Reentry center residents celebrate treatment graduates, talk to new director

CASPER, Wyo. — 19 residents of the Casper Reentry Center celebrated graduating from the state corrections department’s Therapeutic Community program last week. Some have been in the system for more than a decade, some for violent, even fatal crimes.

“Don’t let your past define you,” Jeremy Jones, executive director of the 12-24 Club in Casper, said at the graduation meeting Thursday, Oct. 24. wherever you go. …Keep moving forward; pride, honesty and respect for your future self.

“The thing about my story is that it’s not special,” Jones said. “This is what happens when people get sober.”

CRC Director Jerry Ray Hughes Jr. said last week that TC graduates will either come on parole or move on to the Adult Community Corrections program, which occupies the other half of the CRC facility just west of the airport. GEO Reentry Services is a private company that manages the facility under government contract.

The state TC program combines cognitive-behavioral interventions with community therapeutic settings and It is an accredited program Via the American Department of Corrections. The program can last six months or a year, depending on the person.

“Take care of your character before it becomes your destiny,” alumnus Joshua Rose said at the meeting last week. “We become what we think.”

Before the ceremony, Oil City News spoke with a group of seven TC residents who agreed that for them, the “crime mentality” and addiction mentality are inextricably linked.

“When you first come here you’re hit with a list of emotions,” said local resident Russel Sitton. “We become adept at determining how these thoughts and feelings translate into our behaviors and actions. I’m 43 and this is the essential piece missing from my adult life. I wish I had some of this knowledge back then.”

Resident John Kimbley agreed. “Some things taught here need to be taught in secondary school. “Every person on the planet experiences something like this, but some people are better at hiding it.”

“Or some people don’t start committing crimes,” said Herman Addison, a graduating member of TC.

“We didn’t realize how much of a negative impact we were having on our communities,” Sitton said. “This was very normal for the lifestyle we lived.”

“When you live in addiction you don’t care about anyone; “You only care about yourself,” said resident Kevin Pino, who is serving his third prison sentence. He said the TR community has helped him eliminate the default aggressiveness that comes with the gang lifestyle, as well as the reliance on slang and other verbal props. All of this is essentially weirdness and He said it was to cover up insecurity.

While serving this term, he says, he learned to read, earned a welding certificate and became head of the peer-managed conduct department.

Those who progress through the program hold leadership positions as “seniors” in departments such as laundry, kitchen, library, creative energy, medicine, behavior and “barbershop.” The inhabitants took turns talking at length, almost without interrupting each other; elders can give punishment for “clarification”.

“They hold each other accountable,” said Deputy Director of Treatment Vivian Whetham.

Structure, accountability, therapeutic sessions and new gym equipment are all part of ensuring residents stay productive, Hughes said, adding that idleness and boredom are surefire paths to addictive mindsets.

Hughes has been manager for about a year, and residents Oil City News spoke with said they appreciated his approach.

“I’ve been to this facility three or four times and this is probably the best director I’ve ever seen,” resident Cody Sylvester said. “He’s a trooper, he has that standard that we’re all family, part of the team.”

The group agreed that they especially appreciated the new gym.

“He is not reluctant to spend GEO’s money for our benefit,” Sylvester said.

“When you treat them right, they start to lose the prison mentality,” Hughes said. “I was a drill sergeant, so I know how to treat people who don’t know what to do in life even though they’re adults and how to motivate them to do something.”

Hughes, who has completed six combat deployments during his 25-year career in the Army, says he was able to cope with the challenges of reintegration after being away from his family for an extended period of time. “Every time you come back you have to start over. “Everyone is different when you come back,” he said. “What helps is knowing that you can’t do everything at once. “These are the steps.”

Hughes said some TC residents have transferred to the ACC side, where residents get work permits and family passes for special occasions. When they return, they are tested for alcohol and drug tests are performed at least twice a month. Hughes said there are 30-40 hot UAs a month; there are about two now.

Some ACC residents boast about getting their first job back in a decade, even if it’s only $10 an hour, he said. Residents also receive financial literacy training. Casper College staff come to the facility in front of the airport to conduct high school equivalency training, and Celebrate Recovery comes out for spiritual services.

“When you have a spiritual belief system, you have purpose and legacy, and that will help you stay sober,” Whetham said. “I always tell men: ‘I don’t care who you worship, just find something to believe in that will keep you alive.’”

Pino said he knows the difficulties of returning to the unstructured world. This may include setting boundaries with friends and even family members who have active addiction: “‘I have to love you from afar,’ and that hurt my heart,” Pino said. “I understand how my mother feels when she runs through the streets.”

Pino said having a sponsor ready to go will be critical for him and his colleagues to emerge from the group.

“If you can’t find a support team and you don’t call them right before you hit that door… then you know, I’m praying for you. … If you don’t have accountability buddies and people who support you, it’s going to be tough, man.”

Resident Ken Cooper agrees: “I believe we’ll get everything we get from here, even if we get a sponsor when we get out. Someone who will hold you accountable and remind you on the tough days, ‘Hey, don’t give up,’ ‘Hey, this too shall pass.’ … It’s me.” This is my problem: I will give up before I fail.”

Sitton said everything he learned showed him a path to fulfillment that his old lifestyle could never provide.

“When you create a life that you can be proud of and everything is in balance, the rewards come from that,” Sitton said. “Then you don’t need all that instant gratification. And you don’t have to look back all the time. Chaos has dispersed.”