Sept. 14-16: Out4Life Re-entry Conference - Keeping Released Inmates from Returning to Prison

Government and Community Leaders Examine Ways to Work Together to Ensure Successful Prisoner Re-Entry and Maximize Public Safety

LITTLE ROCK, Ark., Aug. 13, 2009—The Arkansas Department of Community Correction supervises some 51,000 former prisoners who are on probation or parole and are now living in our neighborhoods.¹  Another 6,200 Arkansas prisoners will be released this year.¹  Organizers of the Arkansas Out4Life Re-Entry Conference know the key to their successful re-entry to society is the ability to find jobs, locate housing, obtain needed social services such as alcohol and substance abuse treatment, and surround themselves with positive influences and mentors to help them navigate re-entry challenges.  Failure in any of these could make them part of a discouraging national statistic: More than half of released prisoners will return to prison within three years.²

Prison Fellowship, the world's largest outreach to prisoners, ex-prisoners and their families, has joined with the Arkansas Department of Corrections, the state Department of Community Correction and Little Rock's Fellowship Bible Church to sponsor an Out4Life Re-Entry Conference Sept. 14-16.  Held at Fellowship Bible Church, the conference will feature speakers including: Larry Norris, director of the Arkansas Department of Corrections; G. David Guntharp, director of the Arkansas Department of Community Correction; Pat Nolan, vice president of Prison Fellowship; and Fitz Hill of Arkansas Baptist College.  Concentrated workshops will delve into topics such as employment for ex-offenders, addiction treatment, public safety, family issues, special needs of women prisoners and the importance of establishing re-entry networks.

Any organization or individual who would like to work together to address practical barriers to prisoner re-entry and offer strategies to reduce prisoner recidivism is invited to attend.  All attendees may participate in a marketplace exhibit center with booths and displays about their re-entry support services and assistance.

WHO:                  

Sponsored by Prison Fellowship, Arkansas Dept. of Corrections,
Arkansas Department of Community Correction &
Fellowship Bible Church

WHAT:                 

Out4Life Re-Entry Conference

WHEN:             

Sept. 14-16

WHERE:                

Fellowship Bible Church, Little Rock

REGISTER:         

www.Out4Life.com

¹ Arkansas Department of Corrections, 2009

² Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2009

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