Since 2002, Pittsburgh’s Foundation of Hope has been helping individuals impacted by the criminal justice system to rebuild and improve their lives. HOPE offers several programs.
Chaplaincy takes place in the Allegheny county jail and features inter-faith religious services and instruction classes; one-on-one counseling, including grief counseling if a family member dies; hygiene care packages; and holiday events and celebrations.
Requiring 120 hours of group work per person, as well as a final exam, the pre-release program is a collaboration between soon-to-be released individuals, community service providers, and volunteers. Everyone works together to help transform thinking and behaviors as people returning from jail prepare to make a new start. Key themes include addiction and recovery, anger management, “stinking thinking,” life and parenting skills, release and reintegration, and spiritual formation.
Aftercare is a pre- and post-release integration program that provides release individuals with assistance, resources, referrals and guidance about employment, housing, and other social issues. Aftercare covers everything from toiletries and reading glasses, to employment and housing counseling, to creating a resume and getting an ID.
Aftercare may also include one-on-one mentoring in the jail and after release, as well as Positive Initiative to Reinforce Change (PIRC) support groups that provide a safe and welcoming forum for released individuals and their supporters.
The Foundation of HOPE Adult Diversion Program provides supportive services, free-of-cost, to individuals trapped in a cycle of justice involvement due to substance use and mental health.
The HOPE program is based on public health and harm reduction principles. Each person in the program is offered safe, judgment-free, intensive case management and referrals to a network of evidence-based services to help address their unique needs.
By addressing key social determinants of health with a trauma-informed approach, Foundation of HOPE and its partners seek to lower the numbers of fatal overdose and mitigate many of the reasons that people who use substances encounter police.
The goal is to support participants toward stability by limiting the harms associated with using substances.
Learn more about Foundation of HOPE by visiting the organization’s website at foundationofhope.org.
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