by form communitiesA reentry course for county jails
Skills people learn inside, built to hold up after they leave.
CADENCE is a twelve-week course people complete on their own, on the tablets they already use. Every skill is practiced twice: once for life in custody, and once for the first months after release.
- Live in a county jail now
- Runs on Edovo tablets
- No staff time required
- 12modules, one a week
- 63short lessons, each finished in one sitting
- 63videos, two to three minutes each
- 0facilitators, groups or printouts
People leave jail without much warning.
- A charge resolves.
- Bond is posted.
- A plea lands.
Someone who starts a twelve-week course can be gone in week three, often with a few hours' notice.
Most programs save release planning for the end. CADENCE starts with it. Module 1 covers court readiness and a plan for the first day out, because it's the only module with a deadline set by somebody else.
It also works for people who have already left. Every lesson can be completed as preparation for what's coming or as a way to look back at what happened.
One skill, practiced in both places it will be needed.
Most programs teach a skill for the setting the learner is in today. CADENCE teaches each one for the unit and for the street, with equal weight.
Someone on the unit keeps borrowing from your commissary and never pays it back.
The learner writes the words they'd actually say:
"I'm not lending anymore. I'm only going to say that once."
Then they act on it. The next time it comes up, they don't explain again. They just say no.
- Short
- Once
- Then act
In your first week out, a family member wants to stay at your place, and your housing doesn't allow it.
The learner writes the words they'd actually say:
"You can't stay here. I'll help you find somewhere else, but not here."
Then they act on it. If the question comes back, they don't reopen it. They go to the backup already written in their plan.
- Short
- Once
- Then act
Example written to show the format. Scenarios in the course never ask a learner to describe an offense or name anyone.
Every lesson follows the same seven steps. Together, they spell the name.
Learners always know what comes next, so they can finish a lesson in one sitting. By release day, the pattern is theirs.
Step 1 of 7
Check
The learner sees two real situations where the skill decides what happens next: one on the unit, one in the first months out.
Step 2 of 7
Attend
A short walkthrough with three decisions in a row. After each one, they see where every option leads. None is labeled correct, and the third decision comes under the worse conditions the first two created.
Step 3 of 7
Decide
They learn the tool: its named steps, what to do when a step fails, and a worked example from each setting, with a two-to-three-minute video.
Step 4 of 7
Experiment
They write the actual words they would use: once for now, once for after release.
Step 5 of 7
Notice
They answer one of six questions that come back across the course, worded the same each time, and compare it with their last answer. The questions never ask whether they've improved. They ask what's true now.
Step 6 of 7
Choose
They pick a practice task for the week in the version that fits where they are. Inside, it needs no materials, no staff help and carries no disciplinary risk. Outside, it needs no money, no car, and doesn't assume stable housing or a job.
Step 7 of 7
Evaluate
They add one entry to their personal success plan and check their understanding with one question.
35 to 50 minutesper lesson on the tablet, plus the week's practice task.
One sittingfrom what the learner knows that day. Nothing carries over as homework.
One tool per lessonthree to five named steps, simple enough to write from memory after one video.
Some of the 63 tools learners leave with
Short names, so they come back to mind under pressure.
- Know, think, find out, need help
- Face, hands, eyes, voice
- Deadline test
- Early sign, early move
- Person, place, plan
- Trigger, sign, move, backup
- Slow the first story
- Control, influence, neither
- Pause, repeat, leave
- Fact, story, choice
- Smallest next move
- Ask, wait, ask again
- Listen, reflect, ask what they want
What your staff do: make it available. That's all.
CADENCE was built for facilities that are already stretched. There's nothing to run, schedule or print.
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Fully self-paced on the tablet
No facilitator, group session or video call. Learners move through one module a week on their own.
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No printouts, no live connection
Nothing to print or hand out, and no live internet connection is needed inside a lesson.
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Written for any facility
No county names, local forms, or assumptions about housing or privilege level. Where a process varies, the lesson tells the learner how to find out what applies to them.
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Safe to deliver
Nothing asks a learner to describe an offense, name a group or identify anyone. Nothing coaches them on a pending case or on handling staff.
Twelve weeks, from court date to community.
One module a week. Open any module to see the tools it teaches.
Week 1Court readiness and planning for success
Why this comes first: release dates in a jail aren't fixed, and court happens on the court's schedule. If this sat in Module 12, the people who need it soonest would never reach it. It's also where trust starts: the first thing a learner meets is about their situation, not their character. Module 1 has eight lessons. Every other module has five.
- Know, think, find out, need help
- Four questions, in order
- Face, hands, eyes, voice
- What, when, where, who answers, what I bring
- Deadline test
- Easier, harder, plan B
- Find the earlier link
- Read it back
Week 2Knowing what is happening with your mental health
- Body, thoughts, behavior, people
- Pressure, reaction, action, consequence
- Ask, try, review
- Same strength, new setting
- Early sign, early move
Week 3Finding your way through substance use and recovery
- What it did for you
- Where am I, what is next
- Lower the risk you have
- Person, place, plan
- Trigger, sign, move, backup
Week 4Seeing the pattern in violence, harm and safety
Every lesson in this module ends with what to do if the material brought something up, and says that thinking about it doesn't mean the learner has to talk about it.
