My watch says 11 20, so were going to get started. My name is curtis taylor, a person in longterm recovery. What that means for me is that i have not used alcohol or any other drug in almost 15 years now. [applause] mr. Taylor preeze understand that is strictly by gods grace and mercy. Like marty walker, i take no credit whatsoever for all the good things that god is doing in my life today. This particular panel is what my passion is. Im helping men and women transition in a successful manner such that they never, ever go back to prison. Thats where my heart is. And actually by gods grace and mercy again, thats what i get paid to do today, imagine that. So over three quarters of the oxford house population has done some jail or prison time. How many people in here have been to jail or prison . Wow. Only the senators aide has not. Im not going to say that. Thank you for stopping me, lord. In america today, approximately 60 of those in jail and or prison are addicted to alcohol or some other drug. Each year thousands of those who re incarcerated reener reenter society. Within one year of reentering, about half of those individuals will commit another crime and be headed right back to conviction and reentry into incarceration. Those who enter in oxford house following incarceration tend to master longterm reyoifer recovery and crimefree behavior. In some States Oxford house has developed relationships with Reentry Programs that permit those leaving incarceration to go straight into an oxford house. This panel will discuss how to encourage this. Oxford house residents who come to it from incars race, are in a paragraph tiss portion democracy rather than institutional authority. They are elected to leadership positions and they undertake shared responsibility for the operation of the house. Rise to the occasion. This kind of real Life Training is rare for most individuals reentering society. Panel will discuss the need incarceration recovery opportunities, the value of oxford house as a transitional residence, and also practical ways to facilitate getting individuals leaving incarceration into an oxford house. Our first panel member this morning and before i introduce her i just want to make sure everyone has silenced their cell phones, everyone has had that lastminute discussion they inc opportunities, the value of oxford house as a transitional residence, and need to have so that we can all show member our panel utmost respect member our utmost respect today. Our first panel member is stacey hatfield, who was oxford houses utreach in Washington State. [applause] ms. Hatfield im a woman in longterm recovery, what that means for me is i havent had the need to use since september 21, 2006. [applause] ms. Hatfield i live in spokane washington, so im going tokes plane to you a little bit today reentry ine do for Washington State. Id like to start off by saying that in the early 2000s this great guy named tony perkins started the reentry in Washington State. Id like to start off by saying committee. And we are a little bit more politically correct today and call it the Reentry Program. And he started this off of wanting to get people out of prison and straight into an oxford house. When it first started in washington, it started off with 500 would get them into a house and that would be their application fee and towards their e. E. S. Of whatever house they were in. That sometimes happens, but for the most part im going to talk to you about a program we have called the Voucher Program. So in Washington State we have this excellent relationship with Washington Department of corrections. They see that moving into an oxford house is more firble if they can get them into an oxford house than housing them for 150 a day. So they will pay 500 a month for the first three months that they move into an oxford house. We have a pretty large Reentry Program. Almost all 254 of our houses are preapproved addresses. And most houses participate, not all houses do. But for the most part they do. In my area the houses that participate, we have a reentry chairperson in spokane, and she will get all of the application that is are coming to our area in eastern washington. So shell get these applications. There are regular applications and about five more pages of questions. A lot of the questions that are on the interview, actually. Then maybe some other questions on there. Then they send that application to her and shell go over those and do phone interviews with the counselor present, with the inmate, and herself. So she will do those interviews and ask them all kinds of questions just like we do a house interview. So for most of the houses that participate in our Reentry Program, they are ok knowing that she does a thorough interview and we have talked to the counselor and we know what kind of programming they are we know ide and that that what infractions they have. Were not sending somebody to just the preapproved address or somebody who just wants to get out we know of jail and prison and just get someplace to live. She does that pretty well. Most of those houses will just accept her acceptance and theyll reinterview when the person gets to the house. Somehow houses shell actually take all of the paperwork, all the paperwork that she will fill and go to the house and do an interview in place of that person. That that house will want to ccept them that way. Sometimes if that doesnt always work, they get there and the house doesnt like that person, then they just will stay there until they interview at another house. They have been accepted by the Reentry Program. They are accepted into the oxford house system, their house just may change. Ery rarely does that happen, but on occasion theyll get there and something will be they might know the guy from something. There might be some kind of reason but on occasion theyll get there and to transfer that pers mostly thats about all i would say. These guys are going to go into more detail about t i just wanted to explain the Voucher Program for us. It is were blessed to have this. Pretty large turnout. It fills our houses with guys from prison. Thats what i have. [applause] pretty large turnout. It mr. Taylor stacey is being extremely modest. What we need tome brace and acknowledge is the fact that every single Reentry Program for oxford house in america is modeled after Washington State. [applause] the only thing we cant model is that Voucher Program. They hold pretty tight to those pursestrings in other states. I was joking with our next presenter about some of the language that we use to define ourselves or talk about this reentry