Hutchins Unit Chapel of Hope

Unofficial Information Website

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Two offenders and three employees from Hutchins have died from COVID-19:
56-year-old Willie Charles Price died April 26, 2020.
54-year-old COV Thomas Ogungbire died June 11, 2020.
55-year-old FSMIII Darrell Avery died February 6, 2022.
48-year-old COV Jose Ruiz died March 1, 2022.

As of February 17, 2022, rapid COVID tests are no longer required before entering Hutchins Unit.
As of April 1, 2022, masks are optional but recommended on all units.

SEE CHAPEL AND VISITATION NEWS STATEMENTS BELOW

Official TDCJ Statements relating to COVID-19

Visitation Announcement:

Effective October 1, 2021, the number of inmate visits permitted will return to pre-COVID policy. The visitation schedule will be Saturday, Sunday (8:00 AM - 5:30 PM). The online visitation scheduling system is open and accessible at the following link: https://www.tdcj.texas.gov/news/online_visitation_portal_registration_open.html.

Masks are no longer required during visitation but are encouraged.

Tablet and video visitation remain available and are encouraged. Use the following link to find out which options are available at each unit. https://www.tdcj.texas.gov/news/remote_video_visitation.html.

Tablet Visitation

Inmates are allowed one, 60-minute visit per month (in addition to contact/non-contact visitation, where applicable).
Tablet visits can be scheduled through the portal at no cost.

Video Visitation

Inmates are allowed one, 60-minute visit per month (in addition to contact/non-contact visitation).
Video visitation must register through the Securus website and will cost $10.00 (where applicable).

Tablet and video visits do not count against the number of in-person visits.

For more information on inmate visitation, please visit our Inmate Visitation page at https://www.tdcj.texas.gov/visitation/index.html.

[Updated as of April 1, 2022 — source here]

Notice for Volunteers
Update - Face-2-Face Volunteer Services Plan

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice is continuing to make changes to the resumption of face-to-face volunteer services. Currently all units (excluding those in lockdown) will be allowing volunteers at full capacity, as well as the continuation of in-person volunteer training sessions.

Please coordinate with the unit chaplain or facility volunteer coordinator.

What to expect:

Effective Friday, April 1, 2022, the use of face masks will be optional at all units, including private facilities.
Based on consultation with the Health Services Division and our medical partners, mask requirements may be reimplemented should the need arise.

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to all volunteers for your continued dedication to the inmate population and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Your continued willingness and efforts of support are appreciated immensely.

[Updated as of April 1, 2022 — source here]

Chapel Newsletter Subscription and Back Issues

Read about and Subscribe to Just Another Ministry Mailing List to stay informed of unit lockdowns, chapel closures, and special events.

BACK ISSUES

2021 COVID-19 Era

2020 COVID-19 Era

2020 Pre-COVID-19

2019

Volunteer Training

In-person on-unit TDCJ volunteer training has been resumed. If you are due for retraining, you can also use the online training, even if you were due for on-unit training.

On-line training can also be used for new volunteers until further notice. See Useful Links (below) to find the application and instructions.

General Volunteer Information

Please observe the volunteer dress code to avoid getting turned away. No shorts, short or high-slit skirts, revealing tops, bare shoulders or midriffs, visible underwear. Call us if you have questions about the dress code.

Do not bring electronics such as phones or any kind of money, such as cash, checks, or credit cards onto the unit. Although coins ARE allowed in visitation, the chapel itself has no vending machines, so it is best to leave the change in the car also.

