facilitators. Since there are only two outside facilitators," we never have time for a Training for Facilitators Workshop-we just throw them in at the deep end and they usually do very well."

How can AVP/USA help our region?

Keep the Facilitators' Discussion Network interesting and useful. The National Meeting is very invigorating and keep advertising it on the web site and the TRANSFORMER so that we can recruit more of our facilitators to attend.. We want to learn new exercises, new ways to lead old exercises and other improvements for our workshops. Of course, we can use financial support.

Midwest Region report (compiled March and April, 2005)

Submitted, Joann Perry April 21, 2005

AVP – South Dakota

Springfield appears to have the only active AVP group with other AVP facilitators clustered around Virginia and Sioux Falls. SD requires 8 hours of volunteer training annually and is most probably going to increase it to 40 hours a year. AVP may not be supportable if that becomes the new policy. Springfield is holding 5 workshops (all Basics) per year but is enthusiastic about new outside facilitator and a few inside facilitator transfers from Sioux Falls to Springfield. Requests for AVPUSA include doing our own data entry and assistance with press releases (handled). They are hoping to add another 5 workshops per year with their new outside facilitator. Currently have 3 active outside facilitators and 5 active inside ones.

AVP – North Dakota

Bismarck has the only AVP program, with four workshops per year. The facilitator base includes four active outside facilitators and an unknown number of inside ones. They do both Advanced and Basics but allow on the job training for the T4F. Community involvement and commitment continue to be a problem, they’d like help with Youth programs (gave them website data and HIPP information), they’d like transportation funds assistance to get cross-training, they love the Transformer. They’ve got a program every two weeks, called ‘extended AVP’ on issues of non-violence that they’re excited about.

AVP – Wisconsin

There is no active program in Wisconsin, both of the two facilitators do workshops in Minnesota. Nothing is planned for right now but that may change.

AVP – Illinois

There is no active program in Illinois, only facilitator is checking with Friends’ community to see if there’s any new interest again. She would like AVPUSA to contact churches and other groups in Illinois to see if there is any interest in prison ministry, such as AVP. If anything gets generated, she’ll require transportation funds for assistance.

AVP – Ohio

I have not been able to find a single program in Ohio for AVP still functioning, I’ve contacted Yellow springs, Dayton, Cincinnati, Columbus and others and while some people got back, the news was not good. The former inmates I spoke with were very interested in getting an AVP group started but there doesn’t seem to be the energy for it right now. I wasn’t able to reach Teresa Tyson (the AVP Midwest rep for years) but people seemed confident that once she was back in the country, things would pick up.

AVP – Kentucky

There is no active program in Kentucky. Two facilitators want to get it started but are waiting for perhaps another year (retirement and other issues, like the war) and will then need facilitators and help with transportation. They requested we continue to stay in touch and that I field questions and requests to a specific person in KY.

AVP – Indiana

There is no active prison program in Indiana, although there has been a full set of community workshops over the past two years. Stan Zarowin has brought new energy and is working hard to get a program started in Richmond. Stan would like Indiana and Chicago inquiries fielded to him.

AVP – Illinois

Illinois has no program as far as I can determine and I haven’t been able to connect with anyone by phone or letter.

AVP - Minnesota

Minnesota has five prisons active, if the men and women’s workhouses are considered separate facilities. There are approximately 100 inside and 100 outside facilitators but there have been problems getting outside facilitators active this past year. There are approximately 42 workshops on the inside per year, involving a minimum of 12 participants and 3 -5 inside facilitators. Most community workshops have been cancelled this past year (3 have happened) due to lack of participants. MN is adding another support group at one of the institutions, bringing the number to four (3 prison and one community) which happen every week to every month, depending on where. There is a determined effort (video, television, newspaper advertising, etc.) to bring more of the community into the AVP fold but is not really yield fruit. Data collection has been completed for the effectiveness study. We’re actively involved with the Restorative Justice committee at one prison doing RJ projects and a weekly circle as well as one day workshops on RJ. AVPUSA can help by doing national advertising, funding for participation (instead of charging), get foundations to sponsor scholarships, Oprah, give us ideas on how to grow our facilitator base.

