal World-to-Come. The essence of the Jewish faith is contained in a prayer that is recited every morning and evening, the "Shema":

"Hear O Israel, the Lord is our G-d, the Lord is One. And you shall love the Lord your G-d with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be upon your heart." (Deuteronomy 6:4-6).

Observant Jews follow 613 commandments found in the five books of Moses (The Pentateuch: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy) seven laws established by the Great Rabbis and derivative precepts expounded in the Oral Law (contained in writings such as the Talmud, the Code of Jewish Law ("Shulchan Arukh ") and later Rabbinic rulings) (collectively, the "Mitzvot" or "Halacha"). Since the destruction of the Temple - and the exile that followed - not all 613 commandments are applicable, since many involved services in the Temple.

The eternal nature of the Torah is expressed in the belief that no religious law may be abrogated, eliminated or compromised. For the observant Jew, the original precepts and ancillary rules remain in force even in modern times and circumstances.

Jewish sages generally refer to the Torah as a "yoke." See, e.g. , Ethics of Our Fathers 3:5; Rashi, Talmud Tractate Rosh Hashanah 28a ("The mitzvot were not given to Israel so that their observance be a pleasure, but were given to be a yoke on their necks."); Cf. Rashi, Talmud Tractate Megillah 25a ("Decrees of the King, to impose upon us His yoke, to make known that we are His servants and keepers of His commandments.").

That yoke confines and restricts, but also uplifts and emancipates, and connects the performer with G-d:

It gives its adherents direction so that they should not flounder in the arbitrary ways of humanism, or fall in the morass of hedonism and moral obtuseness. It raises man from being a creature of animal instincts alone, to a rational human being who reflects upon the consequences of his conduct. The Halacha endows those who observe its precepts with a sense of purpose, giving their life both meaning and sanctity. It therefore embraces every aspect of human activity; both interpersonal relationships. . . between man and his fellow man-as well as purely ritualistic duties and ceremonials. . . between man and God, both equally regarded as mitzvot, or religious imperatives. (Rabbi Mendell Lewittes, Jewish Law: An Introduction, (Jason Aronson Inc. 1987).

The Jew who accepts the authority of the "Halacha" will turn to it for guidance in every undertaking. Indeed, Jewish law imposes a duty to insure that all actions, including eating, drinking, talking, walking, sitting, transacting business, family relationships, moral and ethical issues, and even how to sleep and wake up, are all performed in a manner mandated by Jewish law for the sake of, and in a manner worthy of, serving the Creator. Code of Jewish Law ch. 31.

In Judaism, faith and belief alone do not provide salvation. Faith cannot be separated from particular practices. Although faith is the ultimate basis for much of Halacha, the major emphasis of Halacha is on the performance of mitzvot, the performance of deeds .

Aleph's programs focus participants on the need to do appropriate deeds while engaging in rigorous study.

Aleph's Programs Have Been Recognized as Effective by Judges, Legislators and Prison Officials

" reducing ancillary societal costs resulting from stresses to the spouses, children and families of incarcerated persons, by providing needed educational and counseling services;

" addressing jail population management, by providing workable alternatives to institutional incarceration; and

" promoting respect for the law and deterrence, by designing innovative programs around the offender that helps inculcate universal values of ethics and morality to the widest possible audience in the offender's community.

Programs implemented by The Aleph Institute are designed to redirect a person's entire value structure through social, therapeutic and religious counseling and education, together with substantive punishment.

In the process, Aleph's work has been lauded by prison officials, legislators and judges. Senior District Judge Jack B. Weinstein of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York has publicly noted long ago, with respect to Aleph's programs:

[The Aleph Institute] is doing fine work. Its pre-prison counseling, in-prison education and post-prison assistance to defendants and their families provide standards of compassion and assistance worthy of emulation. Rabbi Sholom Lipskar, the guiding force of the Aleph Institute, and his associates understand and force us to face the fact that each person deserves to be treated with respect as an individual personality and not as an integer, a faceless number.

Jack B. Weinstein, Prison Need Not Be Mandatory: There Are Options Under the New U.S. Sentencing Guidelines , 28 No. 1 Judges' J. 16 (Jud. Admin. Div. Amer. Bar Ass'n 1989).

Former Florida Governor Lawton Chiles noted in 1991: "The many problems in our system cannot be addressed by simply building more prison beds . one of the keys to an effective Department of Corrections will be . great emphasis on alternatives to incarceration.