thing, this criminal justice initiativetype thing. In a way some of it is funny because i know this next presenter, there is no judgment in his heart. He means no harm whatsoever. Hes only wanting to help people. But at the end of the day ive got a lot of titles. None of them is exoffender. My name is not exoffender. As a matter of fact, i offend eople every day. I wondered if youall were going to get that. But today im a i wondered if youall homeowner. Im a father. Im a businessman. Im a business owner. Im an outreach worker. Reentry coordinator. Brother, basketball coach, a son. [applause] thats who and what i am today. My past will not dictate my present nor my future. There is no limit to where god can take me and where god can take you. So with that im going to give you mr. Ivory wilson whos got a lot of alphabets behind his name. Im not going to try to decipher those. But hes a very important gentleman and the Program Manager, the office of Behavioral Health, in the department of health and Human Services in louisiana. [applause] mr. Wilson i dont know if i should run out of the nearest exit or kurtis just set me up. My name is ivory wilson. Im Program Manager with the office of Behavioral Health in louisiana. We have been interesting with oxford house for probably post prekatrina, in excess of 15plus years. I want to first give you a disclaimer. Kurt mentioned initially. A lot of times you operate in state agencies, we operate in silos, within these silos there is that antiquated and archaic language that was being used to describe people who were incarcerated. So as mea culpa, i apologize for the language. If its offensive, there is no ll intent. I fractured an occasional law or two in new orleans growing up, i just never got caught. So that being said ill kind of go over some of the objectives by reasontry program which totally align with the youall have outlined within youall have outlined within the reentry model throughout oxford house. The primary objective is to show the need for post incarceration opportunities. Ill get into some Data Information later describing the some of the barriers that prevent individuals from maintaining absence from drug and alcohol, but also being able to stay south out of institutions and prevent them from being incarcerated. The second objective is the value of oxford house, a transition residence. I heard it mentioned earlier, they said in oxford house for seven years. That doesnt sound like a transition. But i can see why. I have been coming to these conferences for the past five years and they continue to impress me. I enjoy them. I dont think we do enough for oxford house in our state. I get into some information later to show you how were attempting to meet the needs of oxford house in our state. The next one is transitioning individuals who are free from institutions. Whats a better way to describe that . Besides using that nasty old world . Offender. Mr. Taylor returning citizen. Formerly incarcerated. Returning citizen. Neighbor. New im taking all these points. I promise you i wont use this crazy language moving forward. Ot to forgive me for that. Kind of give you a backdrop on oxford house in louisiana. Were not as large as washington or north carolina. We have a total of 110 houses. We have 69 mens houses. 25 womens houses. One particular because i managed to the tanf contract, tanf, temporary assistance for needy families, they provide services and dependent children, a gnant women who have chemical dependency hi histories or problems. We have a tote a. F. L. Six facilities statewide funded through tanf, but we introduce it was something already taking place in oxford house, we werent aware with t. We had a discussion with a chemical dependency hi histories or problems. Marty at time to implement that into the continuum of care and treatment in the state of louisiana. We have 16 women and childrens homes. So that equates to 809 beds. I cant explain to you how that fits into the full continuum of care in our state. Especially since most states have gone through the grips of constant budget restraints or reductions. Cant impress upon you how important those beds are. There are 509 mens beds. And as a break down of bed, how many children and womens beds we have. And total number of women, childrens important those beds are. Beds. This is some of the data that urie gave to me prior to the conference. So appears 90 of oxford house residents were involved in the Louisiana Department of corrections either at a state conference. So or parish level. Once you see these shocking numbers in louisiana in terms of our prison incarceration rates its probably more than 90 . Maybe underestimated. E average incarceration time for oxford house resident has been 16 months. Of the total number of individuals that actually took for oxford house the survey within the state of louisiana within those 110 houses, 81 or 444 residents ook that survey, which attributed to this data. I kind of give you an idea what were doing in louisiana. Judging from the data you probably see aint doing much because all these people still locked up. There is this new federal program called louisianale adjustment package. There are a couple of bullets and a lot of louisiana justice reinvestment package. The task force, a Bipartisan Group of comprised of law enforcement, court pack contiguousers, community members, legislators, state organizations like the office of Behavioral Health which i work for. The department of children and family services. Department of education. Other groups as well as the correctional facilities, Public Interest groups that are interested in changing the impact and criminal Justice System in louisiana. Postkatrina we have probably 4. 8 Million People in the state of louisiana. Probably the size of metropolitan dallas or Something Like that. Not a lot of people in the state of louisiana. This number will shock you. I hope you had something to keep you calm before you came in, before you start looking at these numbers n 2016, louisiana has a total prison population of 39,867 people. Imagine that, right . 4. 