Participation Rules/Guidelines

The guidelines which follow apply to both the organizations and the applicants. Organizations should become knowledgebale of these guidelines. The applicants are given a copy of these guidelines with their questionaires.

General Guidelines

Correspondence Guidelines

Donations of Materials

Contact/Interaction Suggestions

FC Team Forms to help you Connect

What if I am a DOC volunteer?

Applicant/Organization Rules

We have been given the privilege to work this process with the applicants by the State of Iowa. It is very important that we treat that privilege with respect. The State, by policy, does not have to allow what we are doing.  Much work has been done to bring this process to the State level.

Fellowship Connect has established the following guidelines for FC team interaction with applicants. These guidelines are in place as a strongly suggested method of interaction. The FC core leadership team has many cumulative years of experience within the correctional environment. These guidelines allow healthy interaction and fellowship while also establishing limitations that are often necessary with this type of activity. The guidelines below apply to both the organizations and the applicants. FC Team members should become familiar with these guidelines. The applicants receive a copy of the following rules. Applicants understand the need for these guidelines. Any known deviation from these guidelines by an organization or applicant should be reported through the website to the FC leadership.

Please see the Contact/Suggested Method of Interactions page for suggestions about how to interact and incorporate the applicants into your organization’s activities.       

Printable Version - Guidelines

Contact/Interaction Methods Page

Submit a Question to FC Administration

 What if I am an active volunteer in the prison system?

General Guidelines

Disassociation from Organization/Applicant

Fellowship Connect will not recognize any activity outside the scope of these guidelines and reserves the right to disassociate itself from any organization, group, individual or applicant which is conducting or allowing activities which are not in the best interest of the applicant or which may bring discredit to our organization, the State of Iowa, or any other affiliations.

Expectations

Applicants and organizations should be realistic in their expectations. The general rule for expectations follows: Do not expect anything. The network is made up of people. People who will try their best to provide resources that are available. Fellowship Connection works toward networking with groups that are comitted to this process.

To the applicant: 

Fellowship Connect asks that you do your best to appreciate and be thankful for whatever is done to help you. We hope that you will use those resources to better your life and place yourself in a position for furthur success. Teams may only be able to provide transportation to activities or possibly only written encouragement and support. Teams establish their own parameters of how they will help the applicants.

To the organizations, groups and ministries: 

Fellowship Connect asks that you recognize that the purpose of the network is to help people. Those people may or may not stay connected to your organization, be interested in what you have to say, accept specific types of help, or be interested in what your group has to offer beyond the immediate help you provide. What you DO may help them change their lives forever. You will see successes and failures. Individual success and failure are a part of the work you will be doing and you should be prepared to see both of these happen with those you work with.

Team Level Interaction

Interaction with the applicants must be on a complete team level.  Upon leaving incarceration and until the applicant is established in your group for a period of time, the minimum number of people working in a situation involving the applicant after they leave incarceration should be at least two.

Same Gender Interaction

Organizations that have chosen to work with both male and females should ensure that they have enough team members of those genders in place to adequately fulfill that obligation. In non-group activity situations same gender rules should be established. 

Levels of Help

Your local team should establish parameters pertaining to the levels of help you are willing to provide to the applicants and how you will receive those individuals into your groups upon release. These should be realistic to your situation and agreed upon by the entire team. Teams are encouraged to help the applicants in tangible and practical ways. There should be a consistent method for this type of activity that is maintained as the team works with different applicants. It is also recommended that FC Teams become familiar with the practical resources listed on the website and through the State of Iowa and their local counties and encourage the applicants to use those resources.

Financial Help   

Applicants are prohibited from asking participating organizations, groups or individuals for financial help during the time of their incarceration. If a request is made it should be reported through the website to the administrators of Fellowship Connection.

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Correspondence Guidelines

All General Guidelines are applicable to the Correspondence Process.