Organizations such as the Aleph Institute . will be key to any community based programs."

Aleph is the only Jewish organization to have been authorized by the Federal Bureau of Prisons to remove qualified inmates for two week periods and have them attend an intensive Jewish education seminar. The Reverend Charles Riggs, former Chief Chaplain of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, has called Aleph's program, "the most significant rehabilitative program for Jewish prisoners in the history of the U.S. prison system." Over twenty of these seminars were held with over 300 inmates until the Bureau of Prisons recently changed its furlough policy.

The multifaceted programs prepared and administered by Aleph are consistent with sentencing goals of incapacitation, deterrence, punishment, restitution and rehabilitation.

Goals, Methodology, and Projected Results

The goals of Project H.E.L.P. are to:

Behavioral Modalities Targeted for Modification

The problems faced in effecting a permanent modification in contra-positive world-views that have been inculcated over a lifetime is further exacerbated by the emotionally polarized environment of the penal system. The Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Miami School of Medicine has proposed a modified version of a perceptual modification program based on the concept of "Structural Ecosystems Therapy". To quote the authors of this program: "The goal of SET is to empower the [man] to increase the extent to which [his] emotional, material, health, and social needs are achieved, and, in turn, [his] psychological adjustment is improved". The focus of SET is on assessing and improving the man's relationships within his entire social ecosystem, that is, with family, extended family, friends and other important people in his life.

It is obvious that a prison setting presents a unique challenge to traditional therapeutic approaches. The flip side of this is that those same conditions may by utilized by this approach to make it even more effective. Since the environment is completely controlled, a networked structural ecosystem that is particularly tailored to the desired outcome may be created. This program will provide an offender with a socially acceptable framework against which he can benchmark his interactions with the community.

Implementation

The fundamental core of this program, as is with many other rehabilitative programs, is RESPECT, for both oneself and others. Through involvement in a spiritually-oriented community (self-contained within the penal system), participants will gain insight into the way they think, how they act, and the effects of their actions. The aim is to learn to love oneself and then learn to love and respect others. Such a person is far less likely to become a repeat statistic, no matter how long a sentence they serve, when they are released, or where they go from the prison environment.

The work of learning respect has multiple aspects; it is recognizing that there are consequences for one's actions and then integrating this awareness into one's approaches to real-life situational interactions. It axiomatic that we have all been exposed to the concepts of respect, forgiveness, and compassion. However, not all of society's members have a functioning awareness of these concepts as they relate to themselves and the others with whom they are involved in daily living.

It is clear that any program involving significant behavioral changes cannot be effective without a whole-hearted desire to participate. Therefore, screening inmates is a critical aspect of the program. The small number of Jewish inmates Jews being spread out throughout DOC facilities will necessitate DOC actively participating in the screening process to bring together one therapeutic community at one designated facility. Aleph will prepare questionnaires for pre-screening to be filled out by prospective volunteers.

Some of the initial criteria are expected to be:

Inmates will volunteer for the H.E.L.P. program and are committed to it for up to one year. If accepted, participation in all aspects of the program is mandatory;

Participants in the program will have more than one year of anticipated incarceration remaining for them to serve; and

DOC will be asked to retain individuals undergoing the program at the selected facility for the anticipated duration of the program, unless they need to be removed for cause.

Process Initiation

Since change must come from within, there can be no direct pressure to participate in this program. However, neither may a participant be allowed to drift. The goal is to make all participants part of a functioning micro-society that will be effective in the greater world on release. Accordingly, the program attempts to allow as much individual freedom in decision-making as is possible in the prison environment. The inmates will be introduced to the program starting from the moment they arrive in the new facility. Once a resident is accepted, he will move into the unit 2 weeks prior to the formal, official start of the program. It is the very nature of the interactions sought to be encouraged, however, that the actual healing begins from the instant he arrives. After he successfully completes the first six-month segment, the participant will assist incoming candidates. He will demonstrate to them that there is a viable alternative to the approaches that they have been applying to situations before this.

Participants in the H.E.L.P. program will have normal work assignments during the workday. This will have the dual benefits of reducing alienation due to perceived favoritism from non-participating inmates and producing a natural screening effect from inmates who are not sincere in their desire to participate for the goals sought by the program. The program curriculum will be implemented during times that do not conflict with normal routine institutional obligations of the participants.

