Launching Signature Programs, Research and Projects of the ABPsi

 Cheryl Tawede Grills, Ph.D.,  President-Elect

The Association can and must seize the moment and use our knowledge, tools, networks, and will to support our communities to do the work of community.  We must find ways to partner with community organizers and community based organizations and sister professional bodies.  These partnerships can be used as a base to collectively promote a change agenda that serves the pressing needs and interests of ourcommunities (e.g., health care, education, housing, the prison industrial complex etc). (Grills, 2009president-elect candidacy statement)

In that regard I have been laying the foundation for the Association to launch a federally funded signature national program focused on reducing recidivism among African Americans released from prison.   The working title of the first project is: African Centered Re-Entry (ACRE).  With funding, the project could be launched as soon as summer, 2010 in Los Angeles County and eventually branch out to interested chapters across the country.  Below is a brief synopsis of the project, its significance, initial conceptualization and critical steps.

African Centered Re- Entry (ACRE)
The ABPsi Prison Recidivism Reduction Intervention and Research Project

The Goal

To decrease recidivism among formerly incarcerated African Americans starting first with incarcerated African American women from South Los Angeles using African Centered, community-based pre and post release programming.  Ultimately the project would expand to include African American men, youth, and communities across the US.

The Problem

• A significant percentage of African American men and women are caught in the grips of the Prison Industrial Complex.  In general rates of incarceration have more than doubled over the last decade but have seen as high as an 828% increase for African American women (NAACP LDF Equal Justice Spring 1998).
• Substance abuse, a mental health issue, and the War on Drugs, are primary causes for the rise in imprisonment among our population.
• Devastation to communities and families has yet to be adequately documented but we do know there is a direct connection between incarceration rates and the disproportionate rates of African American children in foster care.
• Recidivism rates among African Americans are abysmal.  With intervention recidivism rates have shown some improvement.
• While existing, evidenced-based re-entry programs show promising outcomes related to recidivism they do not include cultural inoculation (immersion in culturally based strategies that strengthen identity development, connection to community, or cultural practices or principles that are life affirming for African Americans).  Further, with the fields emphasis on evidenced-based practice and risk-based policies, innovation and culturally informed theory are lacking.
• Related to the cultural inoculation is the lack of attention to understanding and developing community-based approaches that go beyond mere coordination of services but that extend to preparing communities for the re-entry of individuals from prison, community building, and the creation of viable community safety nets that build social capital and support networks for those in the reentry process.  As a result, little to no attention has been paid in current re-entry strategies to the role of community organizing and strengths-based models which would be more consistent with an African American cultural ethos.
• The communities to which formerly incarcerated African Americans must return suffer from high rates of poverty, crime, unemployment, and failing schools.  These communities are not just severely stressed.  They are also not prepared to receive the formerly incarcerated back into the community with respect to housing, health and mental health care, employment, vocational or educational services, legal aid, recreational opportunities, or organized community supports. 

The Significance of ACRE to ABPsi Is Multifold and Include:

• The opportunity to impact a major social problem affecting our communities nationwide
• A visible, signature national initiative and intervention of the Association
  • This could include purchasable curriculum, assessment tools, training videos, training/implementation manuals etc
• Generation of grants and contracts for the Association to develop, implement and test models and to develop and refine new African-centered research methodologies
• Opportunities for African American researchers and practitioners not currently members of the Association to become engaged and for a broader spectrum of existing members to participate in a coordinated effort
• Increased range of LCPP training opportunities
• New alliances through collaboration with other national organizations (Black lawyers, social workers, educators, physicians, journalists, sociologists, criminal justice and law enforcement personnel, elected officials  through the CBC etc), with faith-based communities, and with community based organizations engaged in community organizing, advocacy, and service delivery
• Local chapter replications of best practices from initial pilot projects to serve their local communities and simultaneously strengthen chapter membership, resources and visibility
• Student circle members (and researchers in the Association) afforded opportunities to participate in research opportunities for masters and doctoral projects, collaboration and publications
• Advancing the knowledge base in theory, research and praxis in African Psychology
• Overall increased visibility of the Association

The Proposed Pilot Launch of ACRE

• Phase I:

• Formation of a collaboration between ABPsi (culturally tailored program design and management), CIW (California Institution for Women  women prison site  Chino, CA), The Community Coalition (Prevention Network division of 100+ social service providers plus community organizing division to provide pre and post release community organizing and popular education to increase community readiness), LMU-PARC (Psychology Applied Research Center to conduct program evaluation, provide access to technical resources and support through the School of Film and Television, the Law School, the School of Education, Communications and the African American Studies Dept, student interns, student organizations and service learning courses),  The Advancement Projects Healthy Cities (for GIS mapping of reentry clustering, interactive mapping community resources, etc)
• Convening of a team of over 30 experts in re-entry convened to dialogue with the ABPsi at the January 2010 General Assembly in Los Angeles, CA
• Grant proposals in preparation to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT).
• Formation of an Advisory Committee - both a local advisory body (for implementation management) and a national advisory body (for research, theory development and program design).  These would be strategically populated as suggested below.

