Indigenous Programs
Prisoner-Focused Programming
Alpha
Alpha creates a space where prisoners can ask life’s big questions and find out about the Christian faith in a safe, informal and friendly environment. Alpha is currently running in more than 900 prisons and secure facilities, in 46 countries. In 2018, more than 53,000 people experienced Alpha in prison.
Catechism Courses
Prison Fellowship Bulgaria runs an eight-week catechism program as an introduction to the Christian faith designed to follow up on The Prisoner’s Journey®.
Innovative Prison Models
Communities of Restoration
Communities of Restoration are 24-hour, seven-day-a-week intensive prison regimes operated by Prison Fellowship International NGOs. They are designed to reduce offending behavior through character-focused, faith-based programming.
Seehaus
Seehaus is a juvenile alternative prison run by ministry affiliates in Germany. Young offenders are separated from other prisoners and the prison culture in order to protect them from negative influence. They receive the possibility to participate in the alternative to prison. They live in groups of seven students together with a family or house parents. Through a positive group concept, they learn to take on responsibility for themselves, for each other and for the program. The perspective of victims is shown to the students. Restoration, Community Service and Victim-Offender-Reconciliation-Meetings help the students to take responsibility for their crimes and give a (symbolic) restitution towards the victim and the community. A change of lifestyle can be reached best by a change of the norms and values of a person.
After Care
Accompanied Community Service
For inmates serving community service, ministries like Singapore and Spain offer Accompanied Community Service programs. These programs help former prisoners to follow through on their Community Service projects.
Book Clubs
Ministries like Hungary and Bermuda run book club programs. These programs aim to assist inmates to develop their reading skills as well as to encourage those with issues of literacy.
Halfway House
Many of our ministries provide community-based facilities to house released prisoners for rehabilitation, counseling, skills training and ultimately community reintegration. Ex-inmates are empowered with vocational skills training from Welding and Fabrication to Electrical Installation, Tailoring, and Crop and Animal Husbandry. Beneficiaries are given take-home tools and start-up capital to enable them to start a small business and lead sustainable lives after prison.
Legal Support
Many ministries offer legal advice for prisoners seeking help. These programs can range from non-professional legal assistance in countries like Armenia, Netherlands and Kazakhstan, to more formal legal assistance in countries like Ghana, Sierra Leone and Burundi.
Vocational Training
National ministries like Cameroon and Cambodia offer vocational training for prisoners before re-entering the community. These programs prepare prisoners to work as a technician or to take up employment in a skilled craft or trade as a tradesperson or artisan, helping them to find success outside the cycle of crime.