JCAP Documentary Series Begins Sunday On Facebook
July 17, 2020 at 12:44 a.m.
JCAP Documentary Series Begins Sunday On Facebook
By David [email protected]
Now a series of three short documentaries is going to provide the public with an intimate look into JCAP. The filmmakers – Mason Geiger and Matt Deuel – spent five months capturing the program on film.
The 2-1/2-minute trailer debuted on the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page at 4 p.m. today. The first episode is about 14-1/2 minutes and will debut Sunday with episodes two and three going live July 26 and Aug. 2, all at 8 p.m.
JCAP Coordinator Courtney Jenkins said, “Our goal is to give the community a glimpse at what we get to witness every day.”
There’s a moment in the trailer where a participant says he doesn’t want the drug life anymore, and it makes Jenkins feel emotional every time she sees it.
“So many of our participants feel that way. They don’t want this life. They come into jail and they’re relieved. They’re so grateful to just have no ability to be able to use. They just want to breathe and just start to put their life back together, and we work really hard to try to give them those tools – whether it’s the recovery tools or the life skills tools. We want them to feel supported and encouraged and that they can do this,” she said.
“And I think that these videos will give the community a different perspective on addiction and on just how hard it is to break that cycle, but we have amazing organizations in our community that come along side of us and work with these individuals and encourage them and support them. Not just during the program, but when they leave here as well.”
Some of the organizations that lend their support include The Beaman Home, New Life Christian Church, Lifeworks Counseling Center, Core Mechanical, Warsaw Adult Education, True Purpose Ministries and more.
“Grace College is partnering with us for a fantastic class. They’re doing a logistics certificate program with our men that gives them a nationally-recognized manufacturing logistics certificate, so they can take that with them when they go to a job interview and say, ‘I did this,’” Jenkins said.
Purdue Extension Office provides the participating inmates with ServSafe classes, and the individuals graduate with ServSafe certificates so if they go into food service, they’ve got “extra oomph” to help them get a job, Jenkins said.
Human Resource Directors Vicki Cook and Heather Desenberg teach job readiness classes. “They help the guys through the application process that can be really overwhelming for our participants because there’s two questions on there that they’re really get hung up on. One of them is explain the lapses in your work history, and the second is, have you ever been convicted of a felony? And so they coach them on how do you answer that question appropriately without spilling your whole life story and it being overwhelming,” Jenkins said.
Participants also are giving mock interviews so they actually get to see what a real interview is like and are prepared.
Mindy Wise, from the Purdue Extension Office, does a job readiness class called INWork and helps the participants put together a resume.
“And at the same time, we’re giving those HR directors and those hiring managers an opportunity to come into the jail setting and sit down with inmates and see that these are great people. And it gives them this perspective of, ‘You know what, I would hire that guy,’ and maybe they hadn’t considered it before because all they had seen was the application and there’s felony marked on it, so they overlook it for somebody else. This way, maybe they’ll take a second glance at that and give them an opportunity,” Jenkins said.
For the first time since JCAP started in fall 2018, men’s and women’s programs are running simultaneously thanks to a grant from the K21 Health Foundation. They are the third program for the men and for the women.
“We’re really excited. It’s a ton of work, but it is so rewarding to be able to have both the men and women receiving services at the same time,” Jenkins said.
Except for Jenkins’ salary, JCAP is 100% funded by donations and grants.
“We are incredibly lucky that way. Our budget is very, very tight, but we’ve been able to make it work and we have really great people in our community who have stepped up and donated to our program because they believe in it,” she said.
When Kyle Dukes took over as sheriff in January 2019, Jenkins said he brought her in.
“We’ve worked really hard to grow the program from the initial kind of three hours a day that it was, for three months” to what it is now, she said.
The program of classes goes six to eight hours every day, with scheduled breaks, for a full four months. “This go-around, we have really been able to build amazing community partnerships,” she said.
As an example, she highlighted the Introduction to Construction class provided by Core Mechanical.
