Broken Champions Reentry Training

Purpose: show up for a person who is incarcerated, consistently and within facility rules, so they know they are not forgotten long before release day.

• Name the Four Actions and the 12-week cycle
• Write a letter that builds identity and passes mail inspection
• Get on an approved visitor list and follow visit rules
• Know what to say, what not to say, and when to escalate

• The call: check stability, reinforce identity, ask about goals, point forward.
• The letter: encouragement, progress, purpose, hope. No judgment or shame.
• Mail: full committed name, IDOC number, facility address. Mail is copied and inspected, and coded or explicit content is prohibited.

• Visits: approved list, valid photo ID, dress code, brief embrace only, searches required.
• Never hand over money during a visit. Support goes only through official channels.
• Log every action so the team stays coordinated.

Do: keep your slot · speak to who they're becoming · tell your Prime Guardian about every visit · escalate threats, abuse, relapse, or crisis.

Don't: give money, promise housing, or lend a car · flirt or pursue romance · post about the person · play rescuer.

Purpose: turn a letter from inside into an organized release plan, so housing, documents, and supervision requirements are ready on release day.

1. First contact: the person writes to us using our Preparing-for-Release packet.
2. Intake: release information, supervision and restrictions, safety, goals, references, a release-plan checklist, and signed honesty, compliance, and safety agreements.
3. Readiness tier: Green (ready), Yellow (needs housing and more structure), or Red (not rejected, just needs more time).

4. Case file opened in our reentry case-prep database.
5. Release plan built around housing, transportation, documents, supervision, work, and support.
6. Dream Team assigned while the person is still inside.

• Track a phase for every person: 72 hours, 30 days, 90 days, or one year.
• Minimum record: status, last contact, next appointment, current needs, action log.
• Confirm the IDOC release portfolio (birth certificate, Social Security card, state ID) well before release.
• Work through the facility's reentry coordinator or case manager.

• Record restrictions exactly as written.
• Write logs a stranger could pick up and act on: facts, needs, outcomes.
• No judgment words, no gossip. “The case file is not a diary.”

Broken Champions does not provide legal representation.

Purpose: everyone who goes to the gate or spends time with a returning citizen is screened, trained, and working under rules that protect everyone.

• Application, interview, references, criminal background check; driving record for drivers
• Screening is ongoing, not a one-time gate
• Lived experience is welcome; we review each person against the role
• Not ready yet: drawn to drama or power, poor boundaries, unable to keep confidentiality, treats people like projects

Level 1 orientation (mission, Four Actions, rhythm, boundaries and safety, roles) plus the Covenant before any field role.

• Two-person rule and public-first meetings; separate lodging for volunteers
• Mandated reporting: Indiana DCS hotline 1-800-800-5556
• Crisis: stay calm, make sure the person is safe right now, call leadership, call 988 or 911 if needed, document, follow up
• Respect every no-contact order and restriction. Never help anyone get around one.
• Volunteers are connectors, not therapists or lawyers

Purpose: make sure no one walks out of the gate alone.

1. Day before: confirm date, time, and gate with the facility (and again that morning); lodging booked; supervision reporting deadline known.
2. Pack: Freedom Bag (activated phone, hygiene kit, notebook, $50 cash) and Clothing Bag. Kitchen Box and groceries wait in the car; boots are bought with him on the way.
3. Travel in pairs with valid ID; follow facility parking and waiting rules.

4. At the gate: a warm, simple greeting. No crowd, no cameras, no speeches.
5. Portfolio check: ID, Social Security card, birth certificate, release papers, medications.
6. Food and water first. Hungry people make hard decisions.
7. Phone set up with the supervision office, Broken Champions, and an emergency contact.
8. Clothes and a shower, then straight to safe lodging unless the papers require reporting first.
9. Log it.

Don't: stop to see old friends unless it's part of the plan and supervision allows it · hand over cash · overload the person with rules in the car.

Purpose: stabilization, not fixing. Safe, not alone, has a plan and basic needs, knows what's next.

Roles: one coordinator keeps the pace and protects the person from being overwhelmed; one verifies follow-through and fills gaps; one handles logistics and logging. Start Medicaid/HIP and SNAP where possible. Log every checkpoint.

Purpose: keep continuity, and be honest about scope. Today there is no post-release Dream Team. The 12-week rhythm ends at release, and support continues through Broken Champions staff and scheduled follow-up.

• 30 days: stabilization. Housing, transportation, phone, routine, compliance.
• 90 days: momentum. Income, budgeting, triggers, careful family reconnection.
• 365 days: transformation. Steady work, credit, future goals, leadership seeds.

Each checkpoint is a scheduled call or visit plus a case update. Measure stability, not perfection. Refer out for clinical, legal, and treatment needs. Never report a program success percentage without measured data.

Purpose: link people to systems that already exist instead of rebuilding them.

Help people fill out their own applications rather than doing it for them. Log each referral and its outcome.

• Directory: Find Help by County, covering all 92 Indiana counties and fair-chance employers
• ID / BMV: check the release portfolio first; a 48-hour BMV plan if anything is missing
• Social Security: card replacement; ask about SSI/SSDI reinstatement
• Medicaid / HIP: confirm pre-release enrollment, or apply right away
• SNAP: Indiana allows SNAP for many people with drug-felony convictions, as long as they stay in compliance with supervision

• Housing: temporary, then transitional, then stable, always checked against restrictions
• Employment: a stable job first; bring certifications earned inside
• Transportation: routes to supervision, work, and appointments
• Veterans: HCRV, VJO, HUD-VASH, SSVF, benefits reinstatement (Veterans Track)
• Faith community: a church placement only with a safety plan that matches restrictions

Purpose: know exactly where the $12 a week goes, and why money always moves through the system, never person to person. Receiving from a system feels more dignified than receiving from one person.

Down payments on furniture and a vehicle are made in the person's own name through a partner credit union, with co-signer support arranged by the program. That builds three years of on-time payment history before release. The person chooses their providers, at fair market value. The $12 is a gift to the mission, not an investment, and carries no financial return.

Purpose: for those who choose it, help build a self-sustaining faith community inside that continues after a transfer or release.

We use the Four Fields framework (Nathan and Kari Shank) in its prison contextualization by David Ludwick and Brandon Authement, through NoPlaceLeft Academy Levels 1–3. Waypointers model, assist, watch, and then step back. Inside gatherings happen only with chaplain approval. Faith is offered, never required, and support never depends on it.

We measure whether Waypointers can do the Four Actions, using the action log, not attendance.

The Covenant and the Guardian Code set high, clear expectations from day one.

Every module ends in a field action: a letter written, a visit made, a checkpoint logged.

Weekly, monthly, and 12-week rhythms, plus 6/24/48/72 and 30/90/365 checkpoints, build habits.

We start from real need: why the first 72 hours decide so much.

Concrete tools: letter templates, intake forms, checkpoint tables, the directory.

The goal is transformation for the person and the Waypointer, with leaders who raise up leaders.

1 Waypointer orientation · 2 Prime/Deputy/Associate Guardians · 3 regional oversight · 4 advanced.