Useful Links

COVID-19

TDCJ COVID-19 latest update

Volunteer Services

Volunteer Services    phone 936-437-3026    home   FAQ
Volunteer   Application   Handbook   Training schedule  by date   by location
On-line   Volunteer retraining   Mentor training
TDCJ Volunteer Services email list

TDCJ General

Texas Department of Criminal Justice
Texas Board of Criminal Justice
Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles

TDCJ Rehabilitation Programs Division (RPD)
TDCJ Website for Work (to hire parolees)
TDCJ Reentry and Integration Division
TDCJ Parole Division
TDCJ Victim Services Division
Windham School District

Unit locator
Offender locator
Video Visitation
TDCJ Phone Directory

Unit Sign-In Requirements

VOLUNTEER PARTICIPATION LOG

Always sign the volunteer participation log book on the shelf in the lobby when entering the unit front gate so that you are credited for the visit. This will insure that you meet the requirements for remaining on the gate list (if applicable), and for keeping your Approved Volunteer status active (if applicable). Special Volunteers should also sign the log. The form, colloquially called the "Attachment J", looks like this:

Please print clearly, so that proper credit for your visit may be given. Be sure to use the last four of your driver license number, not your Social Security number or phone number. :-)
Please indicate the program or service you are attending. Do not just enter "Chapel" or "FBD". Enter the actual program name. Examples: ROD, FBD Authentic Manhood, FBD Alpha, FBD Broken Chains, CNRC (Christian Non Roman Catholic worship service), etc.
Please indicate the actual number of offenders contacted. Do not just enter the offender capacity of the building.

Bottom line:

You must sign in when coming on the unit. Failure to sign is a violation of RPD/VS policy and could result in dismissal from volunteer service with TDCJ.

Chapel Services

Protestant Worship: Weekly worship services for all Protestant faiths. Local churchs and several different prison ministries from around the state facilitate these services.
Catholic Mass: Weekly worship services held to enhance spiritual growth in the Roman Catholic faith.
Sabbatarian Service: Weekly service for Christians who prefer to worship on Saturday (the Sabbath).
Jehovah's Witnesses: Weekly meetings to enhance spiritual growth in the Jehovah's Witnesses faith. This includes a study of the faith and its teachings.
Jumah: Jumah is Friday of the Muslim week, and the special noon service on Friday is an obligation for all adult male Muslims. This service is open to Muslims only.

Chapel Programs

Anger Management: This course is designed to help participants recognize their angry feelings, learn their causes, and deal with them in new and constructive ways. In the process, class members will learn several tools and techniques to help them to control their anger.
Bridges to Life: Bridges To Life (BTL) is a 14-week program that builds on the power of faith and stories to help offenders deal effectively with responsibility, accountability, confession, repentance, forgiveness, victim empathy, reconciliation, and restitution. The average national recidivism amongst all state prisoners is around 65% in the first five years after release. BTL graduates (49,000+ over twenty years) have a recidivism rate of only 14.5%. It works!
HATA: Hogg’s Automotive Training Academy has established an automotive training program to help individuals gain knowledge and skills needed to reenter the job market, society and to reach their God-given potential, and personal and work-related goals. We work to transform their outlook on life by knowing how to acknowledge God in their everyday lives. At the end of the 8-week program, those who attend the entire program will receive a support letter for parole and a certificate of completion.
Kairos: Kairos is a program that focuses on spiritual renewal, forgiveness, and accountability, and is based on the free-world Walk to Emmaus. The Kairos 4-Day walk is held twice a year, and the Kairos Community reunions are held twice a month.
Lazarus AA: For people who have a desire to stop drinking to come for a solution. That's the only requirement for membership: the desire to stop drinking. We follow the standard meeting guidelines for a normal AA group. Reading, discussions, and if an offender is serious about recovery, we step out in the hall, one on one, and work the 12 steps.
Onesimus: Onesimus is a class that seeks to mentor men who have found themselves in a useless state of mind; whether it is due to their own fault or circumstances or not. It provides mentoring that allows them to get back into a useful mind-set right where they are by connecting or reconnecting them to Jesus, teaching a new way of thinking, how to forgive, how to love and, most importantly, to show them they are loved. This provides a stairway to a higher level of thinking, living, and giving back to our communities.
Overcomers: A Daily Choice: The Overcomers Recovery Support Program, based on the 90-day recovery workbook "A Daily Choice", is a 12-step program with Christ as its solid foundation. People of all ages and stages are being released from addictions to drugs, alcohol, power, sex, money, codependency and life controlling problems such as anger, shame, guilt, control, bitterness, jealousy, the need to manipulate, feelings of inferiority and hopelessness. Through daily lessons, memory verses, weekly support meeting classes and interactive participation, participants are regaining self-respect and taking control of their future by learning destiny steps. This class does have a graduation and is certificated.
Taleem: A weekly Islamic Quran study that teaches offenders about the Muslim way of life. This is open to the entire unit.
Voyager: The goal of the Voyager program is to help every participant gain the skills, competencies, understanding and personal conviction necessary to be the best he can be to do the best he can do, and to achieve his highest level of righteous success in this life. Lessons include topics such as Developing a Healthy Self-Esteem, Perspective, Developing Character, Honesty, Gratitude, Perseverance, and many more.
Faith Based Dorm: Dallas Leadership Foundation (DLF) mentors incarcerated men working in partnership with local churches and organizations that serve the prison population. DLF operates a pre- and post-entry program through four faith-based dorms in Hutchins State Jail, with classes on servant leadership, parenting, budgeting, and more. Upon release, some of the previously incarcerated men that we serve at Hutchins will be housed at DLF’s transitional house, Onesimus House, located within one of our oldest target neighborhoods (Owenwood) in East Dallas. DLF supports individuals seeking a fresh start by walking side-by-side with them to develop individual service plans designed to help them successfully return to society.

