Running Head: COMMUNITY SOLUTIONS

Community Solutions, Inc. Richard C. Carter, Jr. Wilmington University

COMMUNTIY SOLUTIONS Community Solutions, Inc.

Community Solutions, Inc. is Delawares first federal halfway house. CSI is a nonprofit agency with their headquarters located in the state of Connecticut. The mission of Community Solutions Inc. is to promote the independence, citizenry and well-being of individuals and families involved, or at risk of involvement, in the child welfare, juvenile justice and criminal justice systems. Those that are transferred to this facility come directly from federal prison, or are court ordered. Because the facility is new, the demographics of the residents are pretty simple. Threefourths of the residents come from federal prison, while one-fourth are court ordered in lieu of going to prison. Eighty-five percent of the residents are African American, ten percent are Caucasian, and five percent are considered other. Ninety-eight percent of the residents are male, while the other two percent are female. In regards to policies and procedures, I was informed that because the facility is regulated by the Federal Government, and the sensitive information of proprietary information of the agency, policies and procedures could not be shared. The organizational structure of the agency is very small. It does operate on a team/democratic way of operating. At the head of the structure are the Bureau of Prison, then Community Solutions, Inc, the Program Director, Lead Case Manager, Case Manager, and nine Human Service workers. The Program Director is responsible for overall operations of the facility and ensures compliance to CSI and Bureau of Prisons guidelines. The Lead Case Manager is responsible for ensuring all residents are getting the necessary assistance they need. The other Case Worker assists with reentry into society, job searches, and client adherence to residential policies and

COMMUNTIY SOLUTIONS regulations. In regards to the Human Services workers, they assist in all areas of the operations since this is a 24 hour facility.

The funding for this agency comes from a few different sources: Grants from government agencies, resident subsistence; which means if a resident has a job, they have to contribute a portion of their income, and the last source is public support which is very low. Community Solutions enjoys strong relationships with other agencies. Henrietta Johnson Agency provides medical treatment, Delaware U.S. Probation Office provides mentoring, The Hope Commission provides employment and reentry services, The Hospitality School provides daily meals, and Culinary Arts Job Training, Delaware Horticulture Society assists with managing the garden they constructed at the facility, Wilmington Police Department provides mentoring and volunteer services, and Seeds for Change provides GED assistance. There are fourth strengths that this agency has. They are: Committed staff, new facility, great food, and community support. The staff at the facility really care about what they are doing, and want to ensure the residents have a smooth transition into society. The new facility speaks for itself, and the food is prepared by some of the residents that attend Culinary Arts Training at The Hospitality School. They are appreciative of the fact that they are not eating prison food anymore. Lastly, the support that they have from their relationships with the other agencies has strengthened this agency. The only trend that is noticeable is that recidivism is trending downwards by having those leaving the correctional system at least on the federal level transition through reentry services. There are several challenges that this agency faces. The first challenge is the over rigid bureaucracy from CSI corporate and the Bureau of Prisons. It is like you cannot even make a sound decision without getting someones approval first. The nonprofit CSI is clearly profit driven according to the director and really has lost sight of what it is to help people. The program director finds that he has to answer to two masters which most times cause confusion. CSI has policies for certain things, and the BOP may have a different policy for the

COMMUNTIY SOLUTIONS same thing. The Director gets frustrated in trying to decide who he should listen to. Also, I was informed that there is always conflicting messages. For example, according to the BOP, if a resident has a job and does not contribute a portion of their income for their stay, they will most likely be sent back to prison. CSI takes the stand that it costs more to keep a person in prison, and these residents need to save their money so they can transition out on their own. My role as an intern is to facilitate in creating a life skills program, roll out a Fatherhood Training program, plan the open house, attend public hearing in regards to the Criminal Justice System, and help gain other partners.