6 Million People in the whole state, we have almost 40,000 people who are incarcerated. Thats shocking. The next slide it says 84 of the individuals incarcerated in wandered in through of illness or chemical dependence they were incarcerated for. I have never been incarcerated, but i have a number of different friends i grew up with doing life imprison. A of illness or chemical dependence they were brother wh. Who were all under the influence of some illicit drug when they committed the crime. The data is 84 . I visited the Reentry Program statewide. Conducting presentation on a service that our office is how to prevent people from going back to prisons. I i have talked to family and friends who have been incarcerated. They agree the number is much higher than 84 . The National Average is 79 , but in louisiana we always do it big. We exceeded that number. Of those individuals that are are erated, 44 of those what we call poor disorders that exceeds the 30 which is the National Average. Again we show up in louisiana. What we call this is even more shocking. The amount of money we spend as a state. Currently operates within a budget of approximately 385 million. So that money goes towards energy and health care for individuals who suffer from Mental Health and Substance Abuse disorders. A list less than 400 million. Thats state and federal funds included. Look what the state Louisiana Department of corrections and Public Safetys office spends on their budget. I wasnt the smartest dude in math growing up and school, 700 million on keeping people incarcerated. You have the situation in the state where the d. A. s office, you have prosecutors, judges, going around saying we have to be tougher on crime. Lock them up. Of justice nt released the data report in 2015, maybe 2016, tipped kated less than 35 of the individuals who were incarcerated were there for violent or heinous of justi released the data report crimes. Running this platform thats why its important once you have regained your status back in society, its important that you register to vote and make an impact on the laws that affect people who are not only in your situation, may be going through your situation. Because they get up and they rant and rave about how bad people are. I cant tell you how many times those same i think were still on cspan so i better i got to some of these people may be listening. I cant tell you how many times we get these calls from state litical people wanting us to help get one of their constituents in treatment. Its our priority to get everyone into treatment. Are of these same lawmakers who add to this enormous amounte who add to this enormous amount of mon money we spend on the crime amount of money we spend on the criminal Justice System. Louisiana leads the nation and the free world in imprisonment. At a rate nearly double the National Average and significantly higher than the second and third highest states in oklahoma and alabama. Anybody from oklahoma . We have beaten you on that. May have morehouse, but we have beaten you locking people up. Louisiana sends people to prison for nonviolent prisons at 1. 5 the rate of the neighboring states and growing number of inmates serving very long sentences. I get into some information a little later about this, but there was a study done and they examined the incarceration time frame for individuals in cook county illinois, joliet, to individuals being incarcerated in our state. We have a guy who came in similar charges in both states, these two guys, one in illinois, one in louisiana, similar charges, possession of crack cocaine, crack pair perfect naila, all that stuff paraphernalia, all that stuff. Hes incarcerated for three years for that charge. Guy in cook county illinois, is 2 1 2, three months. Its disparaging. Ill give you information later that shows that the department of corrections as well as our office were committed to changing that whole dynamic. Heres the golden objective of the Louisiana Department of correction initiative. Department objective the Louisiana Department initiative is to inform and show people on the Services Offered through the behavior health. re establish agnew position within our office through some federal grants, federal funding that we received. With that were going to have an individual its going to be under the oxford house contract, dont get stuck on a name because it may change tomorrow. Were call that person the criminal justice liaison. That person will connect individuals being released from d. O. C. Reentry facilities to provide Mental Health, Substance Abuse, houses services. That means whenever these guys e being released, a lot of times they are going through the highest concentration areas of where high prevalence or criminality. Once they are being released, we want to connect them to the Vital Services they need to prevent them from being incarcerated. The liaison hope to individual those individuals who are r. F. K. To relapse or homelessness. To who are are at risk relapse or homelessness. Sit on one of the committees. In a nutshell the department of correction was awarded this huge amount of money to try to reform criminal justice in louisiana. They partnered with a number of different agencies, state by way of identifying one of the they par number of different agencies, state agencies, universities to establish a mechanism barriers preventing individuals who are being released to becoming engaged in society and prevent them from going back to i. N. S. Fusions. Back to institutions. They are looking at ways to enhance the Current System of eform. Ill get to the really good news. So the criminal justice liaison, oxford house contract funded through the funds include it include criminal justice liaison position who will work in conjunction with o. B. H. And collaborate with the department of corrections go to this particular position just to link individuals being released from returning returning citizens, neighbors, friends, release from d. O. C. Reentry programs with statewide oxford house and services thus reducing recidivism and incarceration rates. A long a long time we werent y with the amount of money we were giving oxford house. Through katrina, unfortunately, we lost a Revolving Loan fund. We have been talking to kathleen and lawrie and everybody else about getting you guys more money. [applause] jason and lawrie gave me the riot act last night. Yeah, we had some potential people for that position but you aint signed the contract yet. Its difficult. I take onus for that. I take full culpability for that. Thats a new contract process you can giving a flying crap about. Within our state its a new process. Its ard with us, its snakes and turns involved in it. Were just getting familiar with it in order to maneuver t we can reassure you, all those services you provide you will be eimbursed for. I talked earlier about that, well take care of you. Ill give you a couple of those, i wont go into detail. Establish and rain main a working relationship with staff. Now, a lot of these responsibilities, we just help transition a new liaison person into them. Some of