Programs

Four programs, one approach.

Each one of our programs runs inside an existing institution, which allows us to bring philosophical inquiry into a familiar space people are already a part of.

A federal courtroom in the Western District of Texas, with the court seal mounted above the bench and the United States and Texas flags beside it.

2011 Sendero, path Adelante, forward With United States District Court, Western District of Texas

Shadows to Light

Shadows to Light consists of federal reentry and diversion programs that aim to reduce recidivism and promote successful community reintegration.

Sendero

Federal Reentry Program

Shadows to Light forms the basis of the Sendero Federal Reentry Program in the Western District of Texas. Focusing on the reintegration of recently incarcerated defendants, Sendero is strictly voluntary and available for non-violent offenders who are amenable to treatment and counseling. Upon successful completion of the intensive reentry program, the defendant's supervised release is terminated.

Adelante

Federal Diversion Program

In 2016, Judge Montalvo expanded the reentry concept into a diversion program for post-guilty-plea defendants in drug cases in the Western District of Texas. Under the Adelante Federal Diversion Program, the U.S. Attorney's Office vets defendants for qualification. A defendant who has pleaded guilty but has not yet been sentenced can have the case dismissed by the U.S. Attorney's Office upon successful completion of the Shadows to Light program, which combines cognitive behavioral therapy with training in mindfulness, deep thinking, and logic. Avoiding a felony conviction materially improves that person's prospects for better work and for reintegration as a productive member of the community. This post-guilty-plea diversion program is one of only a handful in the country.

Elementary students sketching in notebooks around a large red steel sculpture in a gallery at the El Paso Museum of Art, several lying on the floor to draw.

2015 With El Paso Community Foundation and El Paso Independent School District

Artstream

Working together with public school districts, Artstream integrates creative arts, artists, and cultural organizations in ways that empower and spark curiosity in elementary grade students and beyond.

Pathways of Action

Our Artists-in-Residence serve as a bridge. Partnerships with cultural and arts-based organizations allow us to work at the intersection of classrooms and community. Each artist introduces regular creative practices into classrooms and becomes a catalyst for innovative and expanded thinking within a place-based project.

Capacity Building

Educators and local artists are empowered through professional engagement in a co-learning space, creating integrated opportunities for students to practice creativity and questioning in schools, museums, and the community at large. School districts can request special trainings, and pre-service teachers can participate as well. Broad collaborations between UTEP and community partners serve as the foundation for new initiatives at the intersection of research and practice.

A page from a participant's notebook, handwritten in pen, working through the relationship between success, failure, and fear.

2022 With El Paso County Juvenile Probation Department

Lightstream

Lightstream is a full support program for teens who have been involved with the juvenile justice system. It is based on almost a decade of success in our Shadows to Light programming for adults within the federal justice system, and is implemented in partnership with the El Paso County Juvenile Probation Department.

The Responsive Model

The Lightstream responsive learning model centers the idea of resilience: the ability of people to thrive and grow despite adversity. Based on observations and reflections from previous sessions, facilitators choose specific curricular elements from a set of possible activities each week. Activities vary across cognitive, affective, and psychomotor learning domains to drive social and emotional development alongside cognitive development and creativity. A space for youth to co-design the program and generate their own inquiries and activities is critical to this model.

How a session works

Each session offers youth mentoring opportunities and a guided discussion of the material and ideas covered. The current framework includes four thematic units, each lasting about three weeks, incorporating a variety of activities across learning domains. Over 90 minutes once a week for three months, each unit is explored in ways that prioritize interaction, reflection, and meaning making. Regular family engagement components provide guidance and new perspectives for parents and guardians as well.

Two boys standing in front of a green screen set up outdoors at an El Paso public housing complex during a media workshop, in late afternoon light.

2020 With Housing Opportunity Management Enterprises (HOME)

Transformative Learning Communities

In partnership with Housing Opportunity Management Enterprises, El Paso's public housing authority, Transformative Learning Communities exist as community-centered youth development opportunities for juveniles and younger children within El Paso's public housing communities.

Youth Collectives

Our youth collectives are cooperative learning spaces for youth in public housing, filled with engagements that drive critical thinking, creativity, and resilience. A program team comprised of experts in academic disciplines, professional artists, and local youth leaders adds higher learning opportunities in the humanities, arts, and sciences that are often reserved only for those who pursue college.

Community Integration

The multi-generational families of each cohort of young people are included in and actively connected to TLC programming. Regular community-wide events provide sensory-rich opportunities that open new ways of thinking for individuals of all ages, and allow us to extend our connections to an entire housing complex.

Place-Based Resource Support

As major contributors to our multi-disciplinary team, social workers provide seamless place-based resource support within TLCs and can connect people to crisis management services as needed. Viewing social and emotional learning as integral to our programming empowers parents and young people alike, and leverages the personal, cultural, and environmental assets in our communities to support growth.

In their words

“Fear to succeed, being too comfortable, or fear in doing better, that I choose to be where I am most comfortable. Fear not to try, having fear of not succeeding.”
From a participant's notebook

Work with us

Bring a program to your institution

Every program on this page began as a conversation with an institution that already had the relationships. If that sounds like yours, we would like to hear from you.

Start the conversation