PUBLIC ACTION IN CORRECTIONAL EFFORT, INC. AND
OFFENDER AID AND RESTORATION, INC. (IN)

Program Description

Introduction RealVideo           56k | 100k | 300k Windows Media   56k | 100k | 300k

Public Action in Correctional Effort (PACE) was founded in Indiana in 1960. Its original mission was to provide volunteer visitors to prisoners at what was formerly known as the Indiana Reformatory at Pendleton. A short time later, PACE broadened its activities to include advocacy as well as work in other penal institutions throughout the state. In the role of advocate, PACE works to ensure that the treatment of those incarcerated is humane and that those re-entering the community have opportunities for success. The cornerstone of PACE activity continues to be a network of volunteers who work with prisoners in a one-on-one relationship. Volunteers and staff also work with the Indiana Department of Corrections to provide pre-release information and workshops to thousands of inmates each year who are nearing release.

Offender Aid and Restoration (OAR) started its work in 1968, after a state prison riot in Richmond, Virginia. This incident prompted citizens to band together in search of a solution. Their search led them to the doorstep of the local jail. OAR chose jails as its focus because it is there that people first and most often experience incarceration. OAR/ Marion County (Indianapolis) began operating in 1982 as a nonprofit organization. PACE and OAR officially merged in December 2002, combining two of Indianapolis' oldest nonprofit criminal justice agencies.

PACE/ OAR provides two programs that focus on assisting individuals who were formerly incarcerated. In its Transitional Services program, PACE/ OAR staff work with male and female offenders prior to release to develop Transitional Accountability Plans that involve family, friends, clergy, social service agencies, and others. Each entity commits to working on a different element of a particular family's issue that may have a bearing on the loss of that individual to reincarceration. The second program is the Community Anchor Project. In this program, communities in which a high number of former offenders claim residence have satellite offices. These offices are responsible for providing direct services to former inmates and their families; services end only when the families are stabilized.

Program Goals
PACE/ OAR promotes family reintegration as the first step to successful community reentry for former offenders.

Networking
PACE/ OAR has collaborative agreements with many governmental organizations such as the Indiana Department of Corrections, Community Mental Health, Workforce Investment Board, Trustees Office, as well as with community-and faith-based organizations such as Volunteers of America, the Indianapolis Urban League, Goodwill, Training Inc., and Second Helpings.

Outcomes
PACE/ OAR reports that it worked with 1, 547 post-release clients in FY 2002. According to the agency, 100 percent were in either "permanent" or transitional housing. (All clients receiving transitional housing placement continue to work with care coordinators until they are in stable or permanent housing.) PACE/ OAR also reports that 64 percent of its clients were placed in jobs.

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