AVP – Maine

Maine AVP appears healthy and growing. We did 20 workshops in 2004 with 214 individual inmates. We trained 21 women at Windham correctional and 4 at Cumberland County Jail to be facilitators and most of them have hqad an opportunity to apprentice as co-facilitators and they are actively doing workshops. This brings our facilitator numbers to 13. We are all doing a lot as you can see.

One delight is that we have five men in training who are moving along with a new program at Windham for men. We seem to have put Bolduc Pre-Release center on a back burner in favor of a men’s program at Windham. Bolduc can only schedule us mid week and we compete with their active work program for participants and have a distance / scheduling problem for our facilitators.

Financially we have a strong yearly funder who provides $2000 toward our program; we got a two year grant from the Maine Women’s fund to support the Windham Women; and Obadiah Brown Benevolent und has give us a matching grant. Organizationally, we meet quarterly on a weekday evening for planning and business and that has increased attendance and allowed us to mesh schedules for workshops. Our growth has been from people who are committed to non violence and are seeking expressions of that to exercise in the world. We are aware of other groups in Maine such as Peace Action, Maine who are partners in this concern.

Tracy Booth

AVP – Rhode Island

Rhode Island is AVP inactive.

AVP - Connecticut

Connecticut may be reported at the April 16 Barddleboro meeting.

AVP – Massachusetts

AVP is occurring at 4 facilities:

SBCC Correction Center: Shirley MA, maximum, 4 workshops in 2004, none in 2005 yet, due to illness and overextention.

MCI Shirley Medium: Shirley MA, 12 workshops per year

MCI Concord: Concord, MA, 6 workshops in 2004

NCC Concord Farm: 2 workshops in 2004, 1 in 2005 so far,

AVP is maintaining but not thriving.

AVP – New Hampshire

Report on Goffstown, NH Women’s prison AVP – April 2005

After canceling two workshops in 2004 due to lack of facilitators, I decided to cut back from 6 workshops a year to 4. The first one was held in Feb and graduated 9. The next one was supposed to be the end of April and is an Advanced, the first to be held in a while. I will have to schedule that one in June when a facilitator is available.

In late 2004, I experimented with having the workshop all day Sat, Sun and half the day Monday, rather than the Friday to Monday schedule that has always been in place. The results were all positive and none negative so workshops at Goffstown will be Sat though Monday. Saturday is a much easier day to find space, peace and quiet and get people’s attention without the numerous activities scheduled for Fri.

I have one inmate facilitator. I would like to find someone else to take over the administration of the program and just facilitate. Any other offers will be considered.

Judy Brophy

Lakes Regions Facility at Laconia for the year 2004

January 30 – February 1, 2004

Men’s Basic workshop, Facilitators – John Rogers and Charlotte Fardelmann with insider Mark French. Seven inmates completed and one outsider Lynn Durham.

Women’s Basic workhop, Facilitators – Mary Alice Warner, lead and Nancy River. Seven women completed.

April 30 – May 2, 2004

Men’s Basic workshop Facilitators – Randy Kezar and Mary Alice Warner, with insiders Joe Emerson and Mark French. Seven men completed.

Women’s Basic and Advanced (Some women had done Basic and wanted Advanced, yet we couldn’t be sure we had enough for two groups, so they did some different exercises and the facilitators felt they could credit them with a second level workshop). Facilitators – Hazel Zimmer and Anthe D. Atthas. Seven women completed Basic, and six women completed Advanced.

I am experimenting with weekly sessions at Lakes Region, which has now a relatively short-term program for pre-release men. I have held 4 2-hour sessions, and plan one more next week before some of the men will move to another unit. I plan on scheduling 6 weekly sessions next time. Attendance has bee consistent.

