Though faith-based programs have a proven track record of success...
With over 2 million Americans in prisons and 650,000 returning to neighborhoods each year, the opportunities for faith-based and community organizations to serve people affected by the criminal justice system has never been greater. Prison officials are increasingly turning to the faith community as partners because they recognize the truth of what research studies have said for some time – religious belief positively influences offender rehabilitation. Religious volunteers offer relationship based on love and accountability and help offenders’ develop a moral compass that enables them to navigate the challenges of prison life and reentry.
...many prisons still do not allow them.
Unfortunately, many current prison programs avoid any discussion of faith and morality and are reluctant to partner with faith-based groups. Job training and education alone cannot produce the changed heart that leads to lasting transformation in an offender’s life. For some inmates, such programs devoid of religion merely make them more effective criminals. These programs cannot break the power of evil, which is the root of crime, in offenders’ lives, nor can they effectively shift offenders’ focus from their own needs and desires to the people around them.
Justice Fellowship calls for quality partnerships.
Justice Fellowship believes that every prison should offer inmates faith-based programming for life skills, drug treatment, parenting, anger management, and reentry planning. Of course, facilities should offer secular alternatives for those who prefer to avoid religious association, but the option of faith-based curriculum should be present. Prison officials should seek out partnerships with the religious community and create opportunities for this community to become involved in prison services. If inmates are to live healthy, productive, law-abiding lives when they return to their neighborhoods, we must equip them with moral standards to live by, a worldview that explains why they should do so, and the power to make these choices possible.
Justice eReports
Giving Prisoners a Second Chance
April 24, 2008, Vol. 7, No. 6
Second Chance Act Passes Congress!
March 13, 2008, Vol. 7, No. 4
House Passes Second Chance Act, 347-62
November 15, 2007, Vol. 6, No. 12
Faith and Corrections, Partners in Changing Lives
September 6, 2007, Vol. 6, No. 8
Second Chance Act Dies on Last Night of Senate Session; We'll Be Back
December 21, 2006, Vol. 5, No. 10
One Last Push for the Second Chance Act
October 12, 2006, Vol. 5, No. 7
Faith-Based Initiative Important for Restoration
January 28, 2004, Vol. 3, No. 4
Florida Opens Faith-Based Prison
January 7, 2004, Vol. 3, No. 1
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