Justice-Involved Individuals & Their Families



Funding Goal

To support the successful reintegration of justice-involved individuals by restoring their lives, family relationships, and communities, thereby enhancing community stability and public safety.


Overview

The Church—as the Body of Christ—has been called to extend love and grace to those who have been incarcerated (Matthew 25: 36- 40). As the hands and feet of Christ, faith-based organizations (e.g., churches, parishes, congregations, health and human service agencies) play a critical role in supporting justice-involved individuals and their families. In addition, faith-based organizations are viewed as pivotal in deterring antisocial behaviors through the promotion of spiritual values that encourage positive lifestyles and choices.

Researchers and those who work in the field everyday agree that it takes a host of services and individuals to intervene in the life of someone who faces the difficult challenge of rejoining their family and reentering their community. The areas where assistance is most often required are housing, employment, physical and mental health care, transportation, and family support. In order for such services to be successful, they should be designed to be comprehensive, individualized to the person’s needs and abilities, and responsive to how the person is adjusting to reentry. Lutheran Foundation seeks to support such services.

Outcomes

Outcomes describe, in broad terms, the measurable change within each Funding Focus Area that Lutheran Foundation would like to see in the lives of those served by grantees. Outcomes allow the Foundation to aggregate indicators across multiple grantees to determine our community impact.

Organizations seeking funding from the Foundation must demonstrate how their program will address one or more of the following outcomes:

OUTCOME #1

Justice-involved individuals will maintain or experience improved mental, physical and/or spiritual health.

OUTCOME #2

Justice-involved individuals will experience increased pro-social community involvement and stability.

OUTCOME #3

Justice-involved individuals and/or their families will experience increased positive relationships.

While modeling the healing love of Christ, Lutheran Foundation strives to invest in services that show measurable impact in the lives of hurting people. We look to accomplish this by supporting services that are:

  • Comprehensive and collaborative in addressing the complicated and complex needs of the targeted population;
  • Responsive to cultural and gender differences;
  • Family-centered or focused; and
  • Evidence-based/informed and/or utilize best or promising practices.