it may not agree or conform with the oxford house model, just relax. Were going to get it where it needs the needs. Fits the needs in louisiana. Maintains regular communication with staff and Substance Abuse treatment facilities, so forth, so on. I know some of the other responsibilities that the new position will entail. Some of the key barriers we face in louisiana probably some of the same barriers every other state in america faces. Inadequate housing that includes housing for sex offenders. Meeting with d. O. C. Staff on a regular basis. Participate in quarterly meetings with preinitiative. One of the biggest issues they inadequateis besides housing, there is a problem with being able to place sex offenders. Its an extremely sensive population and a lot of people dont want to talk about inadeq. A lot of these guys have similar issues. Substance use disorders. Mental Health Issues. They have that caveat, the elephant in the room. But they also need adequate housing. Substance abuse disorders like i data i mentioned earlier, at least 88 , 84 of individuals in louisiana who are incarcerated have Substance Abuse disorders. Thats one of the issues that continues to contribute to recidivism. Mental Health Issues undiagnosed, low education attainment. Employment issues. As well as previous sentencing guidelines. I dont know how im doing on time. How am i doing . Ok. All right. Some of the legislation thats been passed in the state, i talked to you earlier about even though we have this dubious honor being the most lockup state in america or the world, they are making some attempts, especially with the previous legislation, they passed more legislation in this past session than any time in the history of louisiana. Called the prevent these judges and d. A. s from giving people who have sicknesses and illnesses these excessive amounts of time in sentencing. Of the first laws, senate bill 220. It revises drug penalties to target lower senses on higher drug offenders. For the value threshold felony charges. What that equates to starting in november individuals who have been given excessive sentences, especially with Mental Health and Substance Abuse disorders, aim not quite certain to the mechanism they are going to use to term how much time they are going to roll back. In a nutshell individuals who have significant Substance Abuse disorders, they are going to evaluate their case, charges, with the d. A. S and judges who were involved, and they are going to roll back a certain percentage of that time. I cant remember how much. But a significant amount of time. So all these guys who have been locked up for a d. A. S and judges who were involved, and they are going to roll back prod of time, they are going to get time rolled back. Thats good news. Especially individuals who have had Substance Abuse disorders. Senate bill 221, distinguished penalties for weapons offensive. Senate bill 1839 will streamline release processes. Expand eligibility for programs proven to reduce recidivism. I think by the program here thats unique time tested and evidence based, that reflects oxford house. The department of corrections loves lawrie. Release processes xpand i cant tell you how many times presentations, trainings, or whatever the case may be, secretary le blanc was the secretary of the department of i come up with all these slides and data. They dont want to hear i come these slides and data. They dont want to hear that. Wheres the girl from oxford house . [applause] it they also have a Prison Welfare fund they are looking at. And again these are key terms. This is where were in louisiana. I spoke with one of the deputy secretaries probably before she went out on medical leave. They are looking at ways to use that Prison Welfare fund to actually help individuals being released back into the respective societies. They are transitioning in oxford house, they are looking at paying up to maybe two weeks of that first movein fees and things they need to sustain themselves, a whole bunch of money. Within that fund its not like millions of dollars, but its something. Thats good news. [applause] they are also looking at in the senate bill, criminal justice financial obligations a persons ability to pay. In other words, you got people who get out of these institutions, been locked up forever. Dont have a lot ability to pay. Of resources, family members. They expect them to pay these huge amounts of probation fees. Finally, the legislature woke up and said that doesnt make sense. This female gets out of jail and you expect them to pay these huge probation fees. The next thing they do is what . Whats the first thing they do . Reoffend. Its logical from my standpoint. I got a mountain of fees to pay. They struck down this bill they were proposing to increase the probation fees. Go figure that. These are some of the additional programs which this first one, senate bill 16, it ensures most people sentenced to life including juveniles receive an opportunity for parole. In louisiana life means life. That means you die there. Aint no going home when you die. No going to your own private funeral. There is a huge graveyard on each institution, they bury you box made by an individual who is incarcerated. Starting november, they are rolling back these life sentences. Im not sure of the mechanism they are using. They use these terms swlongs the person is not the worst of the worst. I dont think thats a d. S. M. Code. Anybody who cant be rehabilitated, those ndividuals times. Times will not be considered. Most of these people are not violent people. Thats also good news. For the lifers who were under the influence under p. C. P. Times at the time they killed or raped someone. Its a serious act. Its not downgrading at all. Down playing it. You bring in a person being under the influence of some type of illicit chemical, it weighs heavily on their decisionmaking process. How they look at things. This is pretty good right here. House bill 519. They are going to streamline the individuals being released so that way they can reestablish occupational license sure. If you individuals being were a before, a barber, whatever the case, they are going to help expedite the process which you can reacguire that license sure nd be gainfully plied. Employed. 