At the Local Level

• Local SCABPsi chapter representatives
• African American Women Prisoners Association (AAWPA) of CIW
• The Prevention Network of the Community Coalition and the Coalitions Community Organizers
• CA Dept of Corrections and Rehabilitation representatives
• African American Parole and Probation Officers Association
• Faith-based leaders and church representatives
• Business association and trade union representatives
• CIW administrators and personnel
• Formerly incarcerated African Americans
• Community-based organizations involved in prison reform change agendas
• Glasser Institute Representative related to fidelity of Choice Theory intervention
• Other relevant community leaders 

 At the National Level

•  ABPsi BOD and ED Oversight Committee, LCPP, Student Circle and GA Representatives
• ACRE Research Grant Co-PIs
• National experts in pre and post release prison programming and research to serve as an advisory committee on

• Cultural ideology, race and culture identity,
• Gender issues
• Social service providers (psychology, social work, social service providers)
• Education and career development experts
• Faith based community
• Legal experts
• Corrections and Re-entry researchers and experts
• Community organizers
• Positive psychology and resiliency
• Research design and statistics
• GIS mapping experts

• Representatives from the national associations (AAs in criminal justice, lawyers, social workers, sociologists, journalists, physicians, nurses, CBC, etc)

• Phase II:
  • Following successful launch of ACRE with African American women at CIW prison, ABPsi would support members and chapters to extend the model to CIM (CA Institution for Men) for programming with African American men and beyond to  other chapters/locales (e.g., DC, Oakland, Memphis, NY, Chicago) ready for replication with adults or juveniles.

• Briefly, the intervention will consist of pre and post release intervention strategies that address:
  • Education and employment
  • Health, general well-being and mental health
  • Housing
  • Substance and HIV/AIDS
  • Strengths-Based Re-entry

• These would be grounded in culturally-based principals related to:
  • Faith, family, community
  • Resiliency and positive psychology (virtues and values)
  • Cultural principles and practices that culturally inoculate African American women, raise critical consciousness, and reinforce ethnic identity and self-efficacy

• The Community Re-engagement Intervention would be organized according to the following incarceration status:

Pre-Release

• Pre-Release assessment (including development of an African American specific risk assessment tool) and pre-release planning

•  Re-Entry Preparation with Cultural Inoculation

• Goal driven case management process with individualized reentry plans
  •  Including attention to personal development (e.g., anger management, conflict resolution, self-worth and self-esteem, values, family dynamics, intergenerational incarceration)
• Education and training; vocational skills development; emotional, behavioral and relational skills development
• Training in Community Organizing and Leadership Development
• Mentoring (Community volunteers, university students and faith based communities)
• Establish community linkages with families and local/national services (e.g. Prevention Network Social Service Providers & Faith Based Organizations)
• Incorporation of lifers in intervention strategies (Choice Theory Coaches, Drug counseling certification and intervention etc

Post-Release Reentry

• Management of reentry with Cultural Inoculation Booster

• Continuation of all above components but now offered in community spaces
• Addition of a social justice focused community service component, consistent with cultural principles of responsibility to community, women will strengthen themselves through service to others, and better re-integrate into community by helping those communities they are re-entering

• Community Capacity Building and Sustainability of the Community Safety Net

• Includes developing and maintaining a community Boko and/or Mbongi (regular meetings about community issues and ongoing development of consciousness)
• Regular gatherings for connection among all stakeholders
• Continuity of physical spaces identified for meetings/support

• Formative and summative Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) program evaluation

• Establish empirical research study to establish evidenced based African centered intervention

The General Assembly (GA) has graciously incorporated ACRE into the January, 2010 GA convening which will be held in Los Angeles (January14-17, 2010).  At the GA convening attendees are invited to participate in targeted discussions with re-entry experts from around the country who will assist with further refinement of the model.  As part of our CBPR participatory engagement and research process, a portion of the ACRE component of the convening will be held at CIW prison to support dialogue between ABPsi and African American women inmates and prison officials.  We invite the membership to attend, contribute to the dialogue and brainstorm ideas for development of a roll out strategy for ACRE to other chapters.  Loyola Marymount University (LMU) will host this convening and the entire GA assembly meeting.

The Association with its understanding of African centered psychology is poised to contribute, for our communities, a different paradigm with capacities, strategies, and an array of community partnerships to promote wellness and recovery beyond service to a handful receiving tertiary direct service.  The Association can define a national agenda that brings with it a national and local presence, theories and models and rigorous research. (Grills, 2009 president-elect candidacy statement)

I believe ACRE can advance us one critical step in this direction.  I look forward to your support, creative energy, and commitment to the health and well-being of our communities.
Please consider this summary an introduction to the ACRE project and an opportunity to share your thoughts, recommendations, and talent.  Feel free to email thoughts, ideas etc to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .