In a small room at the county probation office, a group of men and women listen to one man share his story of his time in prison, the friends and family he hurt in the past, how his life has gotten better and how he is still struggling.
He finishes and steps out of the room, while the group discusses if he truly took ownership for his past and was being honest. They agree, and he comes back to a round of applause, signaling he completed the first step of the 12-step program.
The meetings are part of a program the county recently began using with offenders on probation called Moral Reconation Therapy, a cognitive behavioral program for people who have committed crimes, many of whom struggle with addiction issues.
The program has one of the highest success rates among programs the Indiana Department of Correction uses, and is also having success locally, probation officer Hanna Cottingham said.
Since starting in October 2016, 31 people have gone through all 12 steps and successfully completed the program, and 19 are currently enrolled, she said. Another 47 people have not successfully completed the program, for multiple reasons, including violating their probation.
The goal of the program is to change the way offenders think, having them take responsibility for their actions, and hopefully change their lives, and officials are hopeful based on what they have seen so far, Johnson County Community Corrections Director Jason Cranney said.
Some judges have sentenced people to the program as part of their probation, and in lieu of treatment, especially if they have been through treatment before, she said. The county currently has four facilitators who can teach the program and wants to add more, Cottingham said.
Since completing the program earlier this year, a Greenwood man has gotten a job with a glass company and is spending time with his 2-year-old son again.
Austin Glenn was convicted of drug charges and sentenced to spend more than five years in prison. He served more than a year. While there, he enrolled in the purposeful incarceration program, which is geared toward offenders who struggle with addiction, and was able to get a reduction in his sentence. Once he was released, he started the local MRT program.
He started classes a few months after his release, and was ready for a change, he said.
“You figure out what you have done. I was a drug addict, and I thought it was no big deal, but it is,” Glenn said.
The program forced him out of his comfort zone. He had to talk in front of a group of people he didn’t know, he had to really think about how his past had impacted everyone in his life and he had to participate in activities that required him to examine his lifestyle, including an accounting of how he was spending every hour of his day, he said.
The idea behind those discussions is that discomfort strikes change, Cottingham said.
And the goal is to get offenders to change their mindset and their way of thinking, she said. One of their top rules is no victim statements, or putting the blame on someone else, so that each person takes responsibility for their actions, she said.
“If you take that blame-the-victim statement out, all you have left is what you’ve done,” she said.
And for many people, they have never looked at their life from that different perspective, she said.
For Glenn, the class had him set realistic goals for the next year, 5 years and 10 years, which he had never done before, he said.
And he has already achieved some of those, including buying a vehicle, having money in his savings account and buying new furniture, instead of hand-me-downs, he said.
The class was a confidence builder, Glenn said. People further along in the program help those who are just starting, which required taking charge, he said.
“It gives you another chance,” Glenn said.
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The county is using a new program to try to help change offenders’ mindset:
What: Moral Reconation Therapy, or MRT, which is a cognitive behavioral program
Who: The program is geared toward people who have been convicted of a crime and often struggle with addiction.
How many: So far, 31 people have successfully completed the program, 19 are enrolled and 47 have not successfully completed the program.
What’s next: The county hopes to train more facilitators to run the program so more people can get help.
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