INCMI offers a Youth Built version of the course during the beginning of the summer for Young Adults who are mentee’s in the projects we serve and interested in becoming peer mentors called the Young Adult Perspective Project (YAPP). Students from the professional and young adult programs also participate in workshops, film screenings and policy events that are designed to help build a professional network and a base for collective ongoing criminal justice change organizing efforts.

They are supported by assigned mentors who work to provide case management to justice impacted youth to achieve their goals of continued education & professional development. YAPP offers various levels of career paths for Young Adults and retains members who work to train Young Adult Peer Providers across NYS through alternative to incarceration Academies that provide mentoring & support with Credible Messenger mentors.

Our firm belief in Human Resilience shapes our program operations and participant engagement that are strengthened when youth and front-line staff play a role in programmatic decision-making.

• We utilize risk and needs assessments that are valuable tools to tailor services and guide individual case management.

• We provide services to participating youth’s family members helps to stabilize their home lives and support success in programs.

• We insist on Investments in staff professional development, technical assistance, and cross-site collaboration to enhance service delivery, but additional training and resources are needed to support data collection and monitoring.

• we focus on post incarcerated leaders first, far too often those most marginalize are further discriminated in the workforce, we pride ourselves in prioritizing directly impacted persons first.

Incarcerated Nation-C.M.I

Young Adults credit the experience with helping them to develop a support network, heal, recognize their strengths, and develop a greater sense of their capacity to give back to their communities. Several students reported improved interpersonal relationships and a young woman remarked that the program made her “a better mother as well as professional mentor to young adults” Our early outcomes from our first cohort of Young Adults were all released from probation early, additionally they were awarded continued education at Harlem Clemente & Columbia Justice in Education Scholarships. The Majority of the Generation Summer 2 cohort were appointed to the NYS Governors Raise the Age Task Force, Work as Young Adult Credible Messengers with CPNYC, Young New Yorkers and were trained with the Youth Speakers Institute & Youth Represent as well as the Raise the Age NY campaign.

INCMI has a unique training program for Young Adults called the Young Adult Perspective Project (YAPP). INCMI members remain on as mentors until employed to work in the field INCMI members are employed to provide community support and be visible deterrents of violence while addressing their root causes with the community. A credible messenger mentor supports young adults in a lifetime contract that expands well past college placement & stable employment. INCMI is a project of Incarcerated Nation Network that trains and employs Young Adult Peer Providers through the YAPProject. These training’s prepare young adults for work in the public health fields as Young Adult Peer Providers.– Young Adult Perspective Project (YAPP) is a multi-platform production company made up of all directly impacted Young Adult Credible Messengers who are appointed to several progressive youth boards. YAPP trains Young Adult Peer Providers as well as services for young adults surviving under community supervision & correctional control.

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• More details about Incarcerated Nation Credible Messenger Institute

• More details on our about our belief in human RESILIENCE & how healed People, Heal People

INCMI core 1000 course

THE FIRST 16 WEEKS OF TRAINING INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO:

Unit 1: Principles of Restorative Practices

The curriculum starts with an in-depth training on Restorative Practices. In this first section, students will learn to utilize these principles as they build group cohesion and begin the process of healing. Most have belonged to community organizations that provide this historical content of restorative justice. Often demonized by capitalistic influence these lessons derive from a community based norms of survival & identity. Students will learn about oral story-telling using their own life experiences as a pedagogical narrative. This sharing enhances rapport-building and connectedness and lays the foundation for the idea that credible messengers can foster positive transformation in others through a critical understanding of their own lived experience. This section will require students to write their stories which will help them develop their communication skills. They will also learn how to create lesson plans and lead activities that create group cohesion among the youth they serve. This unit will conclude with a three-day retreat where mentors continue to learn skills, where Credible Messengers will continue to develop their problem-solving skills and learn activities that they can use at their agencies to foster group cohesion.

