Accountability.
A Muslim-focused peer-mentoring program developed inside the Texas prison system is training incarcerated men to lead religious services and provide structured mentorship at units across the state.
The Mentorship Education Rehabilitation Integrated Training program, known as MERIT, was developed in August 2024 by incarcerated program leader Damien “Speech” Faulkner with support from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. TDCJ’s 2025 annual review identifies MERIT as a peer-to-peer program established to support the incarcerated Muslim population.
How the program works
Participants complete six weeks and approximately 120 hours of training at the Stringfellow Unit in Brazoria County. The curriculum combines Islamic teaching with cognitive-behavioral lessons involving emotional regulation, communication, accountability and conflict resolution. Graduates return to their assigned units as Muslim coordinators or MERIT facilitators.
Chron reported in May 2026 that participants from approximately 24 units had taken part. The program’s leaders said they hope to develop a similar initiative for women’s prisons.
What is—and is not—known
TDCJ and participants describe MERIT as an effort to improve conduct, rehabilitation and preparation for life after prison. Publicly available material reviewed for this article does not provide an independent outcome study measuring whether MERIT reduces disciplinary cases or recidivism. Those results should therefore not be presented as established facts.