OPERATION FRESH START (TM) AND SCI GRATERFORD, PA LIFERS PUBLIC SAFETY INITIATIVE 20 MAY 2018 WORKING GROUP MEETING

CONTACT:

Stephen Ridley Coordinator – External Navigation Project
SCI Graterford, PA LIFERS Public Safety Initiative
(215) 568-2220 - Exension 5511 E-Mail: sar26@drexel.edu

Diane A. Sears
OPERATION FRESH START ™ Working Group
267-581-3863
E-Mail: insearchoffatherhood@gmail.com 
EVENT BRITE Event Registration Link: NTBRITE Free Working Group Meeting Registration https://www.eventbrite.com/e/operation-fresh-starttm-sci-graterford-pa-lifers-public-safety-initiative-tickets-45251311892

          PHILADELPHIA, PA (USA) –  Restorative Justice and Criminal Justice Reform Advocates, legislators, legal professionals, Fatherhood Practitioners and Advocates, social services professionals and providers, health care professionals and providers, educators, school administrators, community activists, social entrepreneurs, leaders in the Interfaith Community, members of Philadelphia’s business community, and concerned citizens are among the key stakeholders who will converge on the Juvenile Justice Center at 48th Street and Haverford Avenue in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Sunday, 20 May 2018 from 10:00 A.M. (E.S.T.) through 4:30 P.M. (E.S.T.). Under the theme, “Creating A ‘Hand Up’ And A ‘Way Out’ For At-Risk And Incarcerated Youths,” the Operation Fresh Start™ and SCI Graterford, PA LIFERS Public Safety Initiative Working Group Meeting will bring together Philadelphia’s key stakeholders to design and implement a Plan of Action to improve – with all deliberate speed – the manner in which at-risk boys and girls, Juvenile Lifers and incarcerated youths have access to necessary resources, support services, and tools which help them become productive and successful adults. 

            The Working Group Meeting is a follow-up to the “Call To Action” issued at the International Day of Prayer for Men and Boys on Sunday, 5 November 2017 held at the Juvenile Justice Center. The International Day of Prayer for Men and Boys’ “Call To Action” served as the launching vehicle for the SCI Graterford, PA LIFERS Public Safety Initiative which involves the Interfaith Community’s establishment and operation of Transformational Centers in churches and mosques throughout the City of Philadelphia. The Transformational Centers are designed to mentor at-risk boys, girls and young adolescent males who lack access to positive adult role models and legitimate real-life options and move them to reflect on their behavior, appreciate the community in which they reside, and to realize their worthiness and the potential they possess and must explore. While mentoring and changing the mindset, behavior, and decision making of at-risk boys, girls and incarcerated youths is critically important, it constitutes one critical “piece of the puzzle” to helping them rise above the conditions of their environment, excel academically, and access legitimate “real-life” options.

          Operation Fresh Start ™ and the SCI Graterford. PA LIFERS Public Safety Initiative is expanding its focus on at-risk boys, to include girls, incarcerated youths and Juvenile Lifers, who were incarcerated as youths. Many incarcerated youth and Juvenile Lifers, upon the completion of their sentences and release from the correctional system, are homeless; lack high school diplomas and vocational training, household management and money management skills; and have very limited, if any, access to mental and physical health resources and support services. One of the primary objectives of the Operation Fresh Start ™ and SCI Graterford, PA LIFERS Public Safety Initiative Working Group Meeting is to connect – with all deliberate speed -- youths currently involved in the juvenile justice and adult correctional system with the necessary resources, support services, and tools they will need to become productive and successful adults. Some of the suggested resources, support services, and tools that incarcerated youths desperately need as they make the transition from institutionalization to becoming productive and successful citizens include, but are not limited to:  

• Housing (e.g., apartment, house, etc.)  
• Household Management Skills (e.g., creating budgets, paying bills, food shopping, arranging for household repairs and overall maintenance, etc.)  
• Career/Employment Acquisition Training (e.g., creating a resumé, developing interview skills, completing online employment applications, dress code for interviews, vocational training, etc.)  
• Money Management Skills (e.g., opening checking and savings bank account, opening retirement savings account, etc.)  
• Entrepreneurial Skills (e.g., learning to create a business plan and basic financial accounting principles, procedure for incorporating business, opening a business bank account, the process for selecting accountant to file corporate tax returns, whether to incorporate as a SubChapter S or C Corporation, etc., learning about the type of tax corporate tax returns which must be filed annually – e.g.,, if SubChapter S corporation -Tax Form 1120S, selecting a fiscal year for your business for tax purposes, etc.).    

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

          The brainchild of Thought Leaders at SCI Graterford, the SCI Graterford PA Lifers Safety Initiative is designed to end the culture of crime that grips our communities. It is also a component of OPERATION FRESH START™, a multi-tiered Global Model for eradicating recidivism, creating pathways to reintegration for formerly incarcerated individuals, and transforming communities immersed in economic turpitude into economically sustainable entities. OPERATION FRESH START ™ is the brainchild of The Honorable James M. DeLeon, a highly acclaimed veteran jurist in the Criminal Court Division of Philadelphia’s Municipal Court.