I have written twice of my desire to attend a program called “Life Connections Program,” [LCP] : Decisions, Decisions (Life On The Inside – Part 4)  and Done. And Done..   This program is faith based and is offered at two institutions, but not in the one I am currently.  One of the locations that offers the LCP is closer to my wife by about a three hour drive time. The other institution that offers LCP is 13 hours from my wife; one way.  Going to the second institution would severely limit her visitation frequency due to the longer drive and added costs of such a trip. Currently, she visits once a month but at the farther institution she would probably only visit twice yearly.

I turned in my paperwork in mid-March and it was not processed until the first week in August. I have no idea why it has taken so long to be sent to the overall program coordinator other than pure laziness on the part of my case worker.

What is a case worker? It’s the individual who is tasked with helping an inmate to grow and succeed during their incarceration. My case worker does not appear to be competent or motivated to do her job. Otherwise it would not have taken 4.5 months to process the paperwork and get it to the LCP lead.

So what’s my status?  I’m frustrated.  I am still waiting for a reply concerning being accepted or rejected and if accepted, to which institution are they wanting to send me. It’s causing a great deal of anxiety for me.

And why do I carry all of this anxiety?

When my case worker finally decided to get on with processing my paperwork she paged me to her office to find if I was still interested in attending LCP. I said I was as long as I was sent to my preferred location. In response she said there’s no guarantee and that I was, “rolling the dice,” as to where I’d be placed. She also said she could not recommend a location either (I later found out this is not entirely true – argh!) So I asked her not to process my paperwork until I had a chance to talk with the on-site LCP coordinator here where I am. She handed me the paperwork and said to return it to her when I’d made up my mind. Four days later I spoke to the on-site coordinator about the two locations and he assured me I’d go to the one I want.  So, with that I tried returning my paper work to my case worker but she wasn’t holding open office hours as she is required to do. In the end I had to give the paper work to my counselor who then handed it in for me. This place is so dysfunctional it’s crazy!

That brings me to today. Today my paper work is in the hands of the program coordinator in Washington, D.C. Hopefully, I’ll know where I’m going within the next few weeks. At that time I’ll write up another posting letting you know if I’m going to my preferred location. If not, then I’m going to back out of this effort because seeing my wife monthly is far more important to me than LCP.

I’m a man of prayer.

I pray daily that I’ll end up where I’m supposed to be and I leave it in God’s hands. And that brings me to you. If you’re reading this post I’d like to ask that you too pray for me. Just pray and say, “Dear Lord, please place jdoe in his preferred location,” and then thank Him for His support.

I thank you all for your help and if you ever need someone to pray for something or someone, please feel free to ask through this blog. I will pray continuously for you/your need. Let’s work to support each other!

~jdoe