NEWS AND EVENTS
In the news:
Turnabout’s new division: Faith BUILDings Alliance- August 1, 2009
One of the most successful nonprofit agencies in the state has launched a new program to bring green to religious sectors of all kinds, and to businesses and individuals who wish to invest in the growing demands of the new energy economy.
The Rev. Tina Yankee, Executive Director of Denver-based Turnabout Inc., says the Faith BUILDings Alliance program will upgrade energy efficiency in existing churches, synagogues, temples, schools and other faith owned buildings while working to pass along federal tax credits and other monetary incentives to private sponsors and investors. At the same time, the program will provide new jobs in the energy sector for many people in need.
Turnabout currently provides counseling, training and job placement within the energy sector to parolees, young adults, veterans and other target groups. As executive director, Yankee realized through steering her agency’s mission that most older religious buildings are woefully lacking modern energy-saving systems and techniques. The result is many thousands of dollars lost in wasted energy – dollars that could be saved and passed along to the program’s partners while benefiting us all by reducing the carbon footprint.
Yankee’s plan calls for partnering with individuals and private businesses to help provide a financing structure to refit existing tax-exempt buildings with wind, solar and other renewable energy systems, and in some instances simply retooling existing structures to be more energy efficient. Much of the funding for the new program is expected to come from government grants, for which Turnabout, Inc., has become a major choice of the U.S. Department of Labor through its years of nonprofit service. The nonprofit is an outreach of Trinity United Methodist Church, and has for years proved through independent certified audits to practice transparency in all of its financial dealings.
Yankee began with Turnabout in 1997, and has become a leader in energy issues within the faith-based community. She also has served for many years as a community pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America/Our Savior’s Lutheran. She says Faith BUILDings Alliance program is particularly exciting because it will pioneer ways for private companies and individuals to do business with religious organizations while creating new jobs and promoting one of the countries fastest growing and most important economic sectors. She currently is seeking partners from all areas of private business and labor organizations, religious institutions/judicatories, government programs, educational facilities as well as other nonprofit groups in regard to applying for funding from the American Renewal and Recovery Act or other sources.
In the news:
Turnabout, Inc. Relocates to Historic Church
Warren Methodist Church, 1630 East 14th Avenue, has become the new home of Turnabout, Inc. The relocation needed to be proceeded by a renovation project which began in the summer of 2008. Channel 4News stopped by to cover the story of this historic church being updated during one of the earlier work days in the process. Most of the remodeling work was done by clients who volunteered their time to give back to Turnabout. A video that aired on August 2, 2008 can be seen via this link: http://www.cbs4denver.com/video?id=44891@kcnc.dayport.com. Though the finer renovation touches continue Turnabout, Inc. has inhabited their new site since April 2009. This New Year brought with it the addition of a computer lab. Turnabout clients will now be able to apply for jobs on line, develop and update their resumes, and research the backgrounds of potential employers without having to leave the agency.
METRO DENVER WIRED INITIATIVE
In today’s global economy, regions around the world compete for the high-wage jobs that drive economic growth and prosperity. As the economic dust settles and economies begin to grow again, the regions that are best at developing talent with a capacity to innovate will be the most successful at attracting and incubating the companies that can produce 21st Century goods and services, including: the most energy-efficient modes of transportation, the drugs to eradicate cancer and heart disease and the technologies to clean our air and water and deter terrorism. With its talent base and industry clusters, Metro Denver is well situated to be one of these regions around the world where companies and institutions create the most advanced technologies and residents provide the most competitive talent. (WIRED in Action, 2010). The Rev. Tina Yankee, Executive Director of Turnabout, Inc. foresaw this truth, applied for and was awarded a grant of $285,000, funded by Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development (WIRED), the U.S. Department of Labor and Employment, Metro Denver Economic Corporation, and the City and County of Denver’s Office of Economic Development.
The grant focuses on providing Turnabout clientele with the training and placement services needed in order to enter into the booming energy field that has become such a presence in the Colorado job market.
Annually, Turnabout provides over 1,500 individuals with job
assistance and related support services. In 2007, studies of
data from 300 intensive clients served through various programming
revealed that more than 80% have become gainfully employed
taxpayers and supporters of their families and that recidivism
rates range from 5% to 17%. In contrast, the state of Colorado’s
annual recidivism rates ranges from 36% to 50%.
TURNABOUT USED WIRED FUNDS TO SET ITSELF UP FOR THE FUTURE
WIRED helped fund Turnabout’s “Rays of Hope” program to serve the needs of employers in the energy industry and to utilize energy-related job opportunities as a pathway out of poverty and into success for some of Colorado’s most disadvantaged job seekers – individuals with non-violent criminal histories. Rays of Hope promoted long-term success through mentoring, case management, and renewable energy fields.
