In-house training

Religion | Inmates need hope plus opportunity; faith-based prison program helps with both | Becky Perry

Skeptics of the faith-based initiative have long questioned the evidence that faith-based prison ministry really works. Are the stories of success mere accidents? Or do the anecdotes indicate measurable progress in the fight against federal recidivism rates?

At a White House-sponsored roundtable late last month, Fred Davie of Public/Private Ventures announced the results of the Ready4Work program: Prisoners who participated in the faith-based reentry program are 45 percent less likely to return to prison within six months of release and 30 percent less likely to return to prison after a year. After three years of operation at 17 sites, Davie declared the results "preliminary, but very promising."

Speaking in the Eisenhower Executive Office building, across a lush lawn from the White House itself, Davie reminded his audience that hundreds of prisoners sit in D.C. jail cells only a few subway stops away. According to Department of Justice benchmarks, the prospects for prisoners who complete their sentences remain grim. Federal and state prisons release some 650,000 offenders annually. By year three, 60 percent of those offenders will be charged with new crimes, and 40 percent will be back behind bars.