Source: (2005) Journal of Correctional Education. 56(2): 115-123.
The San Francisco Sheriff’s Department’s (SFSD) Life Skills for Prisoners Program was designed to enhance and expand the Resolve to Stop the Violence Project (RSVP), which had operated successfully for three years in the San Francisco County Jail as a restorative justice program. Additional services were needed to teach individuals life skills to help them successfully reenter the workforce and community upon their release from jail. The average SFCJ inmate is 18 to 25 years old and has a 5th grade education. Most have been charged with, convicted of, or have a history of violent offenses (including random and domestic violence). The program operated in a dorm housing 62 men per day. The article describes the programme, staffing, involvement of other agencies, funding resources, and the outcome of the project and major findings. RSVP was selected as one of the 2004 winners of the Innovations in American Government Award in recognition of it’s novelty, effectiveness and replicability. The World Health Organization’s Department of injury and Violence Prevention has suggested RSVP as one of the programs it would like to propagate and provide training for at a global level.
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