Blog Post: Step Out Approved and Renewed™ (SOAR™)

It has been one of my great privileges in life to be a volunteer instructor for the SOAR™ Program, sponsored by Prison Fellowship . The Step Out Approved & Renewed™ Program is the creation of William Anderson, the Executive Director of Prison Fellowship Arizona. The program helps inmates build a solid faith foundation while developing critical skills and relationships needed to re-integrate into the community. The SOAR™ program uses small teams of volunteer Transition Coaches during the inmates’ pre-release phase and then matches them with Bridge Churches™ in their local release area, to assist and support them in their transition from prison into the community.

I have been presenting employment skills workshops based on the TEaMS (www.teamsaz.org)  ex-offender curriculum for the past three years.  We have presented workshops at Lewis, Perryville and Florence Prisons. My experience with the inmates has always been positive. It is great to see men and women trying to make good of a bad situation. 

I have on several occasions received phone calls and e-mails’ from SOAR™ participants who, upon release were ready to go to find employment. They are a special group and most of my employers have been thrilled with hiring them. I know it is easy to do nothing while in prison. The SOAR™ program participants chose to use their time while incarcerated to make improvements in their lives and become better people for it. 

The workshops have been large and small, but one recent workshop comes to mind that was held at the Florence West facility. The last group that I taught there was about 12 or so men. However, the group this month was closer to 35 men. The reason I was given was that the men had been encouraging others to come to the workshop so that they could get the skills they need to find work. The inmates recognize that employment is important upon release and are willing to learn what is needed to be good employees. This is not lost on the employers I work with. When an inmate is participating in a program like SOAR™ they know that the inmate is making an extraordinary attempt to do what is right and will make a good employee upon release.

I have told my clients for years that employers do not expect perfect and fault free employees. However, they do want employees who are accountable. Being able to see past wrongs and then make a decision to do something to change themselves is a factor that is important to employers. I understand this in my own agency. I do not have any perfect employees on my staff. They, like me, make bad judgment calls at times. What I do expect is for them to be accountable for their actions. That is, not to blame circumstances or others for their actions. I then expect a plan of improvement so that we can avoid doing the same thing again.

Employers, keep an eye out for these SOAR™ graduates, they are going to make great employees. They may not be perfect employees but if they are like the men and women I teach they will be accountable and loyal. That is a quality that all employers want and value.