Oklahoma Partnership for Successful Reentry Minutes Board of Directors Meeting October 27, 2011 Great Plains Improvement Foundation 2 SE Lee Boulevard #200, Lawton, Oklahoma I. OPENING PRAYER, ATTENDANCE AND QUORUM: 1. John Pearson convened the meeting at 12:20 pm. 2. Attendance and Quorum Directors Present: In Person: John Pearson (Chair), Steve Gordon (Executive Director), Nancy Brock (Secretary), and Stan Basler. Via Teleconference: John Easley (Vice Chair), Rachel Foreman, and Tony Zahn. Directors Absent: David Lee and Debbie Price. Guest Present: Clint Castleberry, Programs Director, Oklahoma Department of Corrections. With a quorum of Directors was present, the meeting was ready to proceed with business. 3. Opening Prayer by The Rev. Nancy Brock II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES AND FINANCIAL REPORTS 1. Approval of September 29, 2011 Meeting Minutes (a) MOTION: Steve Gordon moved we approve the Minutes. Stan Basler seconded.. (b) The Minutes were unanimously APPROVED, with the following corrections, made by Stan Basler, to his comments recorded in Paragraph 4 on Page 2: (1) The Bridges program is not reentry-specific; and (2) Healing Communities is a reentry program, but the context of the original program does not involve victims in the manner in which we are proposing to include them. 2. Approval of September Financial Report (a) Explanation of Financial Statement and Balance Sheet, by Steve Gordon: (1) Cash Receipts and Expenditures (front side): We received significant funds in August, but mostly on behalf of others. We received $5,000 for the Healing
Oklahoma Partnership for Successful Reentry Page 2 Communities grant. PayPal receipts were mainly for the Stillwater Conference, and also for the Stillwater Bridges registrations in September. (2) Balance Sheet (reverse side): We have nearly $12,000 in the bank. But of that sum, $7,800 is committed; most of this is unspent money for the Bridges Grant. This leaves us with an OPSR Fund Balance of nearly $4000. (b) Discussion Re: The Healing Communities Grant: (1) Comments by Steve Gordon: The initial grant was for $10,000. But then, they learned they would receive only $5,000 initially, and then the remaining $5,000 six months later. So we have to make Healing Communities work during those six months that we won t have all the money yet. I think we should ask Ilinda Jackson to submit an amended budget on that. (2) John Pearson said he would speak to Ms. Jackson on this. (c) Approval of Financial Report: (1) MOTION: Stan Basler moved that we approve the Financial Report. Nancy Brock seconded. The Motion PASSED unanimously. 3. Introduction of Vice Chairman John Easley John Pearson proudly introduced John Easely as the new Vice Chair of the Board of Directors, and John Easley said he was glad to be on board. III. OLD BUSINESS 1. Report on Grant Proposal to Chesapeake Energy (a) Report by Tony Zahn: He talked to Teresa Role at Chesapeake. Teresa said they were most interested in possibly funding a Bridges workshop on criminal justice in the Fall of 2011. Debbie Price has a couple of days set out to work on that project. (a) John Pearson said we would let the Board know the result of this effort. 2. Other Old Business (There was none.) IV. NEW BUSINESS 3. Board of Directors and its Structure: Appointment of Board Structure Committee (a) Recommendation by John Pearson: I would like to see the Board grow, and grow in the way that the Board wants it to grow. I would like to see people recruited from around the State who are interested and can help us in various areas. But how large do we want to grow? Our bylaws are pretty open as to what we do. So I
Oklahoma Partnership for Successful Reentry Page 3 would like to establish a committee that would look at the structure of the Board and make recommendations, so we will grow in a purposeful and planned way. (b) MOTION: Steve Gordon moved that we form a Board Structure Committee which would make recommendations on the future structure of the Board, with John Easely as Chair, and with Tony Zahn and Stan Basler as additional Committee Members. Nancy Brock seconded. The Motion PASSED unanimously. 4. Sarkeys Foundation Forum Nov. 8-9th: Send Executive Director (a) Recommendation by John Pearson: I would like to consider sending our Executive Director Steve Gordon to the Sarkeys Foundations s Fifth Southwest Regional Leadership Forum on Nov. 8 and 9 in Norman, which is a leadership training event for non-profits. Also, the Sarkeys Foundation could potentially become a future funder for us. We would pay only registration costs, since Steve would be donating his time. (b) Comments by Steve Gordon: Training topics will include fundraising and sustainability. It costs $299, would be very helpful, and I would enjoy going. (c) MOTION: Stan Basler moved that we send Steve to the Sarkeys Foundation Forum and pay his $299 registration. Tony seconded. The motion PASSED unanimously. 