Criminal justice group includes churches in prisoner rehab

ST. LOUIS -- An organization for blacks working in criminal justice will enlist the help of churches more frequently to help prisoners released back into society.

A conference for the National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice, a corrections-oriented group, started Sunday and lasts five days in St. Louis. The gathering usually draws corrections officials, judges, social workers and researchers. Organization officials said they are working to include more faith-based organizations in their work.

Prisons in the United States release about 600,000 people back into society each year. A report released last year by the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics found that nearly 68 percent of prisoners released in 1994 were arrested again within three years.

Addie Richburg, a program coordinator for the federal Bureau of Prisons, said the association doesn't want churches to think the group is trying to dump the issue on them.

"We know offenders turn to the church when they don't have anyone else," he said. "We thought we could help the churches be ready when these offenders do show up on their doorstep."

The association wants churches to include statistics in their Sunday bulletins about crime, such as disproportionate sentencing based on race. That could encourage churchgoers to mentor prisoners or prisoners' families.

Conference workshops include issues like managing a prison in a tight economy. But the association also runs a Gospel workshop and will offer reports on topics including black churches helping troubled youth.

"In the African-American community, the church is everything to us," said Warren H. Dolphus, who is president of the National Religious Affairs Association. In the past, churches have provided Bible studies or church programs inside prison walls.

"Now, the church is needed on the outside, too," Dolphus said. "We've got to let the churches know how overwhelming the numbers are."

The conference at the Adam's Mark hotel downtown is expected to draw nearly 1,000 people, Richburg said.