PRISON FELLOWSHIP BLOG

Today more than 2.3 million men and women are incarcerated in the U.S. In the last 20 years, the prison population has nearly tripled, until now one of every 99.1 adults is behind bars.

But they don’t stay there. According to the U.

Prisons are the only businesses that succeed by failing.

In the United States, failed corrections systems cost taxpayers $68 billion a year and return approximately 50 percent of ex-offenders back to prison within three years. Any other business that failed half the time would close its doors.

Aaron pulled the trigger that would tear away his freedom and change the course of his life—as well as the lives of everyone he knew, even those he hadn't yet met.

Prison rape is an uncomfortable subject rarely covered in newspapers, a laugh line on late-night television. But the reality is that rape in our prisons is a national scandal.

Nationwide, as many as 60 percent of ex-prisoners are unemployed one year after their release from prison. This signals pending disaster—not only for the ex-prisoners and their families, but also for the broader community.

Nationwide, as many as 60 percent of ex-prisoners are unemployed one year after their release from prison.

Jesus promises to make all things new. But radical transformation seldom takes place overnight. Here’s one example of how a church came alongside an ex-prisoner through his baby steps toward lasting change.

“When he said that, I settled down,” says Pastor Ball, and he launched into his new prison ministry.When

This isn’t what I signed up for. I just wanted to be a helper—with a job that sounded safe, with someone else in charge. A few months ago, when I expressed my desire to work with Prison Fellowship, I wanted to be helpful but didn’t know exactly what I’d be doing.

What makes prisoners more likely to re-offend when they get out of prison? Is it the lack of a job? Hanging around with friends from the “old neighborhood”? Low self-esteem?

New York City faces a unique opportunity to transform the way we treat young people who come in conflict with the law. On December 21, 2011, Mayor Bloomberg outlined plans that would empower New York City (and other local jurisdictions) to assume responsibility for juvenile justice system services.

When Tony Hall first met Mother Teresa, she took his solid left hand in her frail one. “I want you always to remember something,” she urged the U.S. congressman from Ohio. And as she gently folded each of his fingers, she accentuated, “For .

In the Centurions Program—BreakPoint’s year-long, intensive worldview training program—we like to say that we’re turning the world “right side up” for Christ. When Christians study the principles of their faith and learn to apply them in the world, amazing things happen.

Topping the list of complaints that many prisoners have is not the snoring of their cellmates or the quality of the food, but the difficulty and expense of making telephone calls.

Cell phones are forbidden—and rightly so—and most prisoners have only a few hours a day to use prison payphones.

The Bible’s book of Acts ends with chapter 28. But that didn’t stop Dr. David Osterlund from starting a newsletter called Acts 29—“because we’re writing a new chapter here in South Carolina,” he explains with enthusiasm.

In December 2008, for example, 15 newly commissioned missionaries headed out to spread the hope and power of Jesus Christ within a culture most would find foreign and fearsome: the prison culture.The

He screamed. He jumped up and down. And then the 11-year-old unashamedly cried as he inserted the ear buds of his new MP3 player and heard his father’s voice.

“It was like having his father right there,” says Angela* of her grandson Tony whom she cares for while his dad—her son—serves time in prison.

Creating Criminal Justice Reform One State at a Time

Prisons are the only businesses that succeed by failing.

In the United States, failed corrections systems cost taxpayers $68 billion a year and return approximately 50 percent of ex-offenders back to prison within three years.