680, they have kids, not to takeway the fact they have responsibilities, but when they get out, that cost is constantly rising. They did wrong. Committed a crime. I get all that. When he gets out of jail and has this Child Support to pay, hes reoffend. Go back to being incarcerated. So one of the ideas they are talking about in that particular bill is suspend the payments while they are incarcerated. Not remove them from that responsibility. At least while they are incarcerated. Get drug treatment, help set them up with classes to get gainful employment. This is significant also. This applies to individuals being released neighbors, friends, new citizens, they are going to lift the ban on applying for snap benefits. Thats posh to important for a lot of people. Its not a situation that you want to have to sustain you for life, get out of those i dont think a lot of you raised your hand earlier saying you were incarcerated. You need a helping hand when you get out, right . So they are going to open up the ability for those guys to apply for snap and tanf benefits. Thats good. These are some of the services we have in our office. Oxford house is in there as well. Substance abuse treatment. Individuals being released. Compulsive gambling services, so forth. There is a huge initiative, we applied for through the care act, comprehensive Addiction Recovery act awarded nationwide, we received funding in the form of the s. T. R. Grant. Thats the states targeted response to opioid, prescription opioid and hair win epidemic. R state will receive approximately 8. 1 million for two years. Some of that money is going to go we have allocated a certain amount to d. O. C. Its a huge initiative were collaborating with the department of corrections. Were going to establish one male facilities to get individuals addicted to i heroin. Male facilities addicted to they are going to set up a these in which individuals probably nine months a year once they are in the process of being released from the Reentry Programs, theyll get involved in m. A. T. Programs process of being released d. O. C. Who will collaborate with the department of probation and patrol role to collect and analyze data. It will also be a pier support model. Peer support model. Thats an Important Initiative were embarking upon to help ange the type of environment of incarceration in our state. With that being said, hi a brother who was a chronic alcoholic. I had a brother who was a chronic alcoholic. He moved into a new housing area. Been addicted to alcohol 40 years of his life. And he had an accident one night. He fell down a flight of stairs. Living in a housing project. Broke his neck and succumbed to his injuries. This thing about being able to connect with people who have chemical dependencies. Its not hard because everyone has one in their family. When i lost my brother, it was difficult. Oxford house is a great organization. If i could have gotten him connected to one of those probably wouldit have saved his life. Fortunately the work were doing in our state and what everyone is doing nationwide is enhance service that is we provide for individuals who have chemical and Substance Abuse disorders and help them restore them back to their best individuals. Thanks for your time. [applause] mr. Taylor another round of applause for mr. Ivory wilson. [applause] i think its always incredible to me when state staff get behind our organization in the they at they do and embrace your journey and my journey in the way they do. Thank you so much, ivory. Next up we have mr. Dan hahn, who is the they embrace your oxford house state coordinator for oklahoma. [applause] mr. Hahn good morning, afternoon, everybody. Im a alcoholic. Also a drug addict. Im going to do the best i can today. My head will be bothering me a lot because i have to see that power point. Gaming to do a power point today and i want to talk a little bit about what we do in oklahoma. Its special because its done all by the residents. The residents, our state in a serious, serious budget crunch like everyone else. The department of corrections is upsidedown. Its really tough, we have put through education have our residents supporting this movement with reentry. Were having some good outcomes. Its return to society is the name of my power point. Ill stick to it because i love reentry too much it would be 2 00 by the time i shot up. I put a power point together to keep me on track. Get this started. Were going to talk about educating the department of corrections, how to apply, the process of acceptance, new member needsry which are really important. Transferring to other houses, which is something we do in oklahoma. And outcomes and successes. Educating d. O. C. In oklahoma thats been very, very important. We have a limited resources fortunately with the department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse has a really good support for outreach in oklahoma. We have recently added two new outreach workers. I share a common bond with kurtis, i get to practice my passion now. And work on reentering and do what i love. The reason being is i walked out in 2003 and had nowhere to go. Ill never forget that dealing feeling. Later on i ended up in an oxford house i remember how it felt in 2003. On was after i reoffended. Presentations to administration. No disrespect to the people returning to society, but we much rather talk to the administration because they are the most effective at spreading the word. We dont have an opportunity to always speak to the turnover, people are moving around. We want to really get involved with the administration and let them know about our program and how it works. Partners in that that ties in with partners and the caseworkers. Then the parole and probation offices. Taking time to build relationships locally with those offices. Having contacts there that understand what were about. Informing them, one of our big barriers that we have had in some of our cities in oklahoma is our zero tolerance policy because they say, well, what are we going to do with them if you evict taking time them . We work through those barriers about what the options are. They have gotten to the point with a lot of our houses were able to basically have the ability to through a blessing of the parole officer to say, hey, to avoid being in trouble this is where you are going to need to be tomorrow morning but you are evicted. We have those things in place. En verifying applicant sex ications, which is offenders, that type of thing our area participates in upholding. We really work hard at that. Se offenders, educating d. O. C. So they know where they are sending people and what its about. And then how to apply. What we have done is we have a state website in oklahoma. In the coming months were going to create were looking at different websites, return to society, Something Like that. We have looked at different options. Were going to create a separate website exclusively for