In the wake of ongoing prison reform, a southern U.S. correctional facility has collaborated with a nonprofit organization to create a mentorship program for young offenders.
Lee Correctional Institute in Tuberville, South Carolina, founded Restoring Promises, an innovative peer mentorship program for young men ages 18-25. The program was developed with help from the Vera Institute of Justice, a New York based nonprofit focused on criminal justice reform.
The program allows older prison residents with shorter prison sentences to mentor young people, guiding them away from destructive behavior.
Ofonzo Staton, a 41-year-old father, is a mentor, who before joining the program found himself passing judgment on the youth at the prison.
Staton said gang members killed seven men in a bloody riot at the prison in 2018. In the aftermath, Staton cleaned up the blood and helped remove the bodies.
“If you’re going to be angry,” Staton told the Marshall Project, “be angry against the oppressor!”
Warden Cothran spent most of his career with a punitive mindset. In a move toward reform, he asked gang leaders to let their followers participate in the Restoring Promise program, noted the Marshall Project.
Young men can now learn ways to express themselves nonviolently.
Aaron, a 24-year-old Restoring Promise participant, said that other residents often tested his patience and invaded his personal space. The mentorship program taught him to “be assertive” and “defuse tension with humor,” according to the Marshall Project.
Aaron told the Marshall Project that if he did not choose self-improvement, that prison life would consume him.
“Mentoring for young people ages 18-25 offers hope and guidance to those who are new to the adult correctional facilities,” said Larry Deminter, a youth offender mentor at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center.
The Vera Institute and Correctional Staff picked the mentors and mentees who applied to the program. Applicants also submitted letters commenting on their personal goals.
The unit’s mentors were allowed to help mentees resolve minor infractions, such as horse playing, through personal accountability
Mentors and mentees discussed how to make amends by way of sincere apologies and being of service to their communities. If a participant became violent they could spend time in solitary confinement, and even ask to leave the program.
The group developed in-house codes of conduct such as: “no sagging pants, no do-rags before 4 p.m., [and] no gossiping.”
They were not permitted to wear their personal clothes, only orange jumpsuits or beige khaki pants and shirts. In an effort to strengthen family ties the prison’s administration allowed loved ones to bring personalized NFL bedspreads into the facility.
Despite the novel nature of the program, Restoring Promises has garnered positive reviews.
“Parents who had basically given up on their kids came to me and said, ‘Wow, I can’t believe this is really my kid,’” said Warden Cothran.
Restoring Promise originated in the Federal Republic of Germany, which adopted new constitutional regulations declaring human dignity sacred. The new policy required “all state authority” to “respect and protect” that dignity, noted the Marshall Project
This national policy was unlike the U.S. Constitution that condones “slavery and involuntary servitude” for people convicted of crimes.
Brian Stirling, director of the South Carolina Correctional Department, said that the state’s recidivism rate was the lowest in the U.S. thanks to Restoring Promises.
Recidivism rates are difficult to confirm, because they are calculated in different ways in different states, but South Carolina saw a decrease in returns to prison from “34%…in 2005, to 17%…in 2020,” reported the story.
“The number of people returning to prison is so low, because [SCDC]…don’t let nobody go,” Staton said.
Statistics confirm Staton’s views, that the U.S. recidivism rate has declined, but South Carolina released just 7% of its parole applicants last year.
Staton, along with other mentors and Carolina Prison Officials, said that people would not return to custody if young men were coached toward maturity, allowing them to earn an early release.
