Phases of Advancement

How Our Program Works

The Dismas House Residential Reentry Program is divided into four phases depending on the time at Dismas and progress in attaining certain benchmarks stipulated by a resident’s case management team in their care plan. Each phase has certain benchmarks and if the care team determines the resident has not accomplished these during his monthly evaluation, then he will remain in the appropriate phase until he has met all the benchmarks. Thus, the “days” associated with each phase are only applicable when the resident successfully meets his benchmarks.

The Four Phases

  1. Healing Phase I: Days 1-30
  2. Building Phase II: Days 31-60
  3. Growth Phase III: Days 61-90
  4. Transitioning Phase IV: Days 91 until departure

All incoming residents begin in the “Healing” Phase (or Phase I) of the program for the first 30 days upon arrival. During this phase, residents do not work or pay any fees (except for a $150 refundable security deposit for non-RHP grant recipients) and focus is spent on adjusting to a non-carceral environment, getting orientated to the campus, and regular meetings with their case managers. Residents work with case managers to identify and address, in part, medical and emotional needs, financial goals and legal needs. If a resident successfully meets his Phase I goals by day 30, he can move to Phase II for days 31-60, and so on for phase II, which is days 61-90, and the final transitional phase, which is days 91 to the time the resident leaves the Dismas program. With each successive phase, residents gain more privileges, and less programming requirements allow residents time to pursue work and education goals.