Prison Fellowship Urges Congress To Fully Fund Federal Prisons, Strengthen Public Safety
WASHINGTON, D.C., July 16, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Prison Fellowship, the nation’s largest Christian nonprofit serving currently and formerly incarcerated people and their families, and a leading advocate for criminal justice reform, joined a coalition urging Congress in a joint letter to fully fund the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) at the level requested in the administration’s fiscal year 2027 budget proposal. The funding will help address longstanding staffing shortages that threaten safety and rehabilitative programming.
“Every person is created with God-given dignity and the capacity for change,” said Prison Fellowship President and CEO Heather Rice-Minus. “Fully funding the Bureau of Prisons helps keep facilities safe, supports correctional staff, and expands opportunities for rehabilitation. When people are prepared for successful reentry, communities are safer, families are stronger, and lives are transformed.”
“The Bureau of Prisons bears the responsibility of safely managing everyone in its custody,” said Scott Peyton, senior director of advocacy at Prison Fellowship, “While the BOP does not determine who enters the federal prison system or the laws it is charged with carrying out, it is responsible for protecting its staff, maintaining safe facilities, and preparing incarcerated individuals to return to their communities as good neighbors. That requires adequate resources, which is why funding the BOP completely is an investment in public safety.”
Prison Fellowship recently became the first nonprofit to have a program classified as an evidence-based recidivism reduction program under the First Step Act by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Federal Bureau of Prisons. Prison Fellowship Academy is just one of many Prison Fellowship initiatives expanding its footprint in the very prison system that once incarcerated its late founder, Charles Colson.
Prison Fellowship
Celebrating 50 years of prison ministry, Prison Fellowship is the nation's largest Christian nonprofit equipping the Church to serve currently and formerly incarcerated people and their families, and to advocate for justice and human dignity. Prison Fellowship and its church partners encounter Jesus with those behind bars, breaking cycles of crime and prayerfully anticipating a revival that brings justice, mercy and hope to our culture.
Prison Fellowship does not receive funding from U.S. government sources, whether federal or state.
Susan Merriman Prison Fellowship 703-554-8698 Susan_merriman@pfm.org
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