Criminal Justice Reform Resources

Key Criminal Justice Organizations

There are many ways people of faith can support people who are in or coming out of the prison system and advocate for a most just prison reform system.  Below are a few key organizations to connect:

Grace Inside:  (www.graceinside.org) Grace Inside provides chaplains at Virginia’s state prisons.  Volunteers can contact the local chaplains near you and find out about volunteering in the prisons.

Virginia CURE:  (www.vacure.org)  Virginia CURE advocates for more just prison conditions, comprehensive prison reforms and assists families in knowing how to support loved ones who are incarcerated.  This is a volunteer run organization led by families who have hands-on experience with the state’s prison system.

Prison Fellowship: (www.prisonfellowship.org)  This is the national prisoner support organization started by Chuck Colson.  The organization has lots of volunteer opportunities and advocates federal criminal reform.

Assisting Families of Inmates: (www.afoi.org) Located in Richmond, this organization provides bus trips to the various prisons in the state so that family members can travel to see their loved ones. It also offers a Video Visitation Program that allows families to visit with their incarcerated loved ones via video visitation technology in five areas of the state.

Prisoner Visitation & Support:  (www.prisonervisitation.org) This organization organizes volunteer visitation programs to federal and military prisoners throughout the United States with priority focus on those prisoners who  do not ordinarily receive visits from family and friends, want or need visits, are in solitary confinement, on death row, or serving long sentences.

Resources, Information, Help for the Disadvantaged and Disenfranchised:  (www.rihd.org) This mostly volunteer led organization educates and empowers Virginia communities to address the negative impact of the racially disparate criminal justice system and mass incarceration.

Drive to Work: (www.drivetowork.org).  This organization helps people who have lost their drivers’ licenses due to unpaid court fines and fees.

Virginia Alliance Against Mass Incarceration:  This organization has a facebook page.  The organization organizes against mass incarceration and has led efforts to raise the felony threshold in Virginia.