Second Chance Program Overview
The Second Chance Program, Inc. (SCP) is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt non-profit organization that provides cost effective social rehabilitation programs dealing with rehabilitation of substance abuse as well as mitigation of criminal behavior.
SCP began working extensively with offenders in the Criminal Justice System beginning in 1995 with the Mexican government of Baja California.
In this initial pilot, the University of Baja ran long-term studies measuring the criminal recidivism rate of those who participated in the SCP.
In the US, SCP now provides the programming component for an innovative alternative to traditional judicial sentencing, a 600-bed secure, residential long-term treatment center.
Working with Offenders
Since 1995, SCP has provided government a rehabilitation model that directly addresses and handles four areas that are vital to offender rehabilitation.
These modules compare favorably with best practice protocols.
- Drug Rehabilitation Module,
- Education Module,
- Self-Respect Module and Life Skills Module.
A full index of the Overview is listed below.
- The Pilot
- The Pilot Modules
- Evaluation
- Results
Pilot - Second Chance Program, Tijuana Prison
The pilot for this program was established in 1995 in the Ensenada State Prison, which housed over 1000 inmates. The first six months of the pilot had an average of 40 inmates in the program. The program was gradually expanded so that by June 2000, over 500 inmates was simultaneously receiving treatment. At the end of the pilot almost 1,000 of the inmates were participating daily in the program.
Initially, in 1995, approximately 90% of the inmates in the Ensenada prison population were using heroin. Except for a very small maximum-security area and a small women's section, all of the inmates had complete access to the entire prison for 10 hours a day. This made it impossible to completely segregate those participating in the pilot.
Baja has had a history of severe violence in its prisons when attempts were made to reduce drug consumption through increased security and drug enforcement means. For this reason a different method to reduce drug usage inside the prison was needed. This was important in order to reduce the peripheral impact of those outside the program on those participating. A method using vitamin and mineral supplementation was used prison-wide to reduce the demand by the drug consumers. Gradually over a period of months, by reducing the demand, security was gradually increased and the majority of the prison was detoxed from heroin usage. This method, along with the application of the four rehabilitation modules, has dramatically decreased the violence as well.
By the end of 2001, nearly 3,000 had participated in part or all of the four modules. In that time period, over 3,500 had participated in the initial vitamin and mineral regimen.
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Approximately 80% of offenders have used drugs prior to incarceration. By the time most offenders in the US reach prison, they have been detoxed. In Mexico however this was not the case. This required SCP to provide a short-term detox lasting at most a week. A regimen of vitamins and minerals were used in this non-medical detox.
For all those with a prior history of substance abuse, the next step is an effective method of cognitive behavioral therapy in a manualized program of peer supported exercises designed to help improve basic communication skills, raise responsibility and improve interpersonal and socialization skills.
This is followed by a long-term detoxification regimen using nutrition, exercise and a low-temperature sauna.
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"It is recognized that many offenders have learning deficiencies that have contributed to their poor judgment in problem solving. In the Education Module if the offender does not read at least at an 8th Grade level, a remedial reading step is done. Once at that level the offenders learn effective tools to help them recognize and overcome the barriers they have to not only learning but applying what he learns.
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The Self-Respect Module improves an offender’s self-esteem and self-respect. By using a unique system designed to help improve their cognitive and behavioral skills, the offender is able to resolve past conditions and using that understanding make decisions with more optimum behavior patterns for the future.
It has been found that the point a person becomes criminal in his thinking and actions is the point they do something that results in their loss of self-respect. At that point they then begin to lose their self-control, their responsibility for their own actions drops, they no longer trust themselves and this results in more and more criminal behavior.
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This module gives the offender additional tools to help him create a future for himself, as without the certainty a person can create a future for himself, he has nothing more to lose by being criminal.
This module assists the offender by further developing cognitive and behavioral skills as well as improving his skills in creating interpersonal relationships. He learns the importance of personal responsibility, develop skills in relationship building and anger management.
The long-term effect of the therapeutic community environment further gives the offender the opportunity to practice and strengthen the skills he learns from the rigorous participation in the classroom.
In the initial pilot, the Second Chance Program worked with two major universities in measuring the single outcome-criminal recidivism. The Psychology Department at CETYS University, the Law Department of the University of Baja, the Mexican Criminological Society, the Mexican Penitentiary Association and the state government of Baja participated in this. An Interim Report, based on the first two years was issued by CETYS University. A later report covering five and a half years was issued by the University of Baja. There is a copy of these reports further in these materials.
Currently SCP is planning to collaborate with the University of New Mexico on measuring a number of outcomes, including criminal recidivism.
Normally, the recidivism rate in the Ensenada Prison is around 70% within the first year after release. According to the two-year report, in the first two years, a total of 192 inmates had completed some part of the Second Chance Program before release. For those who have completed the first month of the program before release, the normal recidivism rate of 70% dropped to less than 10%. For those who completed two months of the program, the recidivism dropped to less than 5%. If they were in the program at least four months, the recidivism rate dropped even further.
The four and a half-year report shows that during that time period 1460 inmates participated in the Second Chance Program. Of those, 1006 were released. For those who participated in the initial rehabilitation steps, the recidivism rate was again less than 10%. If they completed approximately 3 months of the program, the recidivism rate dropped to approximately 5%.
Since the recidivism rate has dropped so much for those participating in the program, the assumption could be made that not as many are engaging in criminal activity. In fact investigating the crime statistics in the City of Ensenada tend to substantiate this idea.
According to official government reports, over the course of the year 2000, the crime rate in the city of Ensenada, Mexico dropped 55%. Government sources attribute this exclusively to the Second Chance Program.
The Second Chance Program has reduced violence in the prison, reduced substance abuse by the inmates, lowered criminal recidivism and has had a significant impact on the crime rate in the community, thereby providing an effective social solution.
By reducing the recidivism rate at a cost far less than the cost of housing an inmate for a year, this program also provides a clearly effective economic solution.
A School-Based Crime Prevention Program
In 1996, SCP began developing a crime prevention program in the Tijuana schools. The initial pilot was done with the Tijuana Police Academy. In 1997, the development of the Program was completed with the Mexicali Police Department.
The program is called the "LIVE - Program-Learning Integrity and Values through Education." To date approximately 35,000 school children have participated in this program.
The Psychology Dept. at CETYS University jointly with the Criminology Society of Baja California tested 3,000 of the children before and after the Program. The tests were designed to measure changes in attitudes connected with criminal behavior. Just over 79% showed a positive change away from attitudes connected with criminal behavior.
School directors have noted a drop in campus violence, graffiti and gang activity since the implementation of the LIVE Program.
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