Oregon Prison Project - Employment And Education
From hmis
| Group | Employment And Education |
| Category | Employment And Education |
| Name | Oregon Prison Project |
| Provider | The Oregon Prison Project |
|---|
Description
Education/Training https://oregonprisonproject.org/
The Oregon Prison Project is a nonprofit whose mission is to increase community safety through:
- Teaching Nonviolent Communication (NVC) classes in prisons and post-release programs. 2.
- Providing the opportunity for inmates to become peer trainers and develop leadership abilities and the skills to teach NVC in the community when they are released. 3.
- Providing a supervised practicum through which volunteers can become trained in teaching NVC.
OPP currently offers year-long Nonviolent Communication (NVC) training in five Oregon prisons (OSP, Columbia River, Coffee Creek, Deer Ridge, Mill Creek) and Phoenix House (post-release program in Portland). More than 30 volunteers provide weekly NVC classes.
OPP uses a custom-designed NVC Education Program curriculum designed to help prison and post-release program participants:
- Develop empathic understanding of themselves and others
- Identify needs and make non-violent requests
- Increase self-respect and confidence
- Express anger and other emotions non-violently
- Develop effective life skills (managing perceptions, making effective decisions, and communicating in positive ways), and
- Foster positive relationships with correctional staff, service providers, family members, and employers
Specialized classes at Oregon State Penitentiary (OSP) also prepare inmates for meeting with victims seeking restorative justice, meeting with parole boards, and other transition topics. In most OPP locations, NVC classes are offered year-round. The program they offer at OSP is a 15-month long program comprised of four 12-week quarters beginning in mid-September, January, and April.
OPP offers qualified inmates the opportunity to learn how to teach NVC by becoming Peer Trainers in their NVC Education Program classes by completing their three-year Peer Training Program. Those who are accepted into the program receive extra weekly training on how to teach NVC, and then participate in weekly classes with experienced facilitators.
OPP currently has 10 inmates participating in the Peer Training Program, with five Peer Trainers already serving as co-facilitators or lead trainers in their OSP classes.
Contacts
Contact: Office Phone: (503) 395-5254