“They actually approached us and said, ‘Hey, we do this class on Wednesday evenings for the community. We have limited class sizes. ... Would you be interested in us coming in and doing this for your (participants)?’” Jenkins said.
The class is 14 to 16 weeks, two hours a week, and includes everything from construction basics to safety. “It’s quite comprehensive,” Jenkins said, adding that it could be the first step to the participants working their way to a career in construction.
To get into JCAP, Jenkins said it’s an application process. The jail inmate has to fill out a pre-application, which includes why they want to be in JCAP and their criminal charges. Jenkins screens through them and looks at if they have enough time to complete the program and what their next steps are. Those names are then taken to a committee that includes the prosecutor, work release, probation, community corrections, the sheriff, jail commander, Jenkins and a jail sergeant.
“We just sit down and we go through and we try to find the best candidates for the program. It seems like with 275 inmates back there it would be a really easy process to pick from, but unfortunately a lot of people don’t have enough time or they don’t have drug and alcohol charges or maybe they’ve got too much time. Our goal is to find people who are ready to go back into society. Our goal is to never put someone back into general (jail) population,” Jenkins said.
There’s no benefits to the program: no guaranteed sentence modification, no time cut for being in the program, no perks in the jail block.
“But if they generally want help and want recovery, they’re willing to put the work in, and it is a lot of work. They have to be up, they have to keep their block clean, they have to be showered and teeth brushed before the first instructor comes. All classes are mandatory, except the spiritual classes because we can’t make those mandatory, but for the most part everyone always participates in the spiritual classes because we have such great people that come in with pure general care and concern and love,” Jenkins said.
Participants in the JCAP blocks are expected to not have the “jail mentality.” They’re not out for themselves and there is zero tolerance: If they get in a physical altercation, they’re immediately removed from the program. They are not to have contact with general population.
“They’re there for a specific purpose,” Jenkins said. “... It’s very interesting, just over the course of the first couple weeks of the program, to see the dynamic in the block shift and how everyone comes together. They truly do become a family. They look out for one another.”
Now a series of three short documentaries is going to provide the public with an intimate look into JCAP. The filmmakers – Mason Geiger and Matt Deuel – spent five months capturing the program on film.
The 2-1/2-minute trailer debuted on the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page at 4 p.m. today. The first episode is about 14-1/2 minutes and will debut Sunday with episodes two and three going live July 26 and Aug. 2, all at 8 p.m.
JCAP Coordinator Courtney Jenkins said, “Our goal is to give the community a glimpse at what we get to witness every day.”
There’s a moment in the trailer where a participant says he doesn’t want the drug life anymore, and it makes Jenkins feel emotional every time she sees it.
“So many of our participants feel that way. They don’t want this life. They come into jail and they’re relieved. They’re so grateful to just have no ability to be able to use. They just want to breathe and just start to put their life back together, and we work really hard to try to give them those tools – whether it’s the recovery tools or the life skills tools. We want them to feel supported and encouraged and that they can do this,” she said.
“And I think that these videos will give the community a different perspective on addiction and on just how hard it is to break that cycle, but we have amazing organizations in our community that come along side of us and work with these individuals and encourage them and support them. Not just during the program, but when they leave here as well.”
Some of the organizations that lend their support include The Beaman Home, New Life Christian Church, Lifeworks Counseling Center, Core Mechanical, Warsaw Adult Education, True Purpose Ministries and more.
“Grace College is partnering with us for a fantastic class. They’re doing a logistics certificate program with our men that gives them a nationally-recognized manufacturing logistics certificate, so they can take that with them when they go to a job interview and say, ‘I did this,’” Jenkins said.
Purdue Extension Office provides the participating inmates with ServSafe classes, and the individuals graduate with ServSafe certificates so if they go into food service, they’ve got “extra oomph” to help them get a job, Jenkins said.
