A new 26-week self-help program has been established at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center, designed to help those convicted of a sex offense to understand why they committed the crime.
The program’s name, B.R.A.V.E., stands for Bridging, Responsibility, Accountability and Vulnerability through Empathy. It began in January 2025 with 38 participants in attendance, which included volunteers and administrative and medical officials.
The program gives participants a safe place to understand the trauma they have caused without fear and stigma. This environment will encourage participants to freely discuss the shame and guilt they feel about the bad decisions they made.
“Only an incarcerated sex offender truly understands another incarcerated sex offender, who is trying to prove to our victims and our communities that we are doing the work,” said B.R.A.V.E. co-founder and SQ resident Louis Light.
According to the curriculum, B.R.A.V.E. provides beginner-level philosophies and teachings that help participants grasp full accountability of the harm they created.
The program is in accord with CDCR’s Department Operations Manual and is classified as a “Sexual Harm” group. Therefore, it is a “Special Service Group” with a very specific purpose.
The co-founders believe sincere participation, and complete understanding may help offenders acquire strategies to cope with character defects and make amends with their communities inside and outside of prison.
“Accountability and a second chance at doing the very hard work assists our participants in realizing that by making a decision to join B.R.A.V.E., they can meet their past head on and come out of the darkness of shame,” said SQ program facilitator Robert Esquivel.
The program has three absolute truth elements in its guidelines for success: all program participants are equally respected, everyone is capable of change, and nothing is static because change is possible.
“The miracle is seeing other men come to this group crying and breaking down not because they are weak, but because they never had an avenue to work on their crimes,” Esquivel said.
This group also allows participants a way to express their own trauma of adverse childhood experiences, moving toward healing for those who were abused.
B.R.A.V.E. co-founder and SQ resident Anthony M. Caravalho said this year.
B.R.A.V.E. has also created a Sex Addicts Anonymous 12-step-program to serve both the incarcerated Spanish and English communities.
He added that, in the foreseeable future, B.R.A.V.E. is looking to expand to other correctional jurisdictions, which also includes a correspondence course. The program also focuses on after-care and support such as re-entry housing.
B.R.A.V.E. has a partnership with YIMBY, a Limited Liability Corporation. The goal is to improve the lives of the marginalized communities that include people who have committed sexual offenses.
YIMBY and B.R.A.V.E. will offer treatment upon a resident’s release. Caravalho said that an important ingredient in fighting recidivism is to focus on monetary funding for the housing of sex offenders once released.
“I have been working with YIMBY and they are investing up to $2 million for initial housing for sex offenders,” Caravalho said. “This shows the seriousness of B.R.A.V.E. and its commitment toward helping one of the largest populations in CDCR.”
The program’s start-up includes volunteers from SQRC’s Mental Health and Medical Department including retired nurses, marriage and family therapists, retired probation officers, and SQRC administration.
SQRC’s Community Resources Manager M. Barragan approved the program’s inception while the prison’s medical personnel Doctor E. Tootell and Doctor E. Anderson edited the curriculum’s content.
“The work Light and Caravalho have done should not go unnoticed,” said Dr. E. Anderson. “To give people the chance to have a voice … and help communities heal … is quite amazing.”
According to Doctor Tootell, she acknowledged that groups like SAA and B.R.A.V.E. are the most important groups to come to CDCR in years. As testament of hard work and understanding the “why” in offending, the Board of Parole Hearings has recognized co-founder Light’s work. In March of this year, Light received a parole date after two previous parole denials and 30 years of incarceration.