Mary Alice Warner

New York Area Report for 2004-2005 to AVP USA:

On April 30^th 2005 AVP NY celebrated 30 years of AVP in NY prisons at Eastern Correctional Facility in Napanoch, NY. About 30 outside volunteers were hosted by 15 inside facilitators. Dick Nethercut, President of AVP USA was among those who attended and witnessed a facility where the Superintendent, Deputy of Programs, Director of the Catskill hub of Volunteer Services and the staff advisor to AVP all celebrated with us in our circle with AVP inside and outside facilitators. The men inside had even prepared a special meal, which was so much like home cooking that we couldn't believe we were in prison. It was a special day of community building, sharing and affirming each other. We had a special memorial reading of Luther Sanders poems and distribution of his book to everyone there. Many of you may have also celebrated the occasion with us.

2004 was an interesting year for AVP NY. Fortunately the number of prisoners across New York State continues to decline, as more and more prisoners are released on parole and fewer and fewer men and women are convicted and sent to prison. As the prisoner population declines, the number of security guards and program personnel of DOCS (Department of Correction Services) is reduced accordingly. Across most of the prisons where we are active we perceive new pressures to reduce workshop hours for volunteer programs, including AVP. While we can find no reference to any official initiative or change in the goals of DOCS that might inform formal complaints, our area councils and the Statewide Board Council who are directly responsible for the oversight of AVP workshops are keenly aware of new hurdles imposed by DOCS.

For the calendar year we recorded 187 workshops and awarded 2,672 certificates of completion

to participants in 2004. Providing these basic, advanced and training for facilitators workshops

required approximately 10,288 hours by outside (civilian) facilitators and approximately 14,883

hours by our inside (prisoner) teammates.

Here is my summary of the past couple of years:

'02= 218 total workshops (16 community; 5 school and 197 prison);

'03 = 154 total workshops (15 community; 15 school and 124 prison (biggest decrease in prison

workshops);

'04= 187 total workshops (24 community; 12 school and 151 prison workshops.

Though 2003 saw a large decrease in prison workshops, last year we gained back some ground,

increasing the prison workshops by over 20%. We also increased community workshops and

trained over 20% more apprentice facilitators. We are hoping that with our "trust in the AVP

process", we will regain our numbers up to the '02 level when DOCs was allotting more time for

our volunteer programs.

In March 2004, we received a generous bequest in an AVPer's will that, added to our endowment investments in a socially responsible mutual fund, brings the total endowment to $135,042. Income from the endowment investments increased our operating income this year by $1142. Even so our total income, net of this bequest, was down by $8582. Though we reduced expenses for 2004 by $5483, net of that one time bequest, there was an unfavorable impact of $3754 to our unrestricted operating balance. For the 2005 budget we reduced our expenses and reduced our income expectation, working toward a break even position.

Looking to 2005, our program goals include:

reporting to local prison officials when there is an inappropriate action of a
prisoner that puts the AVP program at risk at that facility.

B. Renewing our efforts to work in person with DOCS executives in Albany to address
the mounting concerns and issues experienced at many facilities across the State that negatively
impact AVP.

C. Working through the many transition issues that face ex-prisoner AVPers upon
release and arrival home, primarily via Landing Strip, the twice-monthly support group that
meets at 15 Rutherford Place.

D. Establishing a program using our endowment funds to provide loans for just released
prisoner AVPers to help cover initial housing expenses when the only alternative is living in a
shelter.

E. Reviewing possible revisions to our corporate bylaws that reflect and guide our
practices in place.

SOUTHWEST REGIONAL REPORT

YEAR 2004

LOS ANGELES

AVP-LA has re-grouped this year.  We've experienced bureaucratic difficulties in our work inside the Youth Authority in Chino which prevented us from doing workshops for around a year.  We are scheduled to begin again in June, and hope that we have enough volunteers to sustain an ongoing program there.  

Our desires to have a vibrant program are hampered by the limited time and energy needed for an all-volunteer program.  Because of that, our chapter is "seeing where the energy leads us."

In 2004, we did a community basic, advanced and 1 T for F.  We did 2 basics inside the Youth Authority in Chino and 1 advanced.

SAN DIEGO

AVP San Diego can report four workshops in Tijuana and Tecate, Mexico during the past year. There were Mexican facilitators trained, but I don't have those numbers. No workshops reported in San Diego, however, a new cooperation with HOP/AVP looks promising.

HAWAII

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