Human Resource Directors Vicki Cook and Heather Desenberg teach job readiness classes. “They help the guys through the application process that can be really overwhelming for our participants because there’s two questions on there that they’re really get hung up on. One of them is explain the lapses in your work history, and the second is, have you ever been convicted of a felony? And so they coach them on how do you answer that question appropriately without spilling your whole life story and it being overwhelming,” Jenkins said.
Participants also are giving mock interviews so they actually get to see what a real interview is like and are prepared.
Mindy Wise, from the Purdue Extension Office, does a job readiness class called INWork and helps the participants put together a resume.
“And at the same time, we’re giving those HR directors and those hiring managers an opportunity to come into the jail setting and sit down with inmates and see that these are great people. And it gives them this perspective of, ‘You know what, I would hire that guy,’ and maybe they hadn’t considered it before because all they had seen was the application and there’s felony marked on it, so they overlook it for somebody else. This way, maybe they’ll take a second glance at that and give them an opportunity,” Jenkins said.
For the first time since JCAP started in fall 2018, men’s and women’s programs are running simultaneously thanks to a grant from the K21 Health Foundation. They are the third program for the men and for the women.
“We’re really excited. It’s a ton of work, but it is so rewarding to be able to have both the men and women receiving services at the same time,” Jenkins said.
Except for Jenkins’ salary, JCAP is 100% funded by donations and grants.
“We are incredibly lucky that way. Our budget is very, very tight, but we’ve been able to make it work and we have really great people in our community who have stepped up and donated to our program because they believe in it,” she said.
When Kyle Dukes took over as sheriff in January 2019, Jenkins said he brought her in.
“We’ve worked really hard to grow the program from the initial kind of three hours a day that it was, for three months” to what it is now, she said.
The program of classes goes six to eight hours every day, with scheduled breaks, for a full four months. “This go-around, we have really been able to build amazing community partnerships,” she said.
As an example, she highlighted the Introduction to Construction class provided by Core Mechanical.
“They actually approached us and said, ‘Hey, we do this class on Wednesday evenings for the community. We have limited class sizes. ... Would you be interested in us coming in and doing this for your (participants)?’” Jenkins said.
The class is 14 to 16 weeks, two hours a week, and includes everything from construction basics to safety. “It’s quite comprehensive,” Jenkins said, adding that it could be the first step to the participants working their way to a career in construction.
To get into JCAP, Jenkins said it’s an application process. The jail inmate has to fill out a pre-application, which includes why they want to be in JCAP and their criminal charges. Jenkins screens through them and looks at if they have enough time to complete the program and what their next steps are. Those names are then taken to a committee that includes the prosecutor, work release, probation, community corrections, the sheriff, jail commander, Jenkins and a jail sergeant.
“We just sit down and we go through and we try to find the best candidates for the program. It seems like with 275 inmates back there it would be a really easy process to pick from, but unfortunately a lot of people don’t have enough time or they don’t have drug and alcohol charges or maybe they’ve got too much time. Our goal is to find people who are ready to go back into society. Our goal is to never put someone back into general (jail) population,” Jenkins said.
There’s no benefits to the program: no guaranteed sentence modification, no time cut for being in the program, no perks in the jail block.
“But if they generally want help and want recovery, they’re willing to put the work in, and it is a lot of work. They have to be up, they have to keep their block clean, they have to be showered and teeth brushed before the first instructor comes. All classes are mandatory, except the spiritual classes because we can’t make those mandatory, but for the most part everyone always participates in the spiritual classes because we have such great people that come in with pure general care and concern and love,” Jenkins said.
Participants in the JCAP blocks are expected to not have the “jail mentality.” They’re not out for themselves and there is zero tolerance: If they get in a physical altercation, they’re immediately removed from the program. They are not to have contact with general population.
“They’re there for a specific purpose,” Jenkins said. “... It’s very interesting, just over the course of the first couple weeks of the program, to see the dynamic in the block shift and how everyone comes together. They truly do become a family. They look out for one another.”
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