Coming Home: From Prison to the Community with the Help of Faith
6-page PDF
The importance of re-entry programs for former prisoners.
Some of the faith-based promising practices and program models serving prisoners and former prisoners.
The program strategies that help former prisoners re-enter the community.
The importance of faith-based organizations in serving incarcerated or formerly incarcerated individuals.
This At-A-Glance summary reviews the importance of focusing on re-entry, promising practices and models for both Christian and Muslim faith-based programs and the role of faith-based organizations in providing support to this population. This document was used to assist the Foundation's Making Connections communities and is related to the following titles: Outside the Walls: A National Snapshot of Community Re-Entry Programs; From the Inside Out; Back into the Fold; Transitions from Prison to Community; and Families Left Behind: The Hidden Costs of Incarceration and Re-Entry.
Why Focus on Re-Entry?
Promising Practices and Models
Addressing the Problem, Fulfilling the Need
The Role of Faith-Based Organizations
Programs and Services are Needed During and After Incarceration
Few dollars are allocated to preparing prisoners for life on the outside. Ideally, programs would be offered both during and after incarceration to help prisoners prepare for a return to the community. Similarly, services should also be offered to families to help them adjust to having a family member incarcerated and how to best support the family member when they are released from prison.
Given the rising number of prisoners and former prisoners, and the decreased funding available for re-entry support, faith-based organizations – both Muslim and Christian – have become vital service providers for men and women while in prison, and after returning to their families and communities.
Children, in particular, need community support because parental separation resulting from imprisonment can have profound consequences.