Initially, trained personnel will present the material from Aleph until there are sufficient "graduates" from the program to begin a self-perpetuating assistance. A portion of the program will be administered on a weekly basis in the evening hours, and some on the weekends. There will be more than 1,500 participatory hours required to complete this program. It must be stressed that participation in all aspects of this program is mandatory. Refusal to participate will result in the inmate being immediately ejected from the program and returned to normal population housing.

Methodology: Spiritual "Living" is the Focus; Not Simply Book-Acquired Knowledge

The underlying principle permeating every aspect of Project H.E.L.P. is the need to "live with the times." In Jewish philosophy, this means integrating lessons derived from the Torah portion that is read every week in every synagogue around the world - and the spiritual development that accompanies ritual activities relating to daily living and Holy Day observances. Study of those life-skills lessons is essential, derived from the text of the Torah and accompanying texts of both classic and modern Jewish Rabbis. Monitored daily activities, both ritualistic and practical, ultimately provides the behavior modification desperately needed.

Accordingly, program participants will engage in a full program of activities in addition to structured study, including prayer, meditation, Sabbath observance and the consumption of kosher food. Most prison kitchens and storage facilities already contain food products with appropriate kosher certifications, and only slight modifications to kitchen and storage facilities is required to accommodate the necessary religiously-acceptable diet.

There are a number of aspects of this program with their own particular focus: Anger Management, Self-Esteem, Parenting Skills, Interpersonal Relationships, Communications, Victim Awareness and Teshuvah (Repentance), Addiction and Abuse, Halacha (Jewish Ethics), various spiritual disciplines, and "Sh'ma in the Sunshine" weekend programs to educate the family in the areas that the participants have been learning about.

The inmates participating in this program are clustered into small work groups at the start of this program. This is done to initiate a "nucleation" of a network. This exercise of "spontaneous" group dynamics furthers the goals of promoting a healthy interaction of ideas as they are introduced into the group.

Core Subject Areas

The substantive portion of the H.E.L.P. project follows a core of 26 subject areas focusing on moral and spiritual issues. These subjects are to be presented over two blocks of time each lasting 6 months. Since entry will be staggered, there will be two incoming "classes" each year. Since the ultimate goal of the program is to "re-connect" the inmate to his structural ecosystem, there will be, as a matter of course, a significant interaction with the faith community volunteers and families. The majority of the remainder of program materials will be administered by program staff, institutional chaplains, and last, but far from least, from internal interaction within the unit.

Learning Activity Packages (L.A.P.) are broken down into Fundamentals , consisting of twenty six (26) L.A.P.s delivered over the first 6 months, and Higher , also consisting of twenty six (26) L.A.P.s taking another 6 months to complete.

Each of the modules (one week each) is composed as follows:

Element	Frequency	Hours	Total
Topical Seminar/Workshop	Weekly	2	2
Individual/Group Topical Discussions	Mon-Fri	1	5
Mentor Sessions	Weekly	1	1
The Halacha Program	Daily	1	7
Anger Management, Communication, Interpersonal Relationships, etc.	Weekly	1	1
Prayer and Meditation	Daily	1	7
Community Meetings	Weekly	1	1
Unit meetings	Weekly	1	1
Critical Video Viewing and Discussion	Weekly	2	2
One to One Conference with Coordinator/Chaplain/Rabbi/Counselor	Bi-Weekly	1	1

INTRODUCTORY SABBATH WEEKEND, a full-immersion thirty-six (36) hour process to start the participants on the proper mind-set and to introduce them to the faith community, held at the commencement of the first phase;

INSTRUCTIONAL RETREATS WITH SELECT FAMILY MEMBERS, lasting eight to sixteen (8-16) hours of specialized instruction, meditation, prayer and sharing, including "Shema in the Sunshine" and Spiritual Lessons of the Holidays;

The "Halacha" program will consist of a rabbi and small work groups exploring Jewish law and how its ethical teachings are applicable to modern life. Because this area is quite involved, the expertise of a rabbi is essential to avoid the possibility of confusion. The program participants will be encouraged to challenge the instructor with actual situations that they might feel would not be resolvable under the Halacha. This has the extremely desirable effect of having the participants consider consequences of actions, and think about what they have learned. Judaic law and study methodology actively encourages questioning.

The "Shema in the Sunshine" weekend program will be held every 2 months. It is not intended as a "reward"; rather as a way of strengthening the bonds between the incarcerated and family. Since the "SET" approach is all about ecosystems, there must be a system, or network, there for it to be effective. This program is to aid the re-integration into society of a person who may have been alienated for an extended period of time, possibly years. He should know there is a support system waiting for him upon release. The people that will make up that system need to have a realistic expectation of the person that he has become.

