FRIDAY

The week closes with personal Relapse Prevention Plans, reentry resources, and a Week in Reflection worksheet. Participants are able to write goals, letters, and poems. Staff are encouraged to wear red as a visible act of solidarity. The week ends with a collective statement: recovery is possible, and every person deserves to believe it. 

🔴 Friday- Planning for the Future & Preventing Relapse

Justice-Involved Red Ribbon Week 

Focus of the Day

Friday is about closing the week with intention. After five days of reflection, learning, connection, and planning — today is about putting it all together. The centerpiece of Friday is the Relapse Prevention Plan: a critical, personalized tool for long-term recovery and reentry success.

What’s in Today’s Folder

• Friday Activities Flyer — post or distribute

• Friday Journal Prompts

• My Week in Reflection worksheet — a wrap-up of the whole week

• Poems — for group reading, journaling, or posting

• Relapse Prevention Plan folder: Full worksheet, Building Habits & Hobbies, Goal Writing, PDF template

• Reentry Considerations folder: Reentry Resources, Reintegrating and Staying Sober, Resources for Reentry

Staff Engagement

Encourage all staff to wear red today as a visible sign of solidarity. It’s a small act that sends a powerful message: “We believe in you.”

Why This Matters

Planning ahead is one of the strongest defenses against relapse. When participants know their risks and have real strategies in place to handle them, they leave this week better equipped — not just for today, but for the long road ahead.

🔴 Friday Activities

Planning for the Future & Preventing Relapse! 

🛡️ Relapse Prevention

• Create your personal Relapse Prevention Plan — identify your triggers, coping strategies, and support people.

• Share your plan with a trusted person — a family member, peer, or staff member.

• Review: What would you do in the first 24 hours after release to protect your sobriety?

📝 Personal & Group Reflection

• Complete today’s journal prompts to process growth and what this week has meant to you.

• Fill out the “My Week in Reflection” worksheet to honor your progress.

• Read one of the poems from today’s folder aloud — alone or in a group.

❤️ Show Support

• Encourage staff, peers, and family to wear red as a visible commitment to drug-free living.

• Write a word or phrase on your red ribbon that represents your commitment to recovery.

• Say this out loud or write it down: “I am more than my past. I am still writing my story.”

Reintegrating and Staying Sober

The Hardest Parts of Maintaining Sobriety After Release

The transition from incarceration back to the community is one of the most challenging periods in a person’s life — and one of the highest-risk times for relapse and overdose. Understanding these challenges can help you prepare and protect yourself.

1. Increased Risk of Overdose — After a period of abstinence during incarceration, your tolerance to substances — especially opioids — drops significantly. If relapse occurs, even a smaller amount can cause a fatal overdose. This is one of the most critical things to know before release.

2. Exposure to Triggers and Stressors — Returning to familiar environments, people, and places can be overwhelming. Housing instability, unemployment, reconnecting with family, and navigating societal stigma all increase cravings and relapse risk.

3. Lack of Support Systems — Many returning citizens face fractured family relationships or limited access to sober social networks. Peer pressure from former associates can be strong. Building a new support network is essential.

4. Barriers to Treatment and Services — Accessing healthcare, mental health services, or medication-assisted treatment (MAT) can be complicated by lack of insurance, transportation, or knowledge about available programs. Waiting lists add to the challenge.

5. Emotional and Mental Health Challenges — Co-occurring disorders like depression, anxiety, and PTSD often go untreated, increasing relapse risk. Feelings of shame, guilt, and hopelessness can undermine motivation.

Navigating New Responsibilities — Suddenly facing employment requirements, parenting, and probation/parole compliance can create overwhelming pressure. Without coping skills and support, these demands can trigger relapse. 

📓 Friday Journal Prompts

Planning for the Future & Preventing Relapse

Why Journal?

This is your last journal session of Red Ribbon Week. These prompts are designed to help you close the week with reflection, gratitude, and forward momentum. Take your time. This week mattered — and so do you.

Before You Begin: There Are No Rules

• Write in any style that feels right — sentences, words, doodles, or all three

• Skip pages, write sideways, change pen colors — this space is yours

• Be honest with yourself. No one else needs to read what you write.

• Even 10 minutes a day can make a real difference

Closing the Week

• What does unconditional love look like for you? Have you ever felt it?

• How have you seen yourself grow or change this week?

• What have you learned about yourself during the recovery process?

• What are the things in your life that make you smile?

• What are you grateful for in your own life?

Letters

• Dear past me…

• Dear present me…

• Dear future me…

• Write a letter to one of the 5 people you love most, even if you don’t send it.

Vision & Freedom

• What would I be doing right now if I wasn’t in recovery? How does that make me feel?

• What does the word “freedom” mean to you?

• When were you the most confident? How did it feel? What made you feel that way?

• Write a chapter you would love to read in your own autobiography.

• Write down as many details as you can about one memory you’ll never forget.