Featured Program

Mentoring

Through the 1st Step Mentoring Program, we get to show our guys an attractive lifestyle outside of drugs and alcohol. Most of our mentors are in recovery or formally involved in the court system themselves. Yet they are also successful, positive men who help 1^st Step participants navigate through everyday life events. They tell 1^st Step participants, “I have been exactly where you are right now. I’m just like you!” And then the mentors help participants achieve, at times, what can seem impossible.

We hold monthly mentorship events. 1^st Step young men work very hard at changing their lives. The mentorship events are an opportunity to have fun together and build bonds between participant and mentor. We play paintball, go see a concert or sporting event, or just have fun together. Our goal is to help these young men learn to trust again and build relationships outside of their old toxic environment and peers. 1^st Step’s original mentoring program model encountered challenges, but with this model participants are eager to participate. As one said, “I am so glad my mentor is part of my life.”

Class Update

Parenting Class

One of the first steps on the habilitation journey of 1^st Step participants is completing a parenting class. In June 2022, 1^st Step incorporated into its program Parenting Inside Out (PIO)®, an evidence-based, cognitive-behavioral parent management skills training curriculum for justice-involved parents. It has been shown to reduce recidivism and criminal behavior while improving parenting knowledge and practices. PIO® uses social learning theory to teach cooperation and problem-solving in the context of learning parenting skills, helping parents promote healthy child adjustment, preventing child problem behavior, and building resilience in children.

Almost 50% of participants in the 1^st Step Male Diversion Program have children and given the age range of participants (18-30 years of age), it is likely the remaining 50% will become fathers shortly after Program completion. 1^st Step participants typically come from chaotic childhoods characterized by absentee parents, parental incarceration, parental substance use, violence, and abuse. They suffer from substance use disorder and mental illness. Many are high school dropouts. Their model and knowledge of parenting is woefully inadequate and distorted. The 1st Step Male Diversion Program gives these young non-violent felons the opportunity to become successful fathers and partners, as well as productive members of society.

The Parenting Inside Out course, consisting of 24 1-hour group sessions, is conducted by a staff member from Family and Children’s Services. 1^st Step greatly values its collaboration with this significant Tulsa non-profit, and appreciates the critical information imparted to 1^st Step participants.

Goal

20 Bed Residence

Thanks to building plans developed by architect Jeanie Kvach and architectural renderings created by architect Whit Todd, 1^st Step Male Diversion Program has a wonderful vision of an exciting 20-man residence it will begin building as soon as it identifies a building site. The new structure will be a barndominium- attractive, functional, and designed to meet our specific needs — for about $106 per square foot.

The parcel of land 1^st Step will purchase will enable us to build a gated and secure compound. It will allow us to consolidate resources and reduce the cost of 1^st Step services provided to participants. Future plans include additional smaller housing units, classrooms, offices, recreational areas, and gardens.

The growth of our program has been stymied because we have not had enough beds to house the number of men that the justice system refers to us. Throughout 2021 we actively sought additional residences- apartment buildings and houses- to purchase. At every turn, we were unsuccessful in obtaining a reasonably priced residence. As a result, we started looking for land on which to build. We withdrew our bid on a 16-acre parcel of land due to problems with liens and outstanding IRS taxes. The search is continuing.

Accomplishments

1st Step Participates in Zarrow Mental Health Symposium

On September 28, 1^st Step Executive Director David Phillips, 1^st Step Clinician Dan Duffy MD, and 1^st Step Program Director Lindy Myers joined more than 800 participants at the 2022 Zarrow Mental Health Symposium “Exploring Family Constructs”, as presenters at one of the 54 breakout sessions scheduled over the 3 days of the virtual conference.

1^st Step’s topic, “Strengthening Tulsa Families: Bringing Father’s Home” outlined 1^st Step’s strategies, practices, interventions and resources for trauma-informed psychoeducation and behavioral change support with the goal of restoring healthy individual and family dynamics for 1^st Step participants. More than 50 attendees joined the 1^st Step breakout session and engaged in animated discussions following the presentation.