Media — Articles, Videos and Photos

Videos

News Articles

Parole costs too much so he chose to go back to Hutchins

Mike Barber Weekend of Excitement crusades

October 2019 videos photos
October 2018 photos

Useful Forms and Documents

Contact the unit chaplain for the latest version of required forms not listed below.

Approved and Special Volunteers

Special Volunteer Approval Form (pdf) (xls) — To obtain authorization for special volunteers with your ministry group to enter the unit, please observe the following hints:

Please use the most recent form (links above).
Submit the Special Volunteer form by eMail to at least two weeks before the date of the event, to allow time for approvals and distribution.
Approved Volunteers should not be listed on the Special Volunteer form. If you have team members who are Approved Volunteers but not on the master gate list, then include their names (as appears on their driver license) and the last four digits of their driver license number in the body of the eMail.
Of course, if your team consists only of Approved Volunteers, then no Special Volunteer form is needed. Just submit the list to the chaplain by eMail as noted above.

Spiritual Advisor Visits

Spiritual Advisor Visit Form — use this to apply for a Spiritual Advisor Visit with an offender. The form indicates the additional document requirements. Submit to

Program Proposals

Program Proposal Form (pdf) — must be submitted to chaplain for approval through various levels of the heirarchy. Submit to

Media Releases

Media Agreement Worksheet (pdf) (doc) — must be submitted to chaplain at least six weeks before the date of the event, to allow for approval through the chapel, the warden, and Hunstsville. Submit to

Media Release Form (pdf), (doc), multiple interviews — must be submitted to chaplain at the end of the event, and must be signed by each offender attending the event. Submit to

Media Release Form, single interview — may be used if only a single offender is to be interviewed; must be submitted to chaplain at the end of the event, and must be signed by the offender. Submit to

Special Event Calendar

NOTE: This is an UNOFFICIAL calendar based on information collected from various, usually reliable, sources.

No events currently scheduled. See Official TDCJ Statements (above) for information about reopening.

TDCJ Holiday Schedule for Fiscal Year 2024

Contact Info

Hutchins State Jail
1500 E Langdon Rd, Dallas TX 75241 (map)
Phone: 972-225-1304 — fax: 469-941-3913
Alfredo Salvatore, Chaplain
Nihat Yesil, Area Muslim Chaplain

TDCJ Volunteer Services
Two Financial Plaza, Ste 472, Huntsville TX 77340
Phone: 936-437-3026 — fax: 936-437-2852
Lisa Langley, Director, Volunteer Services

NOTE: This webpage is NOT an official document of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, and has not been vetted or approved by TDCJ. It is provided by Just Another Ministry solely for the convenience of Hutchins Unit Chapel volunteers.