Unit 2: Foundations of Healing

Many Credible Messengers have undergone the abuses of the justice system in addition to having experienced significant trauma from early childhood into adulthood. Healing is essential. In this section, students will explore how prior ordeals influence their present behaviors and how healing is critical to recovery and leading a healthier, more productive life. The goal in educating Credible Messengers in the principles and practices of mental health and wellbeing, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), & trauma-informed care, is to help them become healthier so they can be a strong, reliable resource for the youth they mentor. This section takes mentors through a journey of youth centered incarceration and what can be done to expel these norms.

3: Understanding Historical Trauma

Understanding the history of current policy and practices of mass incarceration in the U.S. is essential for Credible Messengers in grasping how the dominant culture has criminalized and traumatized them. This gives them the critical framework to be effective advocates for their mentees and become people who are part of the movement that create alternatives to imprisonment. We will also study the history of social justice movements in the U.S. and explore ideas about how to further the alternative to incarceration movement that is being led by post incarcerated leaders who possess direct experience. In this section Credible Messengers will learn critical thinking skills, and criminal justice advocacy.

Unit 4 Foundations for Youth workforce development

This section will provide opportunities for students to demonstrate the skills they’ve gained from the course and shift the focus from their own healing to how they work with young people. This section covers the core tenets of youth development and working with young adults. Participants will also discuss adolescent brain research and how this understanding of how young people make decisions, evaluate risks and rewards, and relate to peers and others can help them work with young people and to appreciate their own personal development through the creation of trauma informed academies & internships that last the span of traditional incarceration sentencing allows the programs to be impactful as alternatives. This unit will include principles of case management and a review of motivational interviewing and other engagement strategies. Participants will work in small groups to design a lesson plan based on a need or skillset they have identified as necessary for their peers or mentees. They will conduct research, gather resources and develop a lesson plan. Participants will present their plans at the final Circle Session.

Unit 5: Workforce Readiness

This section will also cover employment related topics, such as presentation, identifying personal skills and attributes, employer expectations, and job interviewing and career planning. INCMI has developed a 37 part job reediness training class , youth once certified in this training can be contracted to provide this workshop to other young adults and programs in need of professional development post-employment It will also encourage participants to consider the mission and culture of their organization, and provide coaching in communicating and working with supervisors. INCMI has several Academies that youth can seek further specific training for employment & support. (see page 10)

Healed People, Heal People

Healed People, Heal People ,We see the main focus of the INCMI program as training students in trauma-informed care. We believe the best way to do this is to engage in our own healing process. In this section, credible messengers are recognized as and referred to as healers. As young adults we refer to them as Peer Providers. We begin by taking the restorative practices framework and combine it with lesson plans we adapted from research done by psychologists Kenneth Hardy and Tracey Laszloffy, we combine these principles with the Non Traditional approach developed by the Black Panthers & other CBO groups during the civil rights era. These practices are based in cultural beliefs put into practice. Peer mentoring has been the greatest tool within the work of abstaining substance abuse, these peer mentors only work if they have direct experience that empowers them to view life from the lens of the impacted person they work to support.

These very points is what drives our Peer Provider programs to success. We believe trauma can lead to violence. We see by engaging healers in their own healing process we in turn are helping mentees heal from past trauma. When mentees heal we reduce violence, recidivism, and improve quality of life for the young people we serve. These core concepts of Devaluation, Erosion of Community, Dehumanized loss and Rage are first introduced in the course as tools for participants to better understand themselves and their experiences. These same concepts are then used by credible messenger mentors in working with others. The most extreme human abnormality we believe is violence. “Violence involves a willful action (or inaction) that results in the intentional infliction of harm or injury” (Kenneth V. Hardy). When human behavior produces violence to ourselves or others, we have lost our humanity.

