Calif. Gov’t and Community Leaders Work to Keep Ex-Inmates Out of Prison

Out4Life Prisoner Reentry Movement Examines Ways to Stretch Corrections Dollars, Alleviate Prison Overcrowding and Increase Public Safety

SAN DIEGO, May 16, 2011—California has more than 755,000 men and women under correctional supervision, costing taxpayers more than $9.6 billion annually.¹ Like it or not, 95 percent² of offenders will eventually be released back into your neighborhoods, and more than half of ex-offenders released from California prisons will be re-arrested within three years of their release for a new crime or for violating the terms of their release³ - a financial and public safety crisis.

May 23-25 in San Diego, Prison Fellowship - the world's largest outreach to prisoners, ex-prisoners and their families - will launch Out4Life California, a reentry movement bringing together members of California’s government, business, social services and faith communities to tackle the state's reentry issues. The goal is to strengthen local coalitions across the state - including San Diego and Los Angeles - to help released inmates lead productive, law-abiding lives by securing steady jobs, adequate housing, substance-abuse treatment and supportive relationships. Helping released offenders in California is important because recidivism is a threat to public safety, results in an increasing financial burden on California taxpayers and contributes to prison overcrowding.   

WHO:
Prison Fellowship, the world's largest outreach to prisoners, ex-prisoners and their families, in partnership with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation

WHAT:
Launch of the California Out4Life reentry movement to tackle prisoner reentry issues such as employment, addiction treatment, public safety, family issues and the importance of establishing reentry networks

WHEN:
May 23-25

WHERE:
Crowne Plaza San Diego
2270 Hotel Circle N, San Diego, CA 92108
619.297.1101 or 888.233.9527

REGISTER:
Visit Out4Life.com or call 877.478.0100
All Out4Life attendees may participate in a marketplace exhibit center with booths and displays about their reentry support services and assistance  

DETAILS:
Schedule

ADVANCE & ON-SITE OPPORTUNITIES:

• San Diego resident and ex-offender Bernard Brown, who spent two and a half years in prison for drugs and is now released and searching for a job
• Ex-offender Christina Smith who spent five years in prison for accessory to robbery, lived in a Los Angeles halfway house and is now a motivational speaker
• San Diego resident and ex-offender John Poehner, who served three years in prison for a DUI felony and now studies classical guitar and teaches guitar lessons
• Prison Fellowship volunteer and San Diego resident Rick Ybarra, who conducts in-prison classes to prepare prisoners for reentry
• Prison Fellowship Vice President, former California assembly leader and former California inmate Pat Nolan
• Prison Fellowship Southern California Executive Director Clef Irby
• Baylor University Distinguished Professor of the Social Sciences Byron Johnson
  

California is the 12^th state to launch Out4Life. Reentry movements are already underway in Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, Arizona, Ohio, Texas, Virginia and Oregon.

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¹Pew Center on the States
²U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance, Reentry Trends in the United States, 2002
³Pew Center on the States, State of Recidivism, 2011