Commentary; Posted: 7/19/06
Hope for the prisoner
Rev. John C. Blackford,
Religion Columnist
Have you heard about the InnerChange Freedom Initiative, a new program for prisoners? Do you know it is being tried only a few miles from here, at the Lino Lakes prison facility?
InnerChange is a faith-based program, now at six prisons nationally, and is touted by some as a powerful way to turn around ruined lives.
At a recent afternoon class at Lino Lakes, held in the Albert H. Quie Unit, a Bible study leader led two dozen participants in a study of the book of Ruth. They listened politely, and at the end of the class were joined by other inmates in the Christian song, ìBlessed be Thy Name,î clapping in time to electric guitars.
There is a cross on the wall, and next to it a banner with Romans 6:18 on it: ìYou have been set free from sin and have been made slaves to righteousness.î
The same banner announces this is the Albert H. Quie Unit of the InnerChange Freedom Initiative. He is the former state governor and congressman who was instrumental in bringing this program to Minnesota.
In the 1970s, Quie befriended Charles Colson, who was serving prison time for Watergate crimes committed while he was special counsel to President Richard Nixon.
Albert Quie at one point volunteered to serve some of Colsonís sentence, and this gracious gesture was a key factor in Colsonís spiritual conversion.
In 1976, he sought Quieís help in founding the non-profit Prison Fellowship. Today, Prison Fellowship, based in Virginia is perhaps the largest prison ministry in the world.
One of its programs is InnerChange, an 18 month Bible immersion ministry, which is modeled after one used in a Brazilian prison.
The first InnerChange was launched in 1997 in a Texas prison with the support of then governor George W. Bush.
The Bush administration is backing a similar pilot project in our federal prisons.
Does InnerChange work? Is it effective? Is it legal?
Each year more than 600,000 men and women in the United States are released from prison.
Within three years, statistics indicate that two-thirds of them will be arrested for new crimes involving new victims, or recidivism.
The Commission on Safety and Abuse in Americaís Prisons has found that the key to reducing recidivism, along with enhancing security inside the prisons and protecting the public, is comprehensive rehabilitative programming.
And this is what InnerChange is.
An independent study by the University of Pennsylvania showed that InnerChange Freedom initiative (IFI) graduates in Texas were far less likely to return to prison within two years than inmates who did not participate in IFI (8 percent compared to 20 percent). With this apparent success rate in mind, Minnesota authorities are expanding this program, based on Christian concepts.
The program is controversial. A federal judge in Iowa has struck down a similar program in that state on the basis that is is religious ìcoercion.î
Meanwhile the director of religious programming in Minnesota prisons has said he cannot support the program, even if fewer prisoners are re-incarcerated, because of concerns it violates federal and state laws separating church and state.
Despite these concerns, Minnesota is expanding IFI this month to the Shakopee womenís prison, a fenceless facility known for innovation.
It would be the first womenís prison in the country to use IFI.
Department of corrections commissioner, Joan Fabian says Minnesotaís ties to InnerChange are much different from Iowaís.
Our state seeks to offer equal treatment for those in the program and those who do not choose to take part, and uses state funds only for non-religious expenses and staff time.
Defending the program, she cites a preliminary study that found a lower return-to-prison rate of its members.
She said, ìI donít believe this is for everyone, but Iíve talked to counterparts in other states and it is making a difference.î
Part two of ìHope for the Prisonerî will appear in a future issue of the Forest Lake Times.
Material for this article was taken from the Minneapolis Star Tribune for June 11 and July 1, 2006.
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