- What it taught you
- Learned, repeated, chosen
- Who pays
- Disagreement or control
- Exit, contact, documents
Week 5Seeing past assumptions about identity and difference
- Saw it, read it
- Slow the first story
- Say it back
- Barrier or choice
- Check the read before the reaction
Week 6Taking care of yourself and staying connected
- Sleep, food, movement, quiet
- Three-mark scale
- Anchor it
- Control, influence, neither
- The after-contact check
Week 7Knowing your limits and holding your boundaries
- Mine or theirs
- Name the loop
- Short, once, then act
- Pause, repeat, leave
- Ask for one thing
Week 8Slowing down to solve problems and be understood
- Fact, story, choice
- Solve, endure, leave
- State, options, cost, pick, review
- Smallest next move
- Slower, shorter, once
Week 9Caring for the whole of you
- Which area moved
- Name it, place it, move
- One real contact
- Useful today
- Know your own numbers
Week 10Building a life that lasts
- In, out, owed
- Values test
- One skill, one source, one week
- People, place, pattern
- Read it back
Week 11Using your voice with professionals
- What I need, why, what I am asking for
- Ask, wait, ask again
- Before, during, after
- Listen, pause, answer what was asked, ask
- Who, what, when, what if no
Week 12Supporting others without taking over
- Capacity check
- Listen, reflect, ask what they want
- Your line
- Step out, come back
- Read it back
By the last lesson, each learner has written a plan for their first month out.
Every lesson ends with one entry about a situation that skill will meet after release: who's involved, and the first move. Twelve weeks later, that's 63 entries.
- It's built from their own words, not a template.
- It plans for failure. In almost every plan, something goes wrong in the first two weeks.
- It starts in Module 1, so even someone released early leaves with the beginning of one.
- 1The first week
Where I sleep, reporting dates, medication, ID.
- 2The first month
Work, money, recovery and the appointments that keep it together.
- 3The people in it
Who I'll rely on, and for what.
- 4When something goes wrong
The first thing I do, and my backup.
Every lesson is reviewed five times before it reaches a tablet.
- 1
Tool sign-off
The lesson's steps can be stated in one line before drafting starts.
- 2
Draft review
Both settings carry equal weight, every option is realistic, and nothing assumes the learner is still in custody.
- 3
Lived experience
A reviewer who has been incarcerated confirms nothing is condescending and every scenario reads as real.
- 4
Evidence check
In Modules 2, 3 and 4, every clinical statement is traced to a published source. Anything without one is removed.
- 5
Platform review
Edovo reviews all content before publication.
12.7×
the death rate in the first two weeks after release, compared with other state residents.
Module 3 covers the most dangerous days: the first two weeks out.
Tolerance drops during time in custody, and the days right after release carry the highest overdose risk. The release-precaution lesson is medically reviewed and based on published research, including:
- Binswanger et al., New England Journal of Medicine, 2007. In the first two weeks after release, the death rate was 12.7 times that of other state residents. Overdose was the leading cause.
- Ranapurwala et al., American Journal of Public Health, 2018. Opioid overdose deaths were about 40 times the general population rate in the first two weeks after release, and still higher a year later.
Written for the people taking it
- Grade 6 to 8 reading level, with a plain explanation for any clinical term.
- Written directly to the reader. Nothing treats the learner as a patient, a case, or someone being fixed.
- Person-first language. No "inmate," no "clean," no "suffering from."
Clear about what it doesn't do
- No guidance on diagnosis, medication or crisis response. Those lessons point learners to support and to what to ask for.
- No coaching on a pending case or on handling staff.
- No hype, no slogans, and no telling the reader how they feel.
Questions facilities ask
How long does each lesson take?
About 35 to 50 minutes on the tablet, plus a practice task for the week. Every lesson can be finished in one sitting.
What if someone is released partway through?
That's why court readiness and release planning come first. Someone who leaves in week two already has the start of a plan. Every lesson also works as a way to look back, so the course still makes sense for someone who has already left.
How is completion measured?
Each module ends with one graded review that counts toward completion, with one item per lesson: put the tool's steps in order, or pick the step that's missing. Retries are unlimited. Three unscored questions follow, asking the learner to reread their own writing and choose which tool they'd actually use, which needs more work, and which matters most for the first month out.
Does it need internet access or printed materials?
No. There are no printouts, and no live internet connection is needed inside a lesson.
Will it conflict with our local policies or forms?
The course has no county names, local program names or specific form names. Where a process varies, the lesson says so and tells the learner how to find out what applies to them.
We don't use Edovo. Can we still offer CADENCE?
CADENCE is delivered through Edovo today. Email Natalie to talk through your setup.
CADENCE runs on Edovo tabletsPricing and next steps are one email away.
If your facility uses Edovo tablets, CADENCE can be added to your catalog. Email Natalie for pricing and to talk through how it would work for you.
Natalie Williams
Program Director