We see violence as permeating our society - poverty, war, genocide, slavery, mass incarceration, suicide, racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia are all acts of violence. These forms of violence harm not only our bodies but also our emotional and psychological well-being. Given, that most Credible Messengers are from impoverished backgrounds, are people of color and have been incarcerated, they have likely experienced multiple forms of violence and thus trauma. Following psychologists and authors of Teens Who Hurt, Kenneth V. Hardy and Tracey A. Laszloffy, we examine factors that lead people to violence. In Teens Who Hurt, Hardy and Laszloffy identify four aggravating factors contributing to violent behavior: Devaluation; Erosion of Community; Dehumanized Loss and; Rage. Devaluation occurs when an individual or group’s dignity and worth are assaulted or denigrated. Erosion of community occurs when someone has no place where they feel they can belong or feel connected to others in a meaningful way and nowhere that they feel safe and secure. Dehumanized loss occurs when a person has unacknowledged, unmourned and thus unhealed loss.

Rage isn’t just violent expressions of anger; rage is a normal human response to feelings of injustice, and the better our understanding is of rage, the better we are equipped to reduce acts of violence.

Erosion of Community

Community can be defined in many ways. We believe community is where people feel a sense of belonging and connection with others in a special way. It is where people learn who they are and develop a sense of identity, their place in the world. Somewhere people feel safe and comforted. A strong community teaches people how to care for others and negotiate complex human relationships. A strong sense of community can buffer one from devaluation. Those with disabilities may not easily have access to community to buffer the devaluation they experience whereas able-bodied people of color can come together and feel pride and positive affirmation. To be alienated from community, is to be alienated from one’s humanity. How does this alienation happen?

Community can be divided into three levels, primary community, extended community and cultural community. Disruption in any of these can cause trauma. Your primary community is generally understood as your immediate family: guardians, parents, siblings. When parents physically and sexually abuse their children, it is a devastating form of abuse because it disrupts the primary community of family and increases the likelihood of violence. Neglecting children can also cause such disruption of primary community. Divorce, separation and death can also disrupt a child’s primary community. One’s extended community includes one’s neighborhood or town, schools, houses of worship, community centers, etc. Disruption of ones extended community can occur because of harsh economic conditions, poor schools, war, mass violence, natural disasters, bullying and social ostracism. One’s cultural community can be disrupted by racism, sexism, class-ism, able-ism, homophobia, Islamophobia etc. It is critical that all these levels of community and any potential disruptions be understood by healers in order to effectively work with our men-tees.

Dehumanization of Loss

Unacknowledged, unmourned, unhealed loss is the third aggravating factor for violence. When people do not mourn their losses, they lose a part of their humanity. Loss can be understood both as tangible loss and intangible loss. Tangible loss is generally understood as the loss of something or someone physical. Intangible loss includes loss of respect, dignity, hope, voice/agency, etc. Young adults today experience the highest levels of unhealed trauma from death & violence than any other generation before. There are more people of color incarcerated then there was slaves in the 1800’s. with 80% of poor communities living with a family member who is incarcerated loss is imminent within this population. One should examine and explore what types of losses your men-tees suffers from.

Common losses that are important to be aware of include loss of a hero. Losing someone you idealize either because of death or shame cannot be minimized; it can be a critical aspect of one’s sense of community. Loss of a romantic partner can significantly impact adults and its need to be taken even more seriously with adolescents. Remember it can be their first experience in loving someone outside of their immediate family.

Divorce even when done with the child’s needs recognized can still create a sense of loss. It is critical to allow the child to mourn the loss of the family they once knew. Death has a finality which comes with much loss. A funeral may not be sufficient, especially for a child to mourn a loved-one’s death. Neglect also causes feelings that go unacknowledged and trauma ensures. 17 Loss of physical safety is common for youth in urban areas damaged by poverty and violence. Sometimes a house-fire or burglary can cause a loss of physical safety among children and adolescents. Other forms of loss to notice include loss created by moving, loss of friendship, and loss of economic security. It is also important to note that losing physical abilities can be particularly devastating, especially if a person got most of their positive affirmation from the now diminished or absent ability

Rage

‘Rage is a justifiable emotion “- Saj Rahman - Director of ITM at The New School Rage is something we all have come to fear. Rage is often seen as synonymous with violence. While suppressed anger can be the cause of rage, suppression of rage is what actually leads to violence. Rage is experienced when one feels great injustice and seeks revenge as an act of justice for the original harm. Rage is a righteous emotion. Anger is immediate, rage builds over time with devaluation, disruption of community, and dehumanization of loss. It is easy to identify explosive, externally directed rage which is evident through yelling, breaking things, and physical violence.