Turnabout was successful in spite of the current economic crisis by thinking outside the box. Turnabout partnered with industry, religious organizations, and other nonprofits to develop a market for energy efficiency services. Turnabout helped found a “think tank” of more than 40 significant leaders in the “green movement,” and formed the Faith BUILDings Alliance (FBA).
FBA created a formal program that assists leaders of churches and other faith buildings with installation of renewable energy systems and improved energy efficiency measures. As part of the solution Turnabout found a third-party financing mechanism, as well as companies willing to hire Turnabout clients after their hands-on, real-world training.
The FBA program is a win-win-win: Members of faith buildings can save thousands of dollars through energy savings; Turnabout clients have a way of getting the training and real-world experience they need to land industry employment; the energy efficiency and renewable energy companies in the region have access to a pool of talented labor to support their business growth.
Turnabout’s level of care and guidance for its clients has helped them experience a high degree of personal growth and achievement. According to Turnabout, the Colorado Department of Corrections has an average recidivism rate of 40 percent. At of the end of Turnabout’s WIRED grant, none of their Rays of Hope clients have recidivated (WIRED in Action, 2010).
For more information, please call, Turnabout, Inc., at 303.813.0005 and ask for Rev. Tina Yankee or Kris Dafni, or email us at: info@turnaboutprogram.org
In the news:
Governor Bill Ritter in State of the State address, January 11, 2007
“Let’s talk for a minute about public safety. I spent a career being tough on crime, trying to be smart on crime. Now we have to smarter than ever. Our social compact and our responsibility as government leaders to keep people safe demands it. And so does our budget.” He continued noting his selection of Judge Weir and Ari Zavaras in public safety and corrections positions, “making recidivism-reduction a top priority of these two departments. If we can prevent someone from re-offending, that’s one less victim. More than half of DOC inmates wind up back in prison within three years. That’s simply an unacceptable number. The costs are spiraling out of control and eating into our ability to fund education and health care. We can do better here in Colorado, and we’re going to.” He also noted, “Developing programs that allow inmates to successfully re-enter society.”
In the news:
From Sue Windels: State Senator, District 19 – February 2007 (www.suewindels.com )
“Dear Friend: We’ve got a big problem! Our prisons are full. They’ve hung out the “No Vacancy” sign. Colorado’s prison population has grown from 11,577 inmates in 1996 to 22,012 inmates in 2006. Colorado’s Department of Corrections budget was $63 million in 1986 and grew to $585 million in 2006.
In 1977, Colorado incarcerated 89 inmates per 100,000 residents compared to 438 inmates per 100,000 residents in 2004. In 1984, we spent 2.6% of our state budget on Corrections and it now takes 8.6% of our General Fund Budget.”
Follow the above link to view other topics within this article: “Prison population growing.” “Why do we have such exploding prison population growth?” “Prison Reform.” “Bottom Line = Money.” “What are our priorities?”
New Statistics
U.S. Prison Statistics- a record 7 million people- one in every 32 U.S. adults- was behind bars, on probation, or on parole by the end of the year 2005. Of those, 2.2 million were in prison or in jail. [1]
Colorado Prison Statistics
Colorado currently operates 24 prisons
January 26, 2006
28,243 persons under the jurisdiction of the CDOC (increase of 604%, since 1980)
1992-2004 Colorado average annual prison population growth 7%, exceeds national average, 4.3%
Three primary factors to growth of prison population:
Increasing Sentence Length and Mandatory Sentencing- House Bill 85-1320 (the Mielke-Arnold Bill), doubled maximum sentences for all felonies, average sentence length increased by two-thirds, average length of stay has increased by 40%
The War on Drugs- The number of people sent to prison for drug offences has increased 476% (1987-2001), drug offenders are the fastest growing category of felons in Colorado prisons, 50% of those serving time for drug convictions were convicted of simple possession, as of 2004, there were 3932 people in prison for a drug offense, costing taxpayers over $106 million annually.
Legislation Requiring Mandatory Parole and Increased Revocation Rates on Parole- In 1993 the Colorado Legislature passed a law requiring all felons who were sentenced on or after July 1,1993 to serve a period of mandatory parole when they were released from prison (even if they serve everyday of their sentence). 28% of people who were sent to prison were revoked for technical parole violations- this means that a procedural violation occurred, but no new crime was committed.
Cost of Incarceration-
From fiscal year 1985-86 to 2005-06, appropriations to the DOC grew from $57 million to $533 million. Compound annual growth rate of 11.8%.
DOC General Fund appropriations are 8.6 of the state operating budget. In 1991, the General Fund limited their annual growth rate to 6%.
The average operating cost per state prison bed is $27,840. The average cost of construction is $83,360 per prison bed. The state will need an additional 8000 prison beds by 2011 to keep pace with the population growth.
Odds of Going to Prison for Males Born in 2001 are 1 in 17[2]
[1] Washingpost.com, Associated Press, Friday, December 1, 2006: Page A03
[2] www.ccjrc.org, Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition, Colorado prison Facts, 2006