“Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.” — Proverbs 16:3
Lesson
What You Will Learn
- Expand your BTO 105 90-day plan into a 12-month plan across every life area
- Put your supervision conditions first and list what to confirm with your officer
- Name your support network and set milestones for each quarter
- Write a warning-signs list and a get-help-now crisis plan
Lesson Notes
Why Twelve Months
Your 90-day plan gets you started. The rest of the first year is where stability is built: steady income, a home base, healthy routines, and a church family. Jesus said a wise builder sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost (Luke 14:28). A plan is not a promise that nothing will go wrong. It is a map you can return to when things do.
Write your plan in pencil. It is a living document you will revise with your case manager, your mentor, and your supervision officer.
The Life Areas of Your Plan
- Housing: where you will live first, what is required to stay there, and your next step toward stable housing.
- Work, business, or ministry path: your first job or income source and how your certificate moves you forward.
- Money: your budget, bank account, obligations such as fines or fees, savings, and giving (BTO 103).
- Health and recovery supports: the providers, programs, or meetings your case manager or medical team connects you with. This course does not give medical or clinical advice.
- Family: relationships to rebuild, and any steps that go through a court or agency. Follow official processes.
- Faith community: a local church, women's ministry, or Bible study.
- Supervision conditions: reporting, curfew, travel, program, and other requirements.
- Support network: the people and organizations who will walk with you.
Four Quarters, One Year
- Months 1–3: your 90-day plan: documents, supervision check-in, housing, income, bank account, church.
- Months 4–6: steady work or next business or ministry steps, a growing emergency fund, continued learning.
- Months 7–9: strengthen: rebuild credit, deepen mentoring relationships, review your goals.
- Months 10–12: review and celebrate, give back, and set goals for year two.
Use SMART milestones from BTO 103 and BTO 104: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound.
Supervision Conditions Come First
Your conditions shape every other part of your plan. Before you finalize a job schedule, a move, travel, a business, ministry volunteering, or contact with certain people, check with your supervision officer and get approval in writing where required.
Never plan around a condition or hope no one notices. If a condition seems to block a goal, ask your officer or your attorney about the proper process. Conditions differ by person and by state, so write yours in your plan: ____________________.
Warning Signs and a Crisis Plan
Everyone has early warning signs that life is sliding: pulling away from people, skipping church or meetings, calling old contacts, keeping money secrets, not sleeping, or feeling hopeless. Naming them now helps you act early.
Your crisis plan lists your warning signs, three people to call (by role or first name), and healthy next steps such as praying, calling your mentor or sponsor, going to a meeting, or going to a safe place.
Get help now: inside a facility, tell staff or the chaplain right away. Outside, call 911 in an emergency, or call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline) if you or someone else is in crisis. A plan on paper never replaces real help.
Key Terms
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| 12-month plan | A written plan for your first year home, organized by life area and quarter |
| Life areas | The parts of life your plan covers, from housing to faith community |
| Supervision conditions | The requirements of your parole, probation, or release that come before every other plan |
| Warning sign | An early signal that you may be sliding back toward trouble |
| Crisis plan | Your written steps and contacts for when things get hard |
| Milestone | A checkpoint that shows progress |
In-Class Activities
Life Area Check-Up
Rate how ready you feel in each life area from 1 (not started) to 4 (ready). For your two lowest areas, write one step you can take before release and one person who can help.
My Warning Signs and Crisis Card
On an index card, write: three warning signs; three people to call (by role or first name, with phone blanks); two healthy steps you will take; and the get-help-now steps (inside: staff or chaplain; outside: 911 or 988). Keep this card in your portfolio pocket.
Assignment: My 12-Month Re-Entry Plan (Draft)
- A plan table with each life area down the side and the four quarters across the top. Write at least one specific action or milestone in each box that applies to you.
- A list of everything in your plan you need to confirm with your supervision officer.
- A support network of at least five people or organizations (by role or first name) and how each will help.
- Your Warning Signs and Crisis Card.
You may leave private details blank and discuss them with your instructor or case manager instead.
Graded with the Module Assignment Rubric.
Reflection Journal
Proverbs 16:3 says Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established. Which part of your 12-month plan feels most uncertain? Write a prayer committing that part to God, and name one practical step you will still take.
Prayer focus: Commit your plans to God and ask Him to establish them and to surround you with wise, faithful people.
Weekly Reading & Devotions
Counting the Cost
Jesus said a wise builder sits down first and counts the cost (Luke 14:28). Your 90-day plan from BTO 105 gets you started. A 12-month plan helps you build stability: a home base, steady income, healthy routines, and a church family.
Your plan covers every life area: housing; your work, business, or ministry path; money; health and recovery supports; family; faith community; supervision conditions; and your support network. Then it moves across four quarters: Months 1–3 to get started, Months 4–6 to build, Months 7–9 to strengthen, and Months 10–12 to review, celebrate, and give back.
Tasha's first draft was full of big dreams and no dates. (Tasha is a composite example.) Her mentor asked one question: What will you do in the first week? Tasha rewrote her plan with small, specific steps, and listed every item she needed to check with her supervision officer. It looks smaller now, she said, but I can actually do it.
Your supervision conditions come before every other part of your plan. Check job schedules, moves, travel, a business, or ministry volunteering with your officer, and get approval in writing where required. Never plan around a condition. If one seems to block a goal, ask your officer or attorney about the proper process.
Finally, name your warning signs and write a crisis plan. Inside a facility, tell staff or the chaplain right away. Outside, call 911 in an emergency, or call or text 988 if you or someone else is in crisis.
Think About It
- Which life area feels most ready, and which feels least ready? ______________________
- What do you need to confirm with your supervision officer? ______________________
- What are your three warning signs, and who will you call? ______________________
Daily Devotions for Week 2
Commit Thy Works
Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.— Proverbs 16:3 (KJV)
Planning is not the opposite of faith. When you commit your plans to God, He establishes them.
Reflect: Which part of your plan do you need to commit to God?
Pray: Lord, I commit my works to You.
Do: Pray over each life area of your plan by name.
Count the Cost
For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?— Luke 14:28 (KJV)
Wise builders plan before they build. Counting the cost is not fear; it is wisdom.
Reflect: What will your first year really require?
Pray: Lord, give me wisdom to plan well.
Do: Update your budget with one real cost you had not included.
Diligent Thoughts
The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness; but of every one that is hasty only to want.— Proverbs 21:5 (KJV)
Slow, steady steps lead further than hasty leaps. Small actions add up.
Reflect: Where are you tempted to rush?
Pray: Lord, make me diligent, not hasty.
Do: Write one SMART milestone for Months 4–6.
Under Authority
Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.— Romans 13:1 (KJV)
Honoring your supervision conditions is part of honoring God. Honesty with your officer builds trust over time.
Reflect: How will you stay honest and on track with your conditions?
Pray: Lord, help me walk in honesty and honor.
Do: List every item you need to confirm with your officer.
A Very Present Help
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.— Psalm 46:1 (KJV)
Hard days will come. God is present in them, and He often helps through the people and resources He places around you.
Reflect: Who will you reach out to when trouble comes?
Pray: Lord, be my refuge, and help me ask for help early.
Do: Finish your crisis card and keep it in your portfolio pocket.
Module Quiz
- 1.
Before you take a job with evening hours after release, you should:
- 2.
Which is an example of an early warning sign?
- 3.
Outside a facility, if someone is in a mental health crisis you can:
- 4.
A 12-month plan is a living document you can revise as things change.
- 5.
Name four life areas in your 12-month plan.