reentry. Its simple. Oxford house o. K. And download the form which is again the washington form. Its changed a little bit. You download that form. The case worker does that work. Then they provide it to the person returning to society. They fill it out. Then we have a region map that shows what outreach worker is in that region. They email those applications irectly to us. That form is then submitted by us to the specific houses that are the oxford house o. K. And download the form which sto reentry. Oklahoma right now has three soontobe four with a fifth being a womens house coming soon. Depending where the vacancies are, that depends where the applications going. We do let them know they are going to be transferring soon upon arriving because we guarantee them a spot. So we really succeed with this in metropolitanaires because we have bed space. Normally were able to put them where they have contacts, where their employment lineups are. The process of acceptance is really smooth. This is in oxford house grove in Oklahoma City and they have lares jet printer that the chapter bought for them to save money on printing costs because we go through a lot of applications. Were soon to go digital with all that and put it in their meeting room. This is one of the things that we ask them to provide which is a c. R. C. Card which shows what they have been incarcerated nor. We ask them to provide that with the application. When that comes in you cant see it but it clearly all the charges are related to drug offenses. Then we use that washington application to get the information were looking for. Theres the meeting room right there at one of the houses in Oklahoma City. At their business meeting on sunday night at 7 00, the applications are passed around and voted on. They go right back to that same computer and there is a predone acceptance letter on there they forward back to the originating email letting them know if they were accepted or not. And this works the same at all the houses. These particular houses are able to process these applications rather quickly. And really have no vacancy problems ever. The new member needs. We get guys off the bus. They have nothing. They dont have a pair of sweats and shower shoes. Lucky if they have the work boots. Our residents through the chapters kick into a fund to provide them their basic needs. If not, the house does that. They dont even have the ability to get we get them an i. D. , social, and food stamp card and prepare the have for their houses interview which will be we give them a couple weeks in the house, how that happens is we have houses that are chartered for around 12 men and there is room for a few extra in that 12 men they have some they can use some of those beds to keep guys moving because the house is viable. Its chartered for one number. They run that number. A few beds within that number they can keep people in. We work on, again the identification. Clothes, food, educating them about what they are involved in. And reassurance. We dont want to admit it, but were scared. We get out, we come into the house, and i see it all the time. Theyll come into that first house they dont want to go to the second one. Look, its going to be its going to be ok. This house is going to be a little a few beds within that number they can keep people in. You are wanting. Its going to be all right. Were going to help you with that interview. The first thing we do is get them on the vacancy side. After reassuring them and have them set up their own interview where they want to go. Surrounded through all that is an areas across oklahoma that have found the benefit of helping these men and women. They are not judged by it. We have got a really good system. Its done through successes. And thats the outcomes and successes. That picture there is a wall at one of the houses in Oklahoma City f you look close enough, the house of the year voted by their peers in thataire for every year since 2014 is in a particular house that particular house. Thats voted by the whole area. That house gives to other houses. Shows up to meetings. Helps in any way. Does exactly what an oxford house is supposed to do. We have houses all over the state of oklahoma. I have the stigma in my head when i got there that you could not have a house full of anybody. You dont want a house full of people from the same treatment certainty. U dont want a house full of people i had the pleasure of working with houses all over oklahoma that are 100 comprised with return to society members. People i you go in and look at them watching a movie and all the new guys got ankle monitors on. D they are enjoying the tv thats across the whole wall. This right here is a snapshot of the financial situation of the grove house in Oklahoma City the day i left. They have 7,000 in savings. Their Checking Account balance goes anywhere from 2,900 a month down to a low amount when they pay rent. I didnt have the room to put it, but they average anywhere between 1735 to 275 a week is going into the savings account. Those gentlemen that all came out of prison living in that house are in discussion was myself about opening up an oxford house. Its really a cool thing. [applause] there are some of the guys there from one of the houses enjoying a retreat in arkansas that the ouse paid for. What very possible because i have seen in oklahoma is our services are so lacking gentlemen and ladies are coming out of prison, they actually have a pretty clear what i have head and need a chance. And if you catch them before they end up at that drug dealer or in that bad situation when they are trying to seek housing, what about a bert place to walk into better place to walk into. We make sure they have everything they need. Its becoming more and more important as we move forward in oklahoma. I am blessed today when i goat go home after this convention, i get to spend a big percentage of my time working on that. Thats really what i love. I have been there. Theres several outreach in oklahoma that are working on this. We all are in one capacity or another. Because we have a lot of beds in these metro areas, were able to get the system rolling there. And whats great is the residents are doing it themselves. I appreciate your time. Thank you. [applause] mr. Taylor senator dan hahn, everybody. All right. Lets hear from an actual oxford house resident. Bring up mr. Hiram torres. Mr. Torres my name is hiram torres, im a person in longterm recovery. I havent had a drink or drugs since august 13, 2006. [applause] im truly grateful. For those of youall, i know a lot of people sitting in this room. For those