The North Country Thresholds and Decisions course has graduated 200 men and women - all inmates at the Grafton County House of Corrections in Haverhill, New Hampshire.
The course includes a five-step approach, with volunteers working one-on-one with inmates to help teach them how to make sound decisions, set personal goals, and develop self-esteem.
Most of the inmates who participate in the Thresholds program are men in their early 20s. They sign up for the five-week program, which is offered twice each year, voluntarily.
The Thresholds program in Grafton County has been extremely successful. One indication of that success is that only about 34 percent of Threshold graduates end up back in jail following the program, compared to a recidivism rate of about 53 percent for the total population of the Grafton County Department of Corrections.
Thresholds and Decisions was developed by Dr. Milton Burglass in the 1960s and is now incorporated at prisons around the country, Darby said. Burglass, a former inmate, realized many in jail lacked the training to make good decisions.
The program involves one-on-one work between volunteers and inmates as well as group sessions. The course follows a five-step program over several weeks.
Anyone over 18 years old and not affiliated with the Department of Corrections is welcome to volunteer as a Thresholds instructor. The goal is to provide teachers for 10 inmates each session, and more volunteers are needed for the fall program, with training scheduled for Oct. 15. Volunteers come from all over the region and need to be able to devote time for two one-hour meetings each week, generally in the mornings.
At graduation, the program's teachers host a potluck supper for graduates and their friends and families. For many of the Threshold grads, the celebration marks the first time in their lives they've successfully completed something positive.