Former educator builds second-chance curriculum

David "Buck" and Joan Fry are with their dog, Ebbie. They are parishioners at Risen Christ in Boise. (Courtesy photo)

Retired teacher inspired by wife to help men leaving prison

By Emily Woodham

ICR Staff Writer

KUNA—David Fry loves his career.

It’s a fact that makes what he does for a living more than just mechanically following the daily grind and bringing home a paycheck.

“There’s a huge difference between a job and a career,” he told the Idaho Catholic Register (ICR) as he gestured to his office behind the barbed wire fences and thick walls of the Idaho State Correctional Center (ISCC), a state-run men’s prison located in Kuna, Idaho.

It’s a minimum/medium/close custody prison within the South Boise Prison Complex, which includes several other correctional facilities in the area operating under the Idaho Department of Correction (IDOC).

“I don’t look at coming here as just ‘going to work,’” he added.

Fry, who likes to go by his nickname “Buck,” is passionate about helping residents of ISCC create a better life once they are released. He is the facilitator and coordinator of the Immersion Pre-Release program adopted by the IDOC.

He helped update the current operation manual and coordinates everything from formal review of potential educational pursuits to providing courses on career development and self-care.

“Statistics show that if people run into trouble after exiting prison, they’re going to revert to [their] old ways,” he said. “That’s recidivism, and that’s not good.”

Recidivism refers to the tendency of former inmates to become repeat offenders and returning to prison.

Fry’s motivation to help men and women build a better life after prison is rooted in his faith. He and wife, Joan, are cradle Catholics and parishioners at Risen Christ Parish in Boise. They prayed together before he accepted the position with IDOC, and his faith has only been strengthened by his work.

“My faith is as strong as it’s ever been,” he said. “I don’t talk about politics or religion with the residents. I respect that we need to keep separation of Church and State. But some ask me what my religion is, and I say, ‘I’m a devout Catholic.’”

Fry and his wife moved to Idaho more than seven years ago, when he retired from his career in public education in California.

“My background is curriculum in the public schools, along with assessment and instruction,” he explained. “So, writing about different subjects and putting standard operating procedures together is not difficult for me.”

In retirement, he continued his hobby as a traveling professional baseball umpire and played golf whenever he could, but said he still had plenty of time on his hands.

“I was the ‘master putterer’ around the house, and I got on my lovely wife’s nerves,” he admitted. “My career in corrections began because she said, ‘I think I got a job for you.’”

Fry took a position in education for residents through the Idaho Correctional Alternative Placement/(ICAPP-MTC) program. When the program ended nearly two years ago, IDOC reached out to Fry to resurrect their pre-release program at ISCC.

“Men were leaving here with little or no resources. They were basically getting a ride at the front gate to who knows where,” he said. “St. Vincent de Paul was already offering their service package to residents who were exiting the system. So, when I came on board, one of the first people I met was Stacey LaRoe.”

LaRoe is the program manager of Reentry Career Development and Navigation at St. Vincent de Paul of Southwest Idaho. LaRoe continues to be one of the pillars of the Immersion/Pre-Release program at ISCC.

“St. Vincent de Paul was doing great things long before I got to ISCC,” said Fry, who shadowed LaRoe in her pre-release sessions with residents.

David "Buck" Fry retired from his career in public education about seven years ago. However, he returned to work for the IDOC in 2020. (Courtesy photo)

He then began the long process of creating a new pre-release program for IDOC, using modern, up-to-date measures to benefit residents.

In addition to SVdP, Fry insists that without the encouragement and guidance of Greg Norton (Principal of the Robert Janss High School at ISCC) and Tim McKay (Deputy Warden of Operations at ISCC) he would not have been able to build the Immersion/Pre-Release program to the level it has achieved.

He revamped the pre-lease manual to ISCC-specific needs and created a formal process for inviting residents who were 100 days away from their release date. He created a six-and-a-half-week course for cohorts of residents with similar release dates. He also organized methods for ensuring that residents who wanted to meet to speak about specific goals or concerns were not overlooked.

“I actually don’t teach anything,” Fry explained. “Everything is done in pre-release through stakeholders–different organizations, like St. Vincent de Paul, who come and share their expertise and offer their assistance in different areas, such as mental health or financial advice.”

The cohort process began last year, with six cohorts. This year has seen seven cohorts officially graduate, with more to go. Currently, each cohort has about 50 to 75 men. So far, the graduation rate of the cohort program is nearly 90%.

The Immersion/Pre-Release (IPR) program is divided into modules/themes: life skills, education, employment, finances and supervision (navigating parole).

“Someone asked me the other day if I was still as convinced and committed to what I’m doing as when I started. I said, ‘Yes because we get a brand new group of guys each six and a half weeks.’”

Each cohort is as different as the individuals that make them up. Some easily go with the flow and soak up every bit of information and help offered to them. Others have a more difficult time opening up and asking for help.

“I had to tell one cohort that we’re not mind readers and unless they start talking to us, we’re going to come in and do nothing,” Fry opined. “The next day it was like the light switched on. They finally began asking questions and opening up about what they needed.”

“We’re really a research and development organization,” Fry added. “They tell us what they need, such as finding public transportation, how to get a phone, or a place to live in a different city, how to get certified in a trade they are interested in. Then my team and I find out the answers to those questions and help them get the resources they need.”

Fry also created a Program Assistant (PA) mentoring system. Residents who qualify after completing IPR become PAs to support those who are still navigating the pre-release program.

“My PAs are the finest cadre I could ask for; they are committed to helping residents prepare for the next stage in their lives,” he said. “I’m confident that when a man walks out the front door of ISCC, we have assisted him to the fullest. We have helped him prepare for the toughest 90 days of his life with good resources.”

Residents who complete the pre-release cohort receive a certificate at graduation along with a business card. When they leave prison, Fry encourages them to call him if they need help or just to say that things are going well.

“They need to know that they are not alone when they leave. They also leave knowing they have support through the St. Vincent de Paul Reentry program, along with the other stakeholders that they were exposed to in the IPR program.”

Fry wants to encourage each resident to understand that they are more than their mistakes and failures.

“Do you realize there are men in the Hall of Fame of professional baseball who have been a failure seven out of 10 times?” he posed. “The litmus test for the Hall of Fame is to be a .300 hitter, but that means the other 700 times they failed. It all depends on how you look at it. The successes or failures always need to be valued for what they are – building blocks of a lifetime.”

Each day, he knows men will come through the door and need him, Fry said.

“I want to be that person that they can count on because many of these men don’t have anybody to count on. I want to help.”