The H.E.L.P. "community" is designed to be internally directed by the participants, in that residents decide on group rules consistent with the underlying religious restrictions (assuming no conflict with the DOC rules and regulations). Problems within the unit are resolved on the individual, the group and the community level. The welfare of the entire community is the guiding precept of any and all efforts.

It is important that the participants be placed into an environment designed to encourage a mind set oriented towards the creation of a "connected" individual. To do so, it is necessary to remove the person from a negative setting to one that is positive. Participants will be housed separately from the rest of the general population, grouped into 10-man units. Ultimately, there will be 8 new men incoming, and 2 "old timers" from the previous phase of the program. The setting is planned to encourage individual and group work. There will be more space available then usual for the participants, since it is desired that the area be utilized for group learning and interaction, not merely sleeping. There will be offices for an Inside Coordinator and a non-secular advisor for guidance and supervision of the program.

It is intrinsic in the design of the SET/H.E.L.P. program format, one of a faith-based, 24- hour residential program requiring small work groups, that the elements be delivered within the 10-man unit's living environment. Thus, the living area must also be a learning area. It is important that the normal, regular work schedule be maintained within the general population so that the program participants may serve as living examples of responsible living and to approximate real life living outside of the institutional environment. This requires much of the therapeutic activities to be performed in the unit living area.

The defining of each ten-man group is accomplished during the introductory period prior to the formal initiation of the program. The eight incoming participants will spend time with free world volunteers who have been trained in the techniques of establishing and building trust between individuals. One of the essential results will be the genesis of trust-based relations between the different individuals who will then comprise the heart of the unit. The other two inmates will be have completed the fist phase of the H.E.L.P. program. Any remaining inmates from the prior phase will comprise individual units to take up the balance of available bed space.

There will be leaflets and posters produced and distributed through the population statewide. They will be available at the chapels of the individual institutions and in the visiting parks. This material will explain the goals of the program and the methods to be used. It will clearly show the faith aspect of the program, stressing the availability of separate spiritual paths, and that the applicable religious dogma will be followed in each path of implementation.

Applicants for the program will need to be psychologically stable and medically able to participate and be compliant for at least 12 months. They will need to fit the custody requirements of the hosting institution and test on the T.A.B.E. at 8.0 or higher. The Program Coordinator will obtain proof of meeting these requirements.

If an applicant has not yet earned his G.E.D. his work assignment will be four hours of classroom activity per workday, followed by four hours of tutoring. Available tutors in the program may have their work assignment changed to G.E.D. tutor.

A questionnaire will be provided for initial screening to determine the applicant's understanding of the program's goals and requirements. It will be evaluated by the individual organizations involved in the program. Final acceptance will require joint approval of security and the Chaplain and the Inside Coordinator at the facility. In a multi-faith environment, each represented faith will have a selection procedure particularized to their belief and screened by their respective representatives.

This program will be followed by one year monitoring of participants, either at home or in a half-way house environment, where the inmate will be given a job within thirty days and will be assigned to a local synagogue for follow-up and reintegration into society. Participants will be expected to follow a continuing regimen during the follow-up period.

Aleph projects that, at the conclusion of a a twenty-six week program of study, counseling and activities, program participants will have acquired skills and values including, but not limited to:

Moreover, this program will provide enormous benefits to the families of the incarcerated. Currently, the innocent spouses and children (essentially, prison orphans) of inmates are given practically no attention by rehabilitative programs, yet they suffer the most from the entire experience. Studies have shown that children of inmates are far more likely to be engulfed in the criminal justice system themselves. Aleph's H.E.L.P. program is designed to break this cycle and provide support and assistance to families and community.

The University of Miami, the largest private research university in the Southeast, known for its outstanding faculty and ground-breaking research, has expressed its interest in working with Aleph to develop and monitor this project. Recognized professionals in the fields of psychology, family counseling, and corrections will be working together to conduct this highly innovative state-of-the-art program..