Materials

You may respond with materials pertaining to your ministry, and with other card or letter forms.  Individuals may write as part of the team process, but personal addresses are not to be used. All correspondence from team members should have a return address for the organization that the team is a part of.  Samples follow:

FCT Divorce Care/Hope Church

Your name here

13689 Recovery Lane

Des Moines, IA 50317

FCT Celebrate Recovery/Grace Church

5463 Recovery Lane

Waterloo, IA 51245

Keep Correspondence Limited

It is suggested that your FC Team chooses 2-3 people from the team for correspondence with each applicant. If too many people are involved in the process it can put an unnecessary burden upon the person to write back. Sometimes their resources are limited. Multiple letters in one mailing may be rejected by the institution. All incoming and outgoing mail is processed by staff.

All correspondence must be ended with the senders full name.  

Team Level Contact

The correspondence process is to be used as a method of connecting the applicants to the overall activities of your organization.

Pictures

Pictures are to be limited to those of organization or group activities only. No Polaroid type pictures are allowed.

What is not allowed?

It’s best to keep it simple. Institutions will reject some things. Avoid sending in publications of any sort, or multiple pages printed from the Internet. They cannot receive packages of any sort, or items in the mail.  Stickers are not allowed on envelopes or letters. No plastic wallet cards or bookmarks.

What you can send

Cards, post cards, letters, organizational pamphlets, flyers or newsletters. Small clippings of articles or stories. Paper bookmarks or wallet cards.

What can I write about?

There are so many things you can write about! Pretty much just about anything you would write a friend about. You could write about the big snowstorm, the kids, your interest in cats, motorcycles, sewing, or maybe the sermon from last Sunday.  A good book you’ve read or some encouraging scriptures. Did you go to a concert or an event? Maybe send a postcard or card.  Just keep it positive, uplifting, and encouraging and it will work out great. Maybe there’s a small encouraging poem you know of.  Put them on your mailing list for your groups quarterly newsletter. Talk to them the way that you would any other person who is new to your organization or group. It’s best to leave it up to them to open up about why they are in prison. We don’t generally ask everybody who comes into our churches to describe their last major failure, so we should treat them the same way. There are many creative ways we can be a blessing to them.

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Donations

Donations of materials are not accepted for individuals. Donations are accepted on an institution and chapel level. Your organization can be a great blessing to the applicants in this way. If you have an item or items that you feel may be useful please see the Instituion Information pages on this website for a list of current needs and contact numbers.

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There are many creative ways in which you may wish to incorporate someone into your organizations activities. This is obviously not an exhaustive list. Please be considerate of the Guidelines for Fellowship Connect in any other activities you may consider.

Suggested Method of Contact/Interaction

Contact Record Sheet started

Pre-Release Contact – Welcome Card sent

Correspondence with team

Visitation at Institution

Initial Contact after release

Materials detailing activities provided

Two Follow-up calls per week for one month

Other Suggestions - Review Level of help guidelines

Welcome home activity/gathering

Invitation out to eat of for coffee

Invitation to a major event, gathering or concert

Connection to groups or activities related to your organization

Invitation to gender specific activities

Transportation needs met

Connection with possible job resource

Help with Teen/Children situations

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This program was created as an enhancement to what many volunteers are already doing. Fellowship Connect's purpose is to enhance those processes and create more. Changes are being made at the state level within the Volunteer Policy to allow for an on-going mentoring process between the GROUPS and the participants after they leave incarceration. This involves the connection of that person to your GROUPS activities. This has been a concern of many DOC volunteers we have talked with. The new policies pertaining to this are below. The Fellowship Connect process is considered an approved process for this. Remember that even if you are not a Fellowship Connection team member, you can encourage a group of people in your organization to start a team and work this process with applicants. Although the policy has been changed, procedures must be written at the institution level. Many of the procedural changes have not yet been made. If a new volunteer or group is interested in the mentoring process, this must be included with their application. If an active volunteer or group is interested, they should check to see what the current procedure for making this request is. Institutions will accomplish this at the institution level.

We are also trying to get approval for the inmates to have a volunteer group listing on their visiting list. This would allow volunteers and those who are mentoring them to seek visiting approval and meet with them during visiting days.

Current DOC Volunteers still must seek approval from the institution for any type of mentoring process. But mentoring is NOW written into policy at the state level, whereas before it wasn't.

Policies - Will be added at a later date