April 9: President Signs Second Chance Act to Reduce Recidivism and Increase Public Safety

Prison Fellowship, the World's Largest Prison Outreach, Applauds Landmark Bill

LANSDOWNE, Va. , April 8, 2008—President Bush will sign the Second Chance Act of 2007 (H.R. 1593) on April 9. 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 President Bush'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

"Some 700,000 inmates will be released from prison this year.¹ Currently, little is done to prepare them to lead productive, law-abiding lives," said Prison Fellowship Vice President Pat Nolan-an ex-offender himself-who leads Prison Fellowship's criminal justice reform efforts. "As a result, more than half end up back in prison within three years.²"

"These grants allow churches and community groups to recruit, train and match returning inmates with mentors," said Mark Earley, president of Prison Fellowship. "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, including Sens. Joseph Biden (D-DE), Sam Brownback (R-KS), Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Arlen Specter (R-PA) and Reps. Danny Davis (D-IL), Joe Pitts (R-PA), John Conyers (D-MI) and Mike Pence (R-IN). President Bush called for this legislation in his 2004 State of the Union address saying, "America is the land of second chances, and when the gates of prison open, the path ahead should lead to a better life."

For more information on the Second Chance Act, click here.  To read the transcript from the signing event and/or watch the video click here.

¹ U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2007.
² U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2002.
³ The Pew Center on the States; data from 2005-the most recent year for which data was available.

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