Prison Fellowship International

Other programsenhancing and extending pfi's program reach and execution involves initiatives and activities that benefit multiple programs, including planning, developing, sustaining and adjusting program partnerships; providing technical assistance and training; and monitoring, evaluating and improving program standards and performance. In fy24, 55 unique national ministries were engaged in program partnerships, meaning 42% of pfi's global family. Currently, there are 88 program partnerships in total across 5 programs.in fy24, pfi partnered with pepperdine university, prison fellowship colombia, the colombian national penitentiary and prison institute, and the colombian senate for a multi-year study in colombia's prison system to measure the efficacy of international prison programming in offender rehabilitation, recidivism reduction and general correctional reform. The goal of this initial "center of excellence" is to facilitate global crime reduction by accelerating best practice adoption, equip prison ministry leaders to increase ministry impact, provide hands-on opportunities to learn what works and serve as an early indicator that pfi's strategy is working.

Serving children and familiesthere are more than 18 million children of prisoners around the world, among the most vulnerable and marginalized groups and at high risk of exploitation, abuse and neglect. They are also susceptible to repeating generational cycles of crimes. These risks are heightened in countries where poverty is widespread. The stigma of parental incarceration is particularly devastating for children who, as a result, experience trauma, shame and financial challenges. Pfi provides opportunities for these children's physical, mental and spiritual growth. With its longstanding work within prison systems and unprecedented access to prisons across the world, pfi is uniquely positioned to serve children of prisoners, who often fall through the cracks of other organizations and are at risk of repeating the self-destructive patterns of their incarcerated parents. The child's journey (tcj) restores and rebuilds the lives of vulnerable children with an incarcerated parent through practical care, and spiritual and emotional support. By meeting them in their moment of greatest need and providing services, children are given the opportunity to flourish. There are four areas of intervention: safety (safety training, caseworker home visits), health (food provision, health checks, medical care), education (assistance with school uniforms, fees and supplies) and spirituality (mentoring from a local christian adult and provision of scripture resources). Since inception, tcj has served more than 12,000 children, with more than 3,600 served in fy24 alone.promisepath (prp) is a community- and volunteer-based care program that provides a network of support around children of prisoners, focusing interventions in the areas of education assistance, mentoring and spiritual resources for both children and their caregivers. These interventions help break the cycle of crime and provide a brighter future for children and their community. Since inception in fy22, prp has served over 6,500 children.

Capacity building of partnering organizationspfi is the world's largest network of prison ministries, partnering with autonomous, indigenous organizations (chartered affiliates) in more than 120 countries. Pfi supports these affiliates to help them grow internal capacities (infrastructure, finance, governance) and build organizational strength. Through strengthening its partners, pfi in turn increases impact and reach so that more prisoners and families are served and transformed by god's love. Pfi's work in capacity building largely centers around its program partnerships. Most national ministries that participate in a program partnership demonstrably increase their growth rate, capacity to minister in the prisons of their country and long-term sustainability. Through their partnership, a set of capacity building interventions are released, targeting specific areas of organizational development and boosting performance. For all program partners, pfi conducts annual capacity assessments to track each organization's progress and tailors services and support for the unique needs and challenges of each partner. Annual regional forums/conferences also provide an opportunity for chartered affiliates to share learnings, hear about prison ministry best practices and learn from expert speakers. In fy24, 4 regional forums were held, 1 in person and 3 online. 80% or more of the national ministries in each region were in attendance at each forum.

Communications and educationas the world's most extensive network of faith-based ministries working in prison systems, pfi develops varied content and resources to fuel a global movement and advance its mission. By drawing attention to the issues and needs of prisoners, their families and victims, pfi seeks to expand the number of people and organizations engaged in transformative work that will help break the cycle of crime and restore lives, worldwide, through jesus' love.pfi produces educational materials and tools to influence leaders and grassroots members in varied sectors to become champions for prison-focused restorative practices and equip christians to respond joyfully to the biblical call of jesus to visit him in prison. Pfi's tools for affiliates and external audiences include a monthly affiliate newsletter that shares best practices and ministry updates and donor-facing content including monthly program update emails, a monthly video newsletter and quarterly direct mail newsletters in fy24, pfi also launched mypfi, a site designed to serve as a central hub of news, partnership materials and resources for the global family. It provides national ministries access to essential information, best practices and more to further transform lives of those impacted by crime and incarceration, through jesus' love. Mypfi serves to foster better communication, collaboration and connection among our national ministries.