Prison Fellowship

Prison programs:more than 12 million prisoners worldwide are locked away and forgotten. In a harsh Prison environment, they experience further danger, isolation and loss of identity. Without a rehabilitation plan, most who re-enter society find themselves back behind bars within five years. This hopeless cycle affects families, and communities.prison Fellowship International (pfi) seeks to break the cycle of crime and restore lives, worldwide, through jesus' love. Through transformative programs and practices implemented via its global family of more than 120 national affiliates, pfi pursues restoration and healing in response to crime so that incarcerated men and women are transformed, relationships are reconciled, and communities are restored. Since 2014, the prisoner's journey (tpj) has been changing prisoners' lives. Through tpj, incarcerated men and women are introduced to jesus the prisoner and invited into a restorative relationship with him. This program is implemented in three phases an invitation to enroll in the course by a program facilitator, chaplain, another prisoner or at an event, weekly small group meetings to learn about who jesus is, what he calls them to do and what he wants for their lives, and an invitation to enroll in additional discipleship programs to develop a deeper knowledge of jesus and facilitated inside of prisons by trained prisoners or volunteers. A study conducted by baylor university showed that involvement in tpj increases prisoners' motivation for identity transformation, a sense of meaning in life and virtuous characteristics (forgiveness, accountability, responsibility, gratitude, self-control), while decreasing negative emotional states and the likelihood of engaging in interpersonal aggression. This means that tpj increases indicators of successful rehabilitation and actions that typically lead to positive culture change in prisons. Since inception, more than 803,000 prisoners have graduated from the program, with 74% of graduates continuing in follow-on discipleship programs. In fy23, tpj operated in prisons in 36 countries around the world.low literacy levels, lack of translated scripture materials and lack of technology pose significant barriers to prisoner access to the gospel. Prison Fellowship International's in-prison program, the listener's way (tlw) removes these barriers by bringing audio and visual scripture to prisoners in their heart language. The program provides audio and video devices that are specifically designed to work in low bandwidth environments, so that prisoners can listen to the new testament in audio form and watch high-resolution videos that brings the gospel to life. Since inception, nearly 34,000 prisoners have graduated from the program. In fy23, tlw operated in prisons in 28 countries around the world. Restorative justice practices helps repair harm caused by crime by emphasizing accountability, forgiveness and making amends. When victims, prisoners and community members meet to do that, the results are transformational. Using an eight-session curriculum based on the gospel of luke, sycamore tree project: justice and peace (stp) increases prisoner awareness of how crime harms victims, what is needed to make amends and how to be peacemakers in the future. Prison officials, chaplains and law enforcement have reported that prisoner participants have significant changes in attitudes and no longer view crime as acceptable, making it less likely that they will re-offend once released. Many victims also report a measure of healing after participating in the program. Since inception, more than 129,000 prisoners have graduated from the program and nearly 12,300 victims have participated. In fy23, stp operated in eight countries around the world.

Children's programs:there are nearly 19 million children of prisoners around the world. These children are among the most vulnerable and marginalized groups, putting them at high risk of exploitation, abuse and neglect. They are also susceptible to the inter-generational playground-to-prison pipeline, or repeating the cycle of crime. These risks are heightened in countries where poverty is widespread. The stigma of parental incarceration is particularly devastating for children who, as a result, experience trauma, shame and financial challenges. Pfi protects children of prisoners and provides opportunities for their physical, mental and spiritual growth. With its longstanding work within Prison systems and unprecedented access to prisons across the world, pfi is uniquely positioned to serve children of prisoners, who often fall through the cracks of other organizations and are at risk of repeating self-destructive patterns of their incarcerated parents. The child's journey (tcj) restores and rebuilds the lives of vulnerable children with an incarcerated parent through practical care, and spiritual and emotional support. By meeting them in their moment of greatest need and providing services, children are given the opportunity to flourish. There are four areas of intervention: safety (safety training, caseworker home visits), health (food provision, health checks, medical care), education (assistance with school uniforms, fees and supplies) and spirituality (mentoring from a local christian adult and provision of scripture resources). Since inception, tcj has served more than 12,000 children, with 4,353 served in fy23 alone.promisepath (prp) is a community- and volunteer-based care program that provides a network of support around children of prisoners, focusing interventions in the areas of education assistance, mentoring and spiritual resources for both children and their caregivers. These interventions help break the cycle of crime and provide a brighter future for children and their community. Since inception in fy22, prp has served over 5,800 children.

Other programs:multiple other programs were initiated by pfi in fy23. Three new program initiatives were conceptualized and rolled out, including the listener's way (detailed in serving prisoners summary) and promisepath (detailed in serving children and family summary) and home harvest, an intentional livelihood program that seeks to achieve measurable and sustainable outcomes in the lives of families of prisoners related to household food security. Home harvest provides training and product for families to create one of two types of gardens: sack gardens, which are grown using multiple sacks that can be kept on porches or in areas with limited space and can be moved and keyhole gardens, which are slightly larger fixed gardens planted in raised beds ideal for homes with a small yard. The goal of this initiative is for families to raise their own food to provide for themselves during often difficult financial times, but also to provide an opportunity for them to build sustainable income by selling the excess food they grow. Program partnerships with national ministries were also grown through technical assistance and training. 55 unique national ministries are engaged in program partnerships with pfi, meaning 45% of pfi's global family. Currently, there are 88 program partnerships in total across five programs. Distributing evidence-based Prison and family of prisoner engagement best practices is critical to ensuring national ministries are as effective as possible throughout their entire range of work and programming. As a result, pfi conceptualized, wrote, designed and disseminated eight evidence-based best practices during fy23, with series such as, 'how to best screen, prepare and support victim participants of the sycamore tree project', 'preparation regarding familial Prison visits and ongoing communication', and more. Select national ministries also received a baseline assessment to complete regarding their restorative programming.

Capacity building:pfi is the world's largest network of Prison ministries, partnering with autonomous, indigenous organizations (chartered affiliates) in more than 120 countries. Pfi supports these affiliates to help them grow internal capacities (infrastructure, finance, governance) and build organizational strength. Through strengthening its partners, pfi in turn increases impact and reach so that more prisoners and families are served and transformed by god's love. Pfi's work in capacity building largely centers around its program partnerships. 76% of nms that participate in a program partnership with pfi demonstrably increase their rate of growth, their capacity to minister in the prisons of their country, and their long-term sustainability. Through the partnership with pfi, a set of capacity building interventions are released, targeting specific areas of organizational development and boosting performance. For all program partners, pfi conducts annual capacity assessments to track each organization's progress, and tailors services and support for the unique needs and challenges of each partner. Annual regional forums/conferences also provide an opportunity for chartered affiliates to share learnings with one another, hear about Prison ministry best practices and learn from expert speakers.

Communications & education:as the world's most extensive network of faith-based ministries working in Prison systems, pfi develops varied content and resources to fuel a global movement and advance its mission. By drawing attention to the issues and needs of prisoners, their families and victims, pfi seeks to expand the number of people and organizations engaged in transformative work that will help break the cycle of crime and restore lives, worldwide, through jesus' love.pfi produces educational materials and tools to influence leaders and grassroots members in varied sectors to become champions for prison-focused restorative practices and equip christians to respond joyfully to the biblical call of jesus to visit him in Prison. Pfi's tools for affiliates and external audiences include a monthly affiliate newsletter that shares best practices and ministry updates, donor-facing content including how to pray for incarcerated mothers, a family activity guide for families who sponsor a child through the child's journey, a series of restorative justice reflections for lent and a guide that explains the unique needs of children with an incarcerated parent.

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