CASPER, Wyo. — Nineteen residents of the Casper Reentry Center celebrated their graduation from the state correction department’s Therapeutic Community program last week. Some have been in the system for over a decade, and some for violent, even deadly, crimes.
“Do not let your past define you,” Jeremy Jones, executive director of the 12-24 Club in Casper, told the graduation assembly on Thursday, Oct. 24. “The personal growth you’ve been cultivating in the TC program can follow you wherever you go. … Keep moving forward; pride, integrity and respect for your future self.”
Jones shared his own story of youthful self-concern, reckless behavior, legal trouble and missed opportunities that fueled more addiction before he got connected to the right people and tools, leading to 15 years of sobriety and his current position in the community.
“The thing about my own story is it’s not special,” Jones said. “It’s just what happens when people stay sober.”
CRC Director Jerry Ray Hughes Jr. said those who graduated TC last week are either coming up for parole or will transition into the Adult Community Corrections program, which occupies the other half of the CRC facility just west of the airport. GEO Reentry Services is the private company that manages the facility under a state contract.
The state TC program combines cognitive-behavioral interventions with communal therapeutic settings and is an accredited program through the American Correctional Association. The program can take six months or a year, depending on the person.
“Watch your character before it becomes your destiny,” graduate Joshua Rose told the assembly last week. “What we think, we become.”
Before the ceremony, Oil City News spoke to a group of seven TC residents who agreed that, for them, the “criminal mindset” and addiction mentality were inextricably linked.
“When you first come here you get a list of emotions,” said resident Russel Sitton. “We get good at identifying how those thoughts and feelings become our behaviors and actions. I’m 43 years old and this is the fundamental piece that’s been missing from my adult life. I wish I would have had some of this knowledge way back in the day.”
Resident John Kimbley agreed. “Some of the stuff being taught here should be taught in middle school. Every person on the planet goes through stuff like this, but some people are better at hiding it.”
“Or some people don’t start committing crimes,” said Herman Addison, one of the graduating members of TC.
“We didn’t realize how negative an effect we were having in our communities,” Sitton said. “It was just so normal to a lifestyle we were living.”
“When you’re living in addiction, you don’t care about anyone; you only care about yourself,” said resident Kevin Pino. He said he is serving out his third prison term. He said the TC community has helped him unwind the default posture of aggression that comes with the gang lifestyle, as well as the reliance on slang and other verbal crutches. He said it was all really a cover for
awkwardness and insecurity.
While serving this term, he says he learned to read, got a welding certificate and became head of the peer-managed department of behavior.
Those who advance in the program get leadership positions, as “elders,” in departments like laundry, kitchen, library, creative energy, medical, behavior and “barber.” The residents spoke at length in turns virtually uninterrupted by one another — elders can give tickets for “blurting out.”
“They hold each other accountable,” said Deputy Director of Treatment Vivian Whetham.
The structure, responsibility, therapeutic sessions and new gym equipment are all part of keeping the residents productive, Hughes said, adding that idleness and boredom are sure paths back to addictive mindsets.
Hughes has been the director for about a year, and the residents whom Oil City News spoke to said they appreciated his approach.
“I’ve been in this facility three or four times and this is probably the best director I’ve seen,” said resident Cody Sylvester. “He’s military, he’s got that standard that we’re all family, part of the squad.”
The group agreed that they especially appreciated the new gym.
“He’s not unwilling to spend GEO’s money for our benefit,” Sylvester said.
“When you treat them right, they start losing that prison mentality,” Hughes said. “I was a drill sergeant, so I know how to treat people when they’re still adults but not knowing what to do in life,
and how to motivate them to do things.”
With six combat deployments during a 25-year career in the Army, Hughes says he can relate to the challenges of reintegration after being away from family for an extended period of time. “You have to start over every time you come back. You come back and everyone’s different,” he said. “What helps is [knowing] you can’t do it all at once. It’s steps.”
Hughes said some of the TC residents transition to the ACC side, where residents get work release and family passes for special occasions. They are always tested for alcohol upon return, and there are two drug tests a month, at least. Hughes said there used to be 30–40 hot UAs a month; now there are about two.
He said some of the ACC residents brag to him about holding down their first job in a decade, even if it’s only for $10 an hour. Residents also get training in financial literacy. Casper College staff come out to the facility past the airport to do high school equivalency training, and Celebrate Recovery comes out for spiritual services.
“When you have a spiritual belief system, you have purpose and legacy, and this will help you stay sober,” Whetham said. “I always tell the guys, ‘I don’t care who you worship, just find something to believe in that’s going to keep you alive.’”
Pino said he knows the challenges of going back out into the unstructured world. It might include setting boundaries with friends and even family members in active addiction: “‘I gotta love you at a distance,’ and that hurt my heart,” Pino said. “I understand what my mom was feeling like when I was running the streets.”
Pino said having a sponsor ready to go was going to be critical for him and his peers getting out.
“If you’re not getting a support team and calling them right before you hit that gate … then, you know, I pray for you. … If you don’t have those accountability buddies and people that are backing you up, it’s going to be hard, man.”
Resident Ken Cooper agreed: “I believe all the things we receive here we would also receive if we just got a sponsor when we got out. Somebody to keep you keep accountable and remind you on the tough days, ‘Hey, don’t give up,’ ‘Hey, this too will pass.’ … That’s my problem: I’ll give up before I fail.”
Sitton said everything he’s learned has showed him a way to satisfaction that his old lifestyle never could.
“When you create a life you can be proud of, and everything is in balance, the rewards come innately from that,” Sitton said. “Then you don’t need all that instant gratification. And you don’t have to look over your back all the time. The chaos has dissipated.”