i dont know, i have lived in oxford house for almost eight years now. Oxford is my passion. What that passion turned to and changed to is Reentry Program. We dont have a Reentry Program in texas. But im working on it. [applause] and it will happen. Its going to take a lot of work between all the cities and between all the outreach workers and all the residents. Its going to take a lot of work. But well get it done. Because the thing is, when i came into oxford house eight years ago, i was sent here by my parole officer. I never intended to stay here. I never intended to have anything to do with forksd. Here it is eight years later and im still here. I can go home any time i want. I can go anywhere i want. But this is where i want to be. Kurtis on is to see, as was saying earlier, to see men and women that are incarcerated have somewhere to go. Especially in texas. I do this also for my church. I go and speak at youth facilities, churches, and right now one of the numbers being thrown around is 85 of people that go to jail, county jail or prison, will go back. Theyll commit another crime and go back. They have nowhere to go. They are not being educated in prison. So thats where i think oxford we can do a great deal with that and help. One of the things that we want to start doing in san antonio, i was talking outreach workers there, were going to open up a Reentry Program. Reentry house, probably later this year. And we got to get [applause] it has to start somewhere. It has to start somewhere. And we cant be scared of t we cant be afraid of it. Its there. As youall have heard through most of the porning and youall were here through most of the day, probably 75 , 80 of the house have been incarcerated at some point or another f all of us didnt have somewhere to go, where would we be . The thing is to con house have n incarcerated at some point or another f all of us didnt have somewhere to go, where would we be . The thing is to continue that cycle, continue to open up reentry houses, to continue to have Reentry Programs. Its going to ta house have beep from a lot of people. s not just on the state people, outreach workers, its not it goes down to the residents. We all have to do it. Because if not, there is going to be people not having anywhere to go. That is not good. For me, it was easy. It is easy to keep doing this. Being a fourtime loser, i have been in prison probably at least one third of my life. Now, to have somewhere to go nd have somewhere that i can be a part of, and give back to, is very important. That goes for all of us. [applause] hiram the main thing i think is, like i said, working together, working together and not just texas. You know, working together with oklahoma. Working together with washington. Working together with louisiana. We have got to work together. The whole country. Because there is an epidemic, as we have heard earlier, there is an epidemic on opioids, and there is also an epidemic of as we heard from the gentleman from louisiana, theres an epidemic of people going to be incarcerated. There are more people being incarcerated every day in this country than in any other country in the world. That is not cool. But is not good. We need to get them back out into society and give them somewhere to go and something to do. I appreciate you all, and i will see you all next year. [applause] i think ivory said it best. Lets bring up that pretty girl from oxford house, miss lori. [applause] lori hi, everybody. My name is lori. My sobriety date is december 20 of 2006. [applause] lori thank you. On december 20 of 2006, i was incarcerated for an aggravated kidnapping charge and a possession with intent to distribute charge. Yeah. My bond was really high, 400 460,000 bond. I did not tie anybody up and stick them in my trunk. I had my daughter with me that i did not have permission to have by the state of louisiana. So about six months into that, i was waiting on a court date. They ended up dropping charges and i ended up getting released in the middle of the night. I had to transfer to another jail and then i was released from that jail in the middle of the night. I do not have anywhere to go. I did not know about oxford house. I never heard about it. But there were these ladies who would come into the jail ministry, and i called the church. I had the name of the church. That is all i had. I looked it up and i called the church and this was in july of 2007. They came and got me. They brought me to a hotel room and they let me work between the church and the hotel. Then they helped me get they gave me the number to an oxford house and helped me get into he oxford house. Four days later, i moved into an oxford house. So, i am going to be taking on the position of the criminal liaison for the state of louisiana for oxford house. [applause] and i say that because i want to bridge that gap. There was a gap there. Whenever i got out of jail, i had never done prison time, but i had done a lot of jail time. Which is the same thing, it is all the same. You are incarcerated. I do not want that to happen to omebody else that may not be as determined as i was or as fortunate as i was for this church to help me out. So, what we are going to be doing with the reentry in louisiana is, i am going to be going into reentry court, have you ever heard of that . We have seven in louisiana. It is kind of like it is similar to a drug court, but it is for people coming out of prison. And they have to attend court once a month, once a week or twice a month. Im not really sure its varied for different courts. But anyway, so ill be attending these different there are seven reentry courts in the state of louisiana so i will be attending those reentry courts. Ill be going into the prison to do presentations to the inmates to let them know oxford house is available to them. I will be working with the department of corrections, secretary leblanc, i have been to several d. O. C. Conventions that they put on, so i could let them know about oxford house and what it is and how to get in. Probation and parole conference. I speak at those types of things. I also set up tables like we have banners where you can go and hand out brochures. It costs a few hundred bucks. We have our Association Pay for it. And the other big thing we are doing in louisiana is we created a Reentry Association. So we have the state association and we have a reentry chairperson for the well, we have a Regional Association because its two states. We have a reentry person for the Reentry Association for the Regional Association, and then that person has created a committee. Its called the