Silent, externally directed rage may require longer to identify as it requires more trust and relationship development, allowing for the free expression of violent ideation. Pay closer attention to loners or social outcasts as they experience devaluation and erosion of community, it may be critical to find pathways to re-channel their rage. Silent internally directed rage can be seen by bruises, cuts and often other physical markers on the body, which is more common among girls and women. Girls are told to suppress rage or any expression of anger at all. Boys are encouraged to express rage while simultaneously told it is bad. While women attempt suicide more often, more men commit suicide (American Foundation of Suicide Prevention).

Suicide is a form of violence that our society has yet to adequately address and as healers we must recognize the early signs of self-harm. 18 Rage is a defense against vulnerable emotions such as grief, shame and fear. As healers we cannot be afraid of rage. Of course we need to ensure our own physical safety as well as that of others working with us. There are basic steps we can take to minimize risk. Allow men-tees to feel entitled to their rage. If we can safely allow the expression of rage, then we can get into the deeper issues affecting the men-tee.

Tapping into these vulnerable feelings may incite more rage initially. It is critical to stay calm, show understanding and allow the client to express their rage. Once one starts tapping into the deeper issues hidden underneath the rage, which inevitably reveals feelings of devaluation, erosion of community and dehumanized loss. When the men-tee starts to recognize the origins of their rage, we healers must use this opportunity to introduce pro-social activities that can re-channel rage such as sports, hobbies, music, social activism, etc.

Historical Trauma

In this section we examine some of the policies and practices that are used to discriminate against and assault African-Americans and other marginalized groups. Our focus is specifically on state violence or state sanctioned violence against marginalized peoples. From chattel slavery to its modern day equivalents, we examine the ideological factors required to create and enforce oppression. We then come to our modern prison system and explore its relationship to chattel slavery using the 400 years of inequality project by Dr. Mindy Fulilove at The New School Center for New York City Affairs. As we explore violence we look at our history:

America was built on the deaths of Africans and Indigenous peoples. It is estimated that the violence of slavery caused tens of millions of African deaths. While the numbers vary based on different historical research, Africans were a critical piece in building American wealth. Africans provided the labor necessary to build this new country. Indigenous peoples had to be removed from their lands to make way for the new European settlers. Indigenous populations were wiped out of the Americas with estimates ranging from 80-100 million native deaths. Genocide was the tool that built America. War, displacement, disease, the slaughter of indigenous peoples and the destruction of their societies opened up the land for settlement and exploitation of resources. Violence has remained a critical component of American culture. Violence pollutes all aspects of our society. The first American 12-reel film- Birth of a Nation by D.W. Griffith- depicts enslaved Africans as barbaric, stupid and sexually aggressive towards white women. These stereotypes still are present in the American psyche today and have influenced the stereotypes of African Americans and been used to justify their continual enslavement.

It is precisely the criminalization of people of color that provides the justification for incarceration, enslavement and genocide. American culture glorifies violence in video games, television, music, sports, magazines, literature and in our history books. We look at lynching, where public displays of dead black and brown bodies were normal during Jim Crow. During this period, attending a lynching was considered entertainment like going to see a baseball game. Then we look at the Milgram and Zimbardo experiments to understand how “normal” people are encouraged to be violent and abusive to others. We also examine the social factors that lead to such behavior. Understanding how other groups have been marginalized and oppressed is critical to understanding societal devaluation and how these systems conspire to hurt and divide us. We look at the similarities and differences in how Chinese, Japanese, Mexicans and women of all ethnicities have been “othered” and abused.

We challenge healers to think about the relationship between state violence and domestic violence. We look at how we as a society are complicit in mass violence. Finally in this first semester, we explore youth led contemporary social movements. We look at income inequality and how it relates to racism, sexism, class-ism, able-ism and environmental injustice. We challenge healers to think about justice: what it means to create social change and discuss - what are the most effective ways for us to heal our society from injustice, because injustice is violence