Over 600,000 inmates will be released from
America’s prisons this year, returning to neighborhoods across the
country. These men and women are coming out, like it or not.
What kind of neighbors will these returning inmates be?
What has been done to prepare them to live healthy, productive, law-abiding
lives? Each of us has a stake in seeing that these men and women make a safe and
successful return to their communities. Yet, today very little is being done to
help them make that transition successfully.
Most offenders will be returning from years in
overcrowded prisons where they were exposed to the horrors of violence including
homosexual rape, isolation from family and friends, and despair. Most are idle
in prison; warehoused with little preparation to make better choices when they
return to the free world.
Further, little is done to change the moral perspective
of offenders. Most inmates do not leave prison transformed into law-abiding
citizens; in fact, the very skills inmates develop to survive inside prison make
them anti-social when they are released.
For prisoners to return to their
communities safely and successfully, we need much more than government programs.
Government programs can’t love someone, only people can do that. This is one of
the roles the Church is called upon to take in our communities: to minister to
the least of these. This book explains why you and your church should become
involved in helping returning prisoners, and provides practical ways to
help.