Client Services

Programs and Services Offered

Residential Services

The House of Hope-La Maison de L’Espérance operates two residences for males on federal parole contracted by Corrections Service Canada (CSC).  One is a 21 bed Community Residential Facility (CRF) located at 32 Gilmour Street and the other is a 10 bed Community Residential Facility (CRF) located at 157 McLeod. The purpose of a CRF is to contribute to the protection of society by facilitating the safe reintegration of offenders in the community through effective risk management, respecting the principle of least restrictive measures and the rule of law, and by providing appropriate support and resources. 

Employment/Education Assistance

The House of Hope employs Community Reintegration Workers to help clients determine and/or find employment or training with career goals in mind. Skills developed include the use a computer, the Internet, and e-mail, resume creation, job searching; and effective interviewing and communication skills.

Psychological and Counseling Services

A variety of psychological and/or counseling services are available to clients, such as drug and alcohol, family and financial counseling on a referral basis.

Emotional Intelligence

The House of Hope has partnered with Men and Healing for their Emotional Intelligence (EI) program.  The EI program is suitable for our clients given its ability to address a variety of need areas including substance misuse, family/interpersonal, emotions management, historical trauma and attitude. It is a ten-week, renewable group therapy program for men who wish to explore issues such as emotional expression, and interpersonal conflict resolution through psych-educational skills training and development.  EI also addresses the connection between trauma and behaviour including anger management training. Participants are not expected to disclose their trauma but work with symptoms associated with historical trauma within a male focused lens.

A staff from the House of Hope and one from the clinical team at Men and Healing will co-facilitate the program.  The group size will be between 5-8 clients and may be as high as 10 depending on the need.  All clients will participate in a pre-assessment as well as an evaluation of the program.  A final report assessing their progress, and participation will also be generated.

Mindfulness Relapse Prevention (Upcoming)

This 8 week program is based on the Mindfulness Based Relapse Prevention (MBRP) protocols of Alan Marlatt et al. (2010). This group is designed as program integrating cognitive-behavioural relapse prevention skills and mindfulness meditation practice. MBRP is an experiential group with a strength-based model providing individuals with an opportunity to maintain their treatment gains, develop a lifestyle that supports their well-being and recovery.

The mindfulness practices in MBRP are designed to help us pause, observe present experience, and bring awareness to the range of options. Participants learn to respond in ways that serve their goals, rather than react in ways that are detrimental to their health and happiness. Current research supports this integrative approach to relapse prevention and specifically for those with co-occurring disorders. The research on MBRP has demonstrated reductions in cravings and urges as well as decreases in substance misuse as a result of negative emotions.

The Primary Goals:

1. Develop awareness of personal triggers and habitual reactions and learn ways to create a pause.
2. Learning to recognize challenging emotional and physical experiences and responding to them.
3. Foster a nonjudgmental, compassionate approach toward ourselves and our experiences.

PeerLife

PeerLife is a community- based program that delivers services to long-term offenders inside Ontario prisons to increase the likelihood of successful reintegration into the community.  The House of Hope joined the Peerlife collaborative in 2013 along with St. Leonard’s Peterborough, Windsor and Hamilton to keep the program alive since the cancellation of the internationally recognized program, Lifeline in 2012.  The House of PeerLife serves as a national model of success for Long-Term Offenders (LTOs) in Canadian prisons who are facing the unique challenges of imprisonment and reintegration.

PeerLife workers, working in consultation with Correctional Service Canada, return to the institutions to assist and motivate LTO’s based on the four stages of a life sentence:

1. Adaptation to the realities of a life sentence (admission to a maximum security federal institution);
2. Integration into the institutional environment and society (primarily at medium security);
3. Preparation for Release (with increasing focus at minimum security)
4. Reintegration (a gradual movement from institution to community).

One of the major goals of PeerLife is to provide LTO’s with a sense of direction and purpose at each stage of their sentence.

Integrated Correctional Program Model (ICPM)

The Integrated Correctional Program Model is based on Corrections Service Canada’s (CSC’s) most effective offender programs. These programs have been proven to significantly reduce reoffending. The program model targets the multiple risk factors that most offenders have in an efficient and comprehensive way. Offenders learn to understand the risk factors that are linked to their criminal behaviour. They learn to use the skills they gain from the program in challenging or stressful situations. The House of Hope is contracted by CSC to deliver the following ICPM groups in both Ottawa and Kingston:

The community program consists of 20 to 25 group sessions. These are each 2 to 2.5 hours long. It is offered to offenders who have not fully completed all their required correctional programs while incarcerated. They learn to understand their personal risk factors. They develop basic skills to help reduce risky or harmful behaviours before they participate in the maintenance component.

The maintenance component consists of cycles of 12 group sessions. The sessions are offered in the institution and community. They are each 2 hours long. The goal is to teach offenders how to apply the skills they learned in the main program to real-life situations. This helps to reduce their risk of reoffending.

Personal Support Worker (Mental Health Initiative)

The House of Hope is actively engaged in providing clients who present with mental health concerns with the opportunity for additional counseling services geared toward the introduction of a host of life skills and activity planning to promote successful reintegration.

Basic Life Skills

House of Hope staff are available for one to one counseling 24 hours a day to assist with life skills such as basic hygiene, nutrition, financial management, interpersonal relationships, health, and self-responsibility.