Producing Mentors Through CA’s In-Custody Counselor Training Program
The value of assistance and support upon release from incarceration should not be underestimated. To help people successfully re-enter the community, Options arranges for post-release assistance in which candidates are picked up at the gate, provided with wrap-around support, services, and housing, and connected with graduates for internships at substance abuse treatment centers throughout California.
California’s First In-Custody Counselor Training Program
Options played a lead role in developing and implementing California’s counselor training program for incarcerated individuals—one that we believe to be the first of its kind in the nation. This curriculum prepares adults in custody to become certified by the state-recognized organization. The 2006 pilot program served as a model for the offender mentor certification program.
In this program, participants must face past traumas that they may not have ever confronted before. As spoken by one of the program’s counselors, “We didn’t sell out. We grew up.” That’s powerful, it’s a way forward, and the Occupational Mentor Certification Program is showing them the way.
More Help from Options Recovery Services
OMCP is just one of the programs you’ll find at Options. Participants also have access to these services:
With Your Help, We Can Keep Moving Forward
When you back Options Recovery Services’ efforts in the Bay Area, you’ll be helping people shackled by substance use disorder to break free and create good in the community. You are invited to discover the many ways you can get involved.