A 11-Book SE Skills & Reentry Curriculum for Justice-Impacted Individuals and Their Families

Trauma-informed. Turnkey. Built by a Marine veteran and ready for your facility, program, or ministry.

10 SEL Workbooks + Online Courses

8 full chapters per book
3 lessons, 1 tool, 1 case study per chapter
“Uncle Aaron” stories + “Unc Ron” quotes
Real-world reflection and practice

Turnkey Master Curriculum

500+ page facilitator guide
Modular lesson plans + self-assessments
Group and solo exercises
CDOS + CASEL aligned

Family Companion Guide

125-page standalone book
Helps families reconnect emotionally
Shared SEL language and understanding

Delivery Options

In-cell print workbooks
Tablet-compatible
Facilitator-led or peer-run groups
Certification path available

Reentry. Redemption. Real Emotional Change.

Built from the Inside is a trauma-informed, social-emotional learning (SEL) curriculum built for the real world.

This series came to life based on the work of Dr. Pastor Jim Bostic and his work with the incarcerated. His input and guidance, building off his workshops, brought this transformative program to life.

Developed by Aaron B. Kershaw, a U.S. Marine veteran and brother to a justice-impacted man, this series helps individuals:

Understand themselves

Rewire destructive thought patterns
Regulate emotions
Heal trauma
Rebuild identity
Lead with integrity
Reconnect with family
Prepare for reentry or transformation

This is not a generic workbook. It’s a turnkey system—structured, aligned, and written in a voice people actually listen to.

What Makes Built from the Inside™ Different?

Most correctional programming is built for compliance: meet conditions, check boxes, avoid conflict. But Built from the Inside™ isn’t about control, it’s about transformation.

Unlike traditional models that emphasize behavior management or scripted lessons, this curriculum is designed to shift the emotional core, rebuild personal agency, and restore dignity through structured self-work.

A New Standard in Reentry Education

Built from the Inside™ doesn’t just teach - they experience. Through story-driven books, emotionally intelligent prompts, and guided reflection, participants learn to lead themselves and reconnect to others from a place of integrity, not fear.

Flexible, High-Impact Design

Every Built from the Inside™ session is structured with both group peer facilitation and one-on-one delivery in mind. Whether used in a correctional facility, transitional housing unit, or community-based reentry program, it adapts to the needs of the environment.

Modular Timing: Sessions range from 75 to 90 minutes, with flexible pacing for reflection or discussion.
Scaffolded Learning: Each book builds upon the last, forming a true developmental arc.
Integrated Tools: Includes writing prompts, checklists, emotional processing frameworks, and discussion starters.
Certification-Ready: Every completed track offers a certificate of growth, suitable for parole packets, employment readiness, or legal mitigation.

Designed for Real-World Use

Departments of Corrections
Juvenile justice & diversion programs
Reentry & workforce development agencies
Trauma-informed schools & recovery homes
Veterans services & transitional housing
Families of the incarcerated

Backed by Standards. Proven by Data.

Built from the Inside isn’t a feel-good workbook series. It’s a structured, standards-aligned education system grounded in nationally recognized frameworks and real-world outcomes.

CASEL (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning) is the nation’s leading authority on Social-Emotional Learning (SEL). They define five core competencies essential to emotional development, academic success, healthy relationships, and responsible decision-making.

CASEL Competency Mapping:

✔️ Self-Awareness: Books 1, 4, 5

✔️ Self-Management: Books 2, 6, 10

✔️ Social Awareness: Books 3, 5

✔️ Relationship Skills: Books 3, 7, 8

✔️ Decision-Making: Books 4, 7, 9

When we say “CASEL Competency Mapping,” we mean that each book and lesson in the Built from the Inside series has been intentionally designed to build one or more of these five evidence-based skill areas.

NYSED CDOS Standards:

Standard 1: Career Development
Identity formation, goal-setting, future planning

Standard 2: Integrated Learning
Real-world SEL, emotional decision-making, and behavioral growth

Standard 3a: Universal Foundation Skills
Communication, self-direction, critical thinking, and conflict resolution

NYS DOCCS Applications:

Aggression Replacement Training (ART)Tools in Mastering the Fire and Free Inside develop self-regulation and de-escalation

Transitional Services
Your Story Ain’t Over Yet, Who You’re Becoming, and The Hustler’s Flip guide future planning and legal enterprise

Cognitive Behavioral Skill Building
Every book includes thought-mapping, pattern interruption, and values-based decision tools

Built to Change Lives—and Systems

Economic Impact of SEL-Based Programming:

$11 return per $1 invested
Up to 80% recidivism reduction
+11 percentile academic performance
4–15% increase in long-term earnings
This series blends:
✔️ Lived-experience mentorship
✔️ Research-backed emotional tools
✔️ Trauma-responsive language
✔️ Practical, trackable outcomes

Program Assets

✅ 10-Book SEL Series (Print + Kindle)
✅ 10-Course Online Curriculum
✅ 1 Family Companion Book
✅ Full Turnkey Curriculum (400+ pages)
✅ Facilitator Certification Path
✅ Outcome Tracking Tools
✅ Tablet + In-Cell + Group Ready

Download Program Overview
Book a Discovery Call
View the Book Series

Why It Works

Participants don’t just “do time” with this program, they build something real during it. They develop language for emotion, tools for healing, and structures for leadership, whether they’re returning home soon or serving long-term sentences.

"This isn't about fixing broken people. It's about helping them reclaim the parts of themselves no system ever saw."

Family-Centered Financial Integration Model

Built from the Inside™ + BrightPath Financial Discovery Series
Reclaiming Family Leadership from the Inside Out

Incarceration disrupts more than freedom, it destabilizes entire households. Built from the Inside™ positions the incarcerated individual not as absent, but as an active contributor in rebuilding their family’s economic foundation. Through trauma-informed financial tools and clear communication frameworks, this model helps families survive, and thrive, together.

Partner With Us

Partner with us to bring real transformation, emotional healing, and structured reentry tools to justice-impacted lives.

Licensing Ready For:

DOCs (statewide or facility level)
County and regional corrections
Nonprofits, schools, ministries

Sponsorship Includes:

Founding Partner status
Co-branded facilitator certification
Data dashboards + research briefs
National-level visibility

Automatic Enrollment for Veterans – additional courses

Our parent organization, BuildingBlocs Literacy, proudly provides free automatic enrollment into the Veterans Learning Pathway for all incarcerated and reentering veterans.

There is:

No application
No purchase requirement
No license restriction
No restriction based upon separation status

Capstone-Based Personal Transformation & Mastery Recognition

Credential Uses:

Submitted as formal evidence of rehabilitation in parole, clemency, and sentence modification requests
Recognized by DOC education departments and reentry boards as a complete behavior change curriculum
Included in legal filings (e.g., expungement hearings, diversion programs)
Attached to employment applications, housing applications, and scholarship forms

How This Helps the Courts and Participants Alike:

Built from the Inside™ gives judges and attorneys an evidence-informed, emotionally intelligent alternative to punitive-only sentencing. It allows for individualized rehabilitation assignments that align with the behavioral history and risk factors of the participant, while also generating tangible, trackable proof of progress.