5. Consider Establishing the Oklahoma League of Healing Communities (a) Recommendation by Steve Gordon: Steve proposed that we establish the Oklahoma League of Healing Communities. His purpose is to create a loose framework for any churches that may implement Healing Communities simply by downloading it from the Internet, independently from any participation in the Department of Corrections grant-funded implementation of Healing Communities. Then, if Healing Communities really catches on among Oklahoma churches, we will have anticipated that and will have a light structure in place to catch it, in order to become the central point of contact and e-mail blast source for it. I propose that we become the fostering organization for that until it get legs on its own. (b) Comments by Stan Basler: I have been in conversation with Dr. Harold Trulear, a seminary professor who founded the Healing Communities movement, who sent me the name of a Healing Communities church in Oklahoma City a National Baptist congregation. Mr. Trulear mentioned a local pastor, Pastor Dr. John Peoples, that he has already trained in Healing Communities. Have we ever talked to that person? It would be a courtesy to do so. (c) MOTION: Stan Basler moved that we table the concept of the Oklahoma League of Healing Communities to a future meeting and obtain more information before it is brought up again. John Easely seconded. The motion PASSED unanimously. The matter is TABLED. 6. Sponsorship of Western Oklahoma Reentry Conference Weatherford, Nov. 17 th (a) Recommendation by Steve Gordon: I propose that OPSR sponsor this event, which I am planning to put on, anyway. OPSR would incur no costs and would also be taking credit for my work. There will be paid registrations, and we hope to net
Oklahoma Partnership for Successful Reentry Page 4 about $1,000 from the event; the net funds would come back to OPSR and basically pay my salary for another month. (b) MOTION: Stan Basler was honored that Steve would do that and moved that OPSR sponsor the conference. John Easely and Tony Zahn seconded simultaneously. (1) Discussion by John Pearson and others: This event is for reentry in rural areas. The presenter has written a dissertation on that issue, and there won t be much cost, because he will be Skyped in to the conference. Steve had put an honorarium in the budget for him, and he is refusing the honorarium. We will also have other people there from O.D.O.C. as well as reentry practitioners from Western Oklahoma. We have never had a conference on reentry in rural areas, so far as we know. A break fast and lunch is included in the $45 reentry fee. We will have speakers coming from Lawton and from Enid. We re expecting about 35 people to attend, because it s new territory; they will represent churches and aftercare facilities in a broad a spectrum as possible. A couple from Cordell with a strong prison ministry will be there to give their testimony. (2) The Motion PASSED unanimously. 7. Information on Potential Grantwriter: Steve Gordon said that he has met Joan Barker, an independent grantwriter based in Oklahoma City, who has been writing nonprofit and government grants since 1975. Steve has invited her to come to an upcoming Board Meeting to learn about us. She is offering to come alongside us for free. She said that most organizations like us do not have a plan, and she finds it encouraging that we have one. 8. Proposed Reentry in Oklahoma System Model (the RIO System Model ) (a) John Pearson presented and explained a draft document entitled, REENTRY IN OKLAHOMA: The RIO System for Statewide Strategic Reentry, as follows: He and Steve Gordon are working on this, and it represents the beginning of their mapping out a dream they have for the collaboration of four organizations (1) the OPSR; (2) the Oklahoma Department of Corrections ( O.D.O.C. ); (3) the Oklahoma Association of Community Action Agencies; and (4) the Association of Reentry Professionals. Basically, it is a model of how these four organizations would work together to create a tightly knit network of reentry systems designed to make prisoner reentry truly work in Oklahoma. Kenny Holloway and Clint Castleberry, of the O.D.O.C. are studying it, believe it can be developed into a workable plan, and hope that the O.D.O.C. will become a part of it. So far, I haven t spoken about it to the Community Action Agencies. But I did send an e-mail to Brad Moeller (of the Association of Reentry Professionals), and he hasn t had a chance to react to it yet. Now, I am presenting it to you for your consideration. (b) Steve Gordon added the following comments:
Oklahoma Partnership for Successful Reentry Page 5 This has developed out of the Oklahoma Prisoner Reentry Initiative ( OPRI ) Model that was created with the Oklahoma Department of Corrections. By moving forward now to design the RIO System Model, we have an opportunity to operate ahead of the curve, and not behind, in Oklahoma s effort to design a comprehensive solution for coordinating our overall, statewide approach to prisoner reentry. The Model represents my effort to take some of John s ideas and roll them into a holistic model. It s a high level, general framework. (c) Discussion: Tony Zahn commented, On Page 2, it reads, We believe that the faith-based community has the opportunity.... But the Partnership includes more than faith-based communities. John Pearson and Steve Gordon replied that this document is an early draft. John Pearson said that we will continue to look at it as we move forward, and he requested the Directors to e-mail him with their concerns. ANNOUNCEMENT OF NEXT MEETING AND ADJOURNMENT 1. Next General OPSR Meeting: It will be held n Oklahoma City on December 1, 2011, from 10:00 A.M. until Noon, at the Attorney General s Office, in a large conference room with phone facilities. 2. Adjournment: John Pearson adjourned the meeting at 1:03 PM. Respectfully submitted, Nancy Brock, Secretary