lawsminnesota Reentry Association. What we are doing there is we are having the chapters pay dues to the Reentry Association and we are going to take that money and help 10 people per month have the movein fee and part of the first weeks rent to get into an oxford house. [applause] so its really its really im very i love to selfrun, selfgovern. We do it all ourself thing. Its one of the most beautiful things about oxford house because we can and we will. If youre determined enough we can and we will. So i like to thats, you know i want us to help us. I dont want us to depend on anybody else. Thats one of the biggest reasons why i wanted to create that so that we could it comes from us. It goes into our accounts and then it comes back out and goes back into our cuts. So the other part of the Reentry Association is that we created a reentry resource coordinator is what were calling it for each chapter. That person is going to be responsible for working with the Reentry Committee with the association and also getting resources, coming up with resource lists, clothing donations, getting in touch with dress for success, having the food stamps offices number vailable, how do we get an id, how do we get, you know, a bus pass. Stuff like that. Little things that are difficult for somebody. Getting out of jail is a traumatizing experience. It is a huge change and you do not know what is going to happen. It is really scary. I remember, one of the biggest things i remember is it is really bright. Whenever you come out of the incarceration, and you are used to this regimented time frame, and you come out and everything is really chaotic and bright. I was not there for a long period of time, so i cannot imagine for somebody who had done four, six, eight, 10 years how a traumatic that experience can be and how much fear can be surrounded behind it and why it would be so easy just to reoffend and go back to what you know. But we can provide an environment that is not so uncomfortable for them. So, that is what we are doing with the reentry for oxford house. One thing i want to focus on is phone interviews. If your house doesnt do phone interviews its very important for people coming out of prison to do a phone interview because they cant come into person for the interview. And then of course helping them et situated like dan said. It is so important to be to make people feel welcome and comfortable. I have had people call me before and say, nobody really talked to me when i got to oxford house, and that is an unacceptable thing. If youre living in an oxford house, its your responsibility to make somebody feel welcome. If you are tired of doing that, it is time for you to move on. [applause] give people a chance. Help them. I believe that is what we are here for. That is what we are on earth for, is to help each other get through the hard times. We are all going through a hard time because we are struggling to stay sober, trying to pay our Child Support, struggling to do all this stuff and we are trying to not kill ourselves in the midst of all this. Give people a chance. Help them through it. Thank you all. That is all i got. [applause] mr. Taylor so i do not have time this afternoon to share my story with you. That would take a while. But what i will say is that behind that term, a person in longterm recovery, there is a whole lot of stuff underneath that phrase right there. I was hopelessly and helplessly addicted to crack crearn, marijuana and alcohol. I was homeless in the street. Was unemployable. When i say i was homeless, i would turn down somewhere to lay my head for the night because i had to be on that Street Corner to sell that next dummy, to get that next hit. That is where i had to be. That is what the disease of addiction means to me. Sometimes, we come to these big Beautiful Hotels each year, this is our 19th convention, and we come to these hotels and we sit in these chairs, and we listened to folks get up and speak and we are like, wow, that is incredible, that is inspiring, they are really doing something. But what i want to emphasize to ou is that this homeless rackhead, today i have meetings with the secretaries secretary of the department of Public Safety in my state. Just me and him. I serve on the Governors Task force for Mental Health and Substance Abuse disorders. I have chaired more committees than i care to list today. Advocating, speaking up, for people coming home from prison, for people needing a bed and a detox unit, for people that need a bed and treatment center, and definitely for someone that needs a bed in an oxford house. There is nothing special about me. There is everything special about us. When you leave this convention, make sure you go home and you be that catalyst in your house. That says you daggone right, we are going to do phone interviews in here. [applause] mr. Taylor you be that person thats willing to stand up and say your first and your last ame and tell your story. Society, the legislature, state officials, they need to hear your story. They need to know that at the end of the day, when they are looking at these numbers and all these statistics, that these are actual human beings that they are talking about. Lives are being affected. Where would my son be today if i was not given an opportunity to return to society and be successful . Where would my daughter be when she needs her daddy . Where would your children be . If you cant do anything else, you can make sure that your oxford house where you live is a welcome environment, that there is an atmosphere of recovery happening in your particular oxford house, and you guys are not going to tolerate judging somebody because you know, we know, if no one else knows on the planet knows, that there is no one on this planet more than or less than anybody else. Nobody. [applause] mr. Taylor so be that person thats willing to advocate and be a voice for the voiceless. You know, that reporter from the newspaper wants to do an rticle about you, say a prayer and give them whatever god puts in your heart. We have to stop hiding in the shadows. We got to help each other. Today. This panel, even myself, this is the powerpoint today. We are the powerpoint. We are what recovery looks like. We are what a returning citizen looks like. [applause] mr. Taylor lets give somebody a chance in oxford house. Thank you. [applause] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2017] i dont believe we have time for any questions so now we will have lunch on our own. Enjoy. The congressional summer recess is over today, and members will be returning to a pretty busy agenda which will in