RE[ENTER] Project

Briefly about Freedom Gate Greece

Freedom Gate Greece is a non-profit non-governmental organization (NGO) located in Athens Greece. The purpose of the organization is to combat social exclusion of vulnerable social groups, as well as the psycho-social support thereof. Our work is concentrated on support of offenders and their families and we are particularly sensitized on issues concerning juveniles, at risk youth, prisoners’ children and Roma children, which all belong to extremely marginalized groups among youth and young people with fewer or more precisely, no opportunities in Greece.

Purpose of the project

The main purpose of the project is to train professionals and volunteers who work or wish to work in the correctional systems with offenders and ex-offenders concerning their integration in the society and the labor market. Within the project participants will exchange experiences and good practices concerning education, rehabilitation, integration, employment and support programs which are meant for offenders, ex-offenders and their families. The participation of prisoners in aforementioned programs can benefit to the restoration of appreciation and confidence of themselves, to the acceptance of the reality and the prevention of recidivism.

Necessity of such a project

In order for interventions within the correctional system to be effective, it is necessary for trainers to obtain knowledge of the framework in which programs and activities are implemented as well as to have the required competence and skills in order to implement them. Furthermore it is important to provide professionals who already work in the correctional system with appropriate tools in order to maximize the benefits of the training process for the prisoners.

Training
Participants will be trained and obtain knowledge of the following topics:
Theoretical issues: Prison as an institution, sentences, ethics, education
• Basic knowledge of issues concerning sentences (penology)
• Basic knowledge of the criminal phenomenon (principles of criminology)
• Consequences of incarceration (prisonization, stigma etc.)
• Exemption from stereotypes and prejudice concerning offenders
• Education in prisons
• Personal limits and ethics concerning work with offenders
• Personal security and elimination of risks

Good practices
During the training partners will share experiences of implementation of programs which include:
• Professional orientation and labor rights programs – good practices (e.g. creation of social integration cooperatives)
• Psycho-educational programs – good practices (e.g. anger management, moral discussion groups)
• Educational programs aimed at learning skills
• Programs based on peer support
• Preparation of prison visits for the minor children of prisoners
• Preparation of release
• Preparation of the family for reunion

Freedom Gate Greece intends to submit a project (Erasmus+ KA2 – Strategic Partnerships in adult education) and therefore we need experienced organizations which are active in the field of criminal justice and employment to be our partners.

Summary
There are needs for interventions in prisons in many countries and the main purpose of this project is therefore to fill this gap by:
• sharing knowledge and experiences and to map effective programs,
• to train trainers in order for them to be able to implement these programs on long term bases and
• to create structured training curricula which can be disseminated in countries which lack programs and training.
We hope that this project proposal has aroused your interest and we are looking forward to cooperating with your organization.