In Jail

• Inmates are given approved Bibles and offered weekly Bible studies. Each jail has strict rules on approved Bibles. Serving Time Jail Ministry buys and places these Bibles, supported by local churches and individual Christian donations.

• Celebrate Recovery sessions and math tutoring where permitted as the need is identified.

• Inmates can improve their life, gain confidence, and increase their chances of employment.

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Upon Release

• Many released inmates make the same poor choices that put them in jail. Serving Time addressed this by creating an Exit Package with needed information. This is available to the inmates in jail and to their families through our website.

• This allows the family to have a plan in place when the inmate leaves jail. This is a most pivotal time in the life of the inmate when they make the important decision of getting help or returning to the ways that caused the incarceration.

• The Serving Time Exit Package has a list of local and out-of-town rehab centers, churches that will welcome and reach out to them, available counseling in all types of problems and issues, shelters, food kitchens, GED contacts, and possible employment opportunities

 

Why Is This Important?

Crime may not pay, but it costs Georgia a lot of money. History has shown that offenders simply return to the prison population. Right now in Georgia, nearly one in three leaving our prisons are re-convicted within three years. Georgia currently spends about $1 BILLION a year on corrections. During the past two decades, Georgia’s prison population has more than doubled to 56,000 inmates.

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What are the plans to correct this?

From the Governor’s Office of Transition, Support, and Reentry - “We are delighted that you have decided to join us in this exciting and very necessary collaboration. We strongly believe the faith-based community is the missing link in reducing Georgia’s recidivism rate. We are appealing to churches to become more involved. One in every thirteen Georgia citizens is under some form of correctional supervision. We have the fourth largest prison population in the nation. Government policy and legal statutes do not change a person’s behavior. The goal of safely transitioning Returning Citizens into the community is enhanced by Faith-Based and community organizations that support reentry initiatives and provide capable guardianship through their work. Returning Citizens are currently in need of a variety of resources, such as housing, transportation, employment and mentoring”.