January - June 2001: Identify and Modify Facility, Design Curriculum and Hire Staff for Program

Florida Department of Corrections

University of Miami

The Aleph Institute

Physical Facility
Administration
Security
Food

Psychological profiling
Training of staff
Assessment of needs Therapeutic intervention
Family counseling
Secular education
Diagnostic assessment
Follow-up studies

Ethics classes
Spiritual counseling
Integrate psychological
programs with
culturally-sensitive base
Behavior modification
rituals and education
Post-Release assistance
and follow up

There will be a complete training program for all persons involved with the inmates in the program. The Senior Chaplain atthe facility will oversee training of all community volunteers. Aleph will prepare all training materials relevant to courses taught, and will coordinate with institutional security with regards to ensuring full understanding of security concerns. Whenever applicable, standard departmental training curriculum shall be used.

Officers will be asked to attend supplemental cross-training with faith communities to become familiar with what is being done in this program.

Additional training will be required for specialized programming, such as Anger management, the Mentor program and other curriculum as it is further developed.

Project H.E.L.P. uses a time-tested methodology that is bound to have monumental impact on the corrections system throughout this nation. Through the development and implementation of an integrative approach to prisoner rehabilitation, a program can be designed that will be a model to be replicated at other sites, for inmates of all religions.

The Aleph Institute
The Aleph Institute provides religious, education and humanitarian services to nearly 4,000 men and women in federal and state prisons across the country, and to their approximately 25,000 spouses, children and parents left behind. Aleph's Center for Halacha and American Law also develops unique educational materials for the general public on Torah ethics and values.

For twenty years, Aleph has provided a host of services to incarcerated Jews of all backgrounds:

Some of the most important services provided by Aleph are to the thousands of innocent spouses and children of inmates. Aleph's family programs provide essential services to the families of the incarcerated, including, but not limited to:

Aleph has worked with wardens, chaplains and institutional staff at hundreds of state and federal institutions in a variety of ways to educate them and help them meet the needs of Jewish inmates:

Rabbi Lipskar was ordained at the Central Lubavitch Yeshiva in Brooklyn, New York in 1968 and earned his Doctor of Divinity Degree at the Chabad-Lubavitch Graduate School of Theology in 1969. He was appointed by the Lubavitch Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, as personal emissary to develop educational modalities for all segments of the community.

In 1980, Rabbi Lipskar founded The Shul, located in Surfside, Florida, and The Educational Academy of the Elderly, in Miami Beach, Florida. As his congregation's spiritual leader, Rabbi Lipskar is responsible for all daily functions. As the Educational Academy's Director, Rabbi Lipskar has been responsible for the development of pilot programs which have restructured the educational priorities of elderly citizens, renewed their desire to learn, and positively altered their self image.

In 1981, Rabbi Lipskar founded the Aleph Institute and currently serves as its Chairman. A noted writer, lecturer, educator and expert on the criminal justice system and families, Rabbi Lipskar has been featured at a number of academic symposia on sentencing issues. His innovative proposals on sentencing and criminal justice have been featured in law reviews, journals and other professional publications, and have been adopted by numerous state and federal judges around the country.

Isaac Jaroslawicz is the Executive Director and Director of Legal Affairs for the Aleph Institute. Prior to his involvement with Aleph, Mr. Jaroslawicz had many years of legal experience in the fields of complex commercial litigation and securities law. He is now recognized as a leading expert in the fields of: (1) the United States Sentencing Guidelines; and (2) constitutional law, especially with respect to First Amendment exercise of religious freedoms in institutional environments (prison, the military, etc.). In his capacity with Aleph, he has written for and contributed to numerous law reviews and other publications on issues of law and ethics, and testified before Congress on issues of religious discrimination in the prison environment.

Mr. Jaroslawicz joined Aleph after a successful legal career in New York and Florida with the international law firm of Weil, Gotshal & Manges, where he represented Fortune 100 companies in securities matters and complex commercial litigation, trials and appeals. He is admitted before the United States Supreme Court, numerous United States Courts of Appeals and United States District Courts. He graduated magna cum laude from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, where he clerked as an Alexander Judicial Fellow in the chambers of the Hon. Robert W. Sweet, United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York, and was a member of the Cardozo Criminal Law Clinic under the tutelage of Barry Scheck, Esq. Mr. Jaroslawicz also served as a member of both the Law Review and Moot Court Board, received the Felix Frankfurter Faculty Award and Jacob Burns Scholastic Medal, was inducted into the Order of Barristers and was a Regional Champion in both the National Moot Court and the National Trial Competitions. Prior to moving from New York to Miami in 1992, Isaac also served as an adjunct professor of law at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.

