Our Services.
The Kingsmen Project offers tailored services designed to help individuals going through the
burden of getting their lives back on track.
People leaving incarceration need significant support as they reenter their communities. But Programs for reentry are sorely lacking in our society, despite the numbers of people who are being incarcerated on a staggering annual basis are men and women of color. They need to be shown and given action, not apathy.
There is no “silver bullet” solution to successful reentry. It’s a multi-step process requiring cooperative multi-resource engagement over an extended timeframe. Individuals leaving prison need job training, mental health care, civil legal representation, and other services.
There are three distinct phases, each involving different but related implementation functions:
● Pre-Release
● Just-Released
● Post-Released
Throughout each stage, people will need peer support and help from others who have made a successful transition. Often, reentrants respond best to guidance from those who have traveled the same road.
We currently work with people before they leave, after they come home, and throughout the long-term reentry process. Our participants include many individuals with long histories of violent crime and involvement with drug trafficking. They want a different life but struggle as they return from prison.
The Goal of The Kingsmen Project is to decrease recidivism and assist participants in redirecting their lives toward positive, pro-social activities like work, sobriety, and rebuilding relationships with family and friends.
The Kingsmen project has been instrumental in helping participants succeed. Kingsmen Project participants support each other, receive additional mentorship from Mr. and Mrs. Washington, and find a safe space to share the challenges facing people who are returning home from prison.
Pre-release outreach is crucial as it establishes a relationship that continues after prison release.
In the Just-Released phase, the supplementary support during the probation period includes access to resources, job readiness, helpful guidance, and mentoring. An essential aspect of this work is collaborating with community partners, law firms, US Probation, and others.
In the post-released phase, staying connected with a support group is crucial for long-term progress and success. The obstacles and frustrations people in reentry encounter do not magically stop after the halfway house or landing a good job. The Kingsmen Project peer group meetings are designed to be that “sweet spot” that helps one achieve sustained success.