The 141^st Session of the Tennessee Conference Prison Ministry submits the following report focused on Justice Fellowship an arm of the Prison Fellowship Ministry.

On April 9, 2008 President Bush signed the Second Chance Act of 2007 (H.R. 1593).  Aimed at reducing recidivism and increasing public safety, the landmark bill — which Prison Fellowship helped draft and guide through Congress — authorizes $362 million to improve the way U.S. prisons prepare inmates to reenter society.  It passed in the Senate unanimously and passed in the House 347-62.

The Second Chance Act includes key elements of the President’s Prisoner Reentry Initiative which:

• Encourages community and faith-based organizations to deliver mentoring and transitional services
• Connects former inmates to mental health and substance abuse treatment programs
• Expands job training and placement services
• Facilitates transitional housing and case management services

While figures vary widely by state, the average amount spent to keep a prisoner behind bars regardless of the crime is $23,876 per year. The Second Chance Act will punish non-dangerous offenders in ways that make it more likely for them to be able to pay victim restitution, child support and taxes.

These grants allow churches and community groups to recruit, train and match returning inmates with mentors. Prison Fellowship knows — from 30 years of outreach to prisoners, ex-prisoners and their families — that pairing returning inmates with loving mentors from local churches is the best way to help them stay on the straight and narrow.

Prison Fellowship has worked on this legislation for four years as part of a diverse coalition of religious, civil rights and law enforcement groups. The Second Chance Act was sponsored by legislators from across the political spectrum.

Families of those that are incarcerated need to be strengthened. Of all the factors that help inmates after their release, an intact family is the most important in helping them stay on the right path. Research shows that when returning inmates have a supportive family, they are more likely to find a job, less likely to use drugs, and less likely to be involved in criminal activities.  The support and accountability that a stable family provides have a clear, positive impact.  Studies also show that children of inmates who are able to visit with their parents have increased cognitive skills, improved academic self-esteem, and greater self control, and they change schools much less often. The improvement of the children has an amazing impact on the incarcerated parent, too, with significantly reduced recidivism of the parent after release.

Communities have a huge stake in the successful reentry of inmates after they serve their sentences. More than 700,000 inmates across the United States will be released from prison this year. These inmates returning to society will be our neighbors. Will they have the stability and support of an intact family? A supportive family enables the inmate to be healthy and a contributing member of society.

Prison officials should make preserving and strengthening families a top priority. Many prison policies are distinctly un-friendly to families and make it very hard for them to remain together during incarceration. In fact, prison policies often end up undercutting rather than reinforcing family cohesion. Some of these anti-family policies are:

• Most inmates are imprisoned hundreds of miles from their families, without public transportation available for their families to come for visits.

• Many prisons prohibit relatives other than the custodial parent from bringing their children to visit their parent. Thus, the caregiver that often works two jobs to support the family is the only one who can bring the children to visit. No grandparents, aunts or brothers are allowed to bring them.

·         Federal law requires a hearing to permanently terminate a parent’s relationship with his or her child after 12 months. Many inmates receive no notice of these hearings and have no representation. Even inmates with short sentences can lose parental rights permanently.

• After traveling many hours to the prison, many families are forced to wait outside (no matter the weather conditions) without seating, food, water or sanitary facilities. And once inside the visiting room, many prisons have no books or activities for children.

• Most prisons limit prisoners to collect calls, charging exorbitant rates to their families, who are among the poorest residents of the US. Some states charge as much as $3.95 to place the call plus $0.89 per minute. Families are prohibited from using discount cards that allow the rest of us to make calls for less than 10 cents a minute.

• The lack of adequate health care exposes inmates to Hepatitis, Tuberculosis, Staph infections, HIV-Aids and many other communicable diseases. This places the inmates’ families and communities at risk when they are released.

• The climate of violence, including prison rape, inside our correctional institutions often leaves inmates scarred physically and emotionally, making their transition home much harder. The skills inmates develop to survive in a violent prison cause them to become anti-social when they get out, making life very difficult for their families.

The family is the basic structure of our society.  As it dissolves, crime and delinquency skyrocket.  Justice Fellowship hopes you will join in reforming states’ policies so that families are strengthened during and after incarceration. You can help by contacting your legislators and asking them to review your state’s policies regarding the issues listed above. If those policies undercut inmate families, ask your legislators to work with you to change these issues, and to stay informed yourself.  The result will be stronger families, and safer communities.

The following prison ministries are currently thriving in the Tennessee Conference:

Rev. Anthony Thomas reports adult and youth persons contributed 3500 court appointed community service hours to New Salem AME., as well as contributed hygiene items and stamps to persons incarcerated. Rev. Thomas performed one marriage the prison at Dyersburg, TN, and counseled several inmates. The church also worked “Project Return” which is a program designated to assist persons in returning to civilian life with housing, employment and substance abuse prevention.

Rev. Kenneth Odom visits person in Bedford and Rutherford Counties. He works with the Federal Bonding Program sponsored by the U.S. Dept. of Labor in re-entry in the labor force. He assists in hiring felons, misdemeanors and those with bad credit.

Rev. Pattie Hardimon visits the Davidson County Correctional Center for prayer meeting, Bible Study and some personal counseling in the women’s unit each Sunday morning.

Humbly Submitted,

The Prison Ministry Committee: Reverends Vetrel Smith, Pattie Hardimon, Secretary, Nathan Frey, Anthony Thomas; Brothers James Hughes, and Rodney Adams