The Center for Family Studies is a Division of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences of the University of Miami School of Medicine. The Center is dedicated to strengthening families through the development of relevant knowledge base, the provision of direct services, and the training of culturally competent faculty and staff in both prevention and treatment interventions. It is the major program of family-oriented intervention research with minorities in the nation, as well as a major contributor to research on family interventions in adolescent drug abuse.

The Center's work has received considerable national and international recognition and its team of professionals are frequent lecturers and consultants nationally and internationally.

Jose Szapocznik, Ph.D. is Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Psychology, and Counseling Psychology. He is Director and Founder of the Center for Family Studies and Director of the Spanish Family Guidance Center, both in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Miami School of Medicine.

Dr. Szapocznik is a highly creative scientist. He has been among the first and most consistently productive leaders in the development and investigation of family intervention models for adolescent drug abuse and related problem behaviors. He is a national leader in research on the role of families in the prevention and adaptation to HIV and AIDS. He has also distinguished himself in a large number of national policy roles that have permitted him to foster translation of research findings into national policy as well as to stimulate new areas of research. The Center for Family Studies/Spanish Family Guidance Center is considered the flagship program in the nation in family oriented intervention research with minority populations, as well as in research training in this area. Szapocznik is a prominent researcher and theoretician in the field of family based interventions. He has conducted theoretical and empirical work testing some of the basic assumptions of family therapy, extending structural family therapy techniques to overcoming the problem of engaging hard-to-reach families; engaging drug addicted mothers into treatment; and investigating the putative underlying mechanisms of action in structural family therapy as well as in other theoretically based interventions specifically targeted at overcoming culturally related stressors in Hispanic immigrant families and conducted research on their effectiveness. Szapocznik has also led a systematic program of research for the last twenty years in the development of assessment and diagnostic observational procedures on family functioning - which has received considerable acclaim.

More recently, Szapocznik's research on families and family interventions has led to the development of ecodevelopmental theory and of intervention strategies to change the social interactions that comprise the micro-environment of families. This theory is currently being tested in six major randomized studies in populations ranging from adolescents at risk for drug abuse and other problem behaviors to seriously drug abusing and delinquent adolescents, to families adjusting to a family member with HIV or Alzheimer's Disease. Funding for these studies has been obtained from three NIH institutes.

Dr. Szapocznik is a pioneer and leader in research on family oriented approaches to prevention and treatment. His research on interventions with minority families has been recognized by national awards from the American Psychological Association, the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, the American Family Therapy Academy, The National Coalition of Hispanic Health and Human Services Organizations, the Latino Behavioral Health Institute, the Association of Hispanic Mental Health Processionals, and the National Prevention Congress/Center for Substance Abuse Prevention; and, internationally, by the Pan American and World Health Organizations, among others.

In recognition of his research policy leadership, Szapocznik has been a member of distinguished research policy bodies, including the National Advisory Councils of the National Institute of Mental Health, the NIH Office of AIDS and the U.S. Center for Substance Abuse Prevention. He has been on the Search Committees for the Directors of Food and Drug Administration, the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the U.S. Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, and the U.S. Center for Substance Abuse Treatment.

James A. Inciardi, Ph.D., is Director of the Center for Drug and Alcohol Studies at the University of Delaware; Professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice at Delaware; Adjunct Professor at the University of Miami School of Medicine; and a Distinguished Professor at the State University of Rio de Janeiro. He is also a member of the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Opportunities in Substance Abuse Research.

During the past several years, Dr. Inciardi has been: Chair of the NIDA/NIH Drug Abuse/AIDS Research Review Committee; a member of the U.S. Sentencing commission Task Force on Drugs and violence; a member of the National Academy of Sciences committee on Substance Abuse and Mental Health Issues in AIDS Research; and a member of the National Safety Council Committee on Alcohol and Other Drugs.

Dr. Inciardi has research, clinical, field, and teaching experience in the areas of AIDS, substance abuse, and criminal justice. Before coming to Delaware, he was the director of the National Center for the Study of Acute Drug Reactions at the University of Miami School of Medicine; Vice President of the Washington, D.C.-based Resource Planning Corporation; and Associate Director of Research at the New York State Narcotic Addiction Control Commission.

Dr. Inciardi has done extensive research and consulting work both nationally and internationally, and has published 36 books and 180 articles and chapters in the areas of substance abuse, criminology, criminal justice, history, folklore, social policy, AIDS, medicine, and law.

For more information or to receive a complete program budget in the mail, please contact Isaac M. Jaroslawicz , Executive Director.