The Reality of Recidivism
The financial, relational, and societal costs of prison are staggering.
There are more than 155,000 federal inmates in the United States prison system. The average cost-per-inmate in the United States is $36,299 per year, resulting in more than $5.6 billion in costs per year. Furthermore, almost 44% of criminals released return before the first year out of prison.
In addition to this recidivism rate, the effect of having a parent in prison has a cost on the next generation as well. Children of incarcerated parents are, on average, six times more likely to become incarcerated themselves.
Change is happening
At Lifeline Global Ministries, we speak into this need for restoration. For more than 20 years, we’ve been privileged to work to equip incarcerated fathers and mothers to become the godly parents they were meant to be. The impact of those changed lives is incredible. Each transformed parent reaches another parent, not incarcerated. The transformation impacts their children’s lives as their parents seek to follow the Holy Spirit, and the trajectory of their futures is positively altered.
We’ve seen recidivism rates drop from double to single digits for graduates from our curriculum.
Lives and communities are actively being changed. By getting involved through volunteering or making a gift, we can grow our Kingdom impact together.
WANT TO KNOW MORE?
- Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report: “Parents in Prison and Their Minor Children”
- Bureau of Justice Statistics: “Parents in Prison and Their Minor Children, Survey of Prison Inmates, 2016”
- Federal Bureau of Prisons: Population Statistics
- Federal Register: Annual Determination of the Average Cost of Incarceration
- National Institute of Corrections: “Children of Incarcerated Parents”
- Office of Justice Programs: Hidden Consequences: The Impact of Incarceration on Dependent Children
- Rutgers University National Resource Center on Children & Families of the Incarcerated: “Children and Families of the Incarcerated Fact Sheet”
- The Pew Charitable Trusts: “Having a Parent Behind Bars Costs Children, States”
- The Pew Research Center: Religion in Prisons A 50-State Survey of Prison Chaplains
- Transforming Corrections: The Impact of a Volunteer Prison Ministry Program on the Long-term Recidivism of Federal Inmates
- U.S. Department of Justice: Special Report 2018 Update on Prisoner Recidivism: A 9-Year Follow-up Period (2005-2014)
- Vera: “More than 5 Million Children Have Had an Incarcerated Parent”
As you can see by the information in the links, our work together and mission is vital more than ever before to restore incarcerated families.
Want to help but not sure how? Contact us.
