From the Executive Director – Autumn 2026
It Began 20 Years Ago with a $25,000 Check
In 2006, board member and Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Leslie Kenyon spoke about our jail-based services for women with a family friend, Patricia Slesinger. As Leslie shared, Mrs. Slesinger’s interest stemmed from challenges in the foster care system they had heard about from their household staff. Inspired by Leslie, the Slesingers made a $25,000 gift to Friends Outside LA to start the Incarcerated Parents Program (IPP). The goal of IPP is to provide services, such as monitored visits between incarcerated parents and their children in foster care, that maintain family bonds and keep children out of the foster care system.
Research shows that, in most cases, children visiting their incarcerated parent is beneficial to both child and parent. (It is important to note that FOLA’s case managers “vet” the parents through the LA County Department of Children and Family Services to ensure they qualify for the visits). Some parents/custodians withhold the truth about the incarcerated parent’s location, telling children stories such as “Your dad joined the Army,” or “Your dad is working in the Philippines.” Thinking they are “protecting” the children, actions such as these can have negative lifelong repercussions for children who may feel abandoned by parents who seemingly disappeared. For incarcerated parents, having visits with their children can be the motivation they need to change their lives while keeping their behavior in check so they can have the visits.
I hope you will read the following personal story about a family that is being assisted by our program.
Author’s Note: The Slesinger Family’s influence extends well beyond the program they helped us build inside jail walls. Patricia Slesinger’s father, Stephen Slesinger, is credited with creating the image of Winnie-the-Pooh in his red shirt and acquiring exclusive marketing rights in North America to Winnie-the-Pooh from author A.A. Milne in Germany in 1930.
Strengthening Families
By Elizabeth Carnes, Program Manager, Incarcerated Parents Program
Earlier this year, “Jane” was arrested while visiting Los Angeles from out of state. Within days, her child was in the custody of an unfamiliar county child welfare system, in a state in which she did not live, and no family or friends within a thousand miles. When our case managers, Celina and Dena, met with Jane for the first time, her distrust, frustration, and grief were palpable.
Celina and Dena began by acknowledging Jane’s fear of the unknown, and for the well-being of her only child. They walked her through navigating the child welfare system and understanding her family reunification case plan as issued by the court. Our staff provided guidance to Jane on constructive communication with the child’s social worker and assigned caregiver. Where there was once resentment, Jane began to build rapport and collaborate with all of those involved in her daughter’s temporary care.
Celina and Dena also prepared Jane for her first visit with her daughter. They discussed the importance of family bonding time, how to interact with her child in a developmentally appropriate manner, and how to help her daughter manage her feelings.
“The first visit was a success,” say Celina and Dena. Jane found it difficult to trust someone else with her child, especially given her own traumatic childhood. However, Jane began to realize that her FOLA case managers were committed to walking alongside her and her daughter. Jane began to open up and showed signs of beginning to trust us.
Weekly visits continue for Jane and her daughter, complete with interactions that include coloring, making playdough creations, and sharing nursery rhymes. What began as an intense disruption for mother and daughter has become a very special time for them, time that Jane prepares for all week. She plans to take these parenting skills and lessons with her upon reunification with her daughter.
This video was produced to prepare children for their first visit by Friends Outside in Los Angeles County in partnership with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services.
“Gradually it became clear to me that the line separating good and evil runs not through states, nor between classes, nor even between political parties, but right through the center of each human heart. And every human heart.”
— Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Remembering Our Founder, Martha Jane Dowds
Happy birthday memories to our founder, Martha Jane Dowds, who, born on August 31st, always referred to herself as the “Last Rose of Summer.”
Martha Jane was born in Arkansas and spent her first eight years on a cotton plantation in Louisiana. Her friends were the Black children whose parents worked for her father. Her family moved to Los Angeles during the Depression and Martha Jane eventually enrolled at UCLA. She met her husband-to-be, Norman, at a “mixer” with USC, where he was attending law school (he graduated at the top of his class). They had three children.
Facing an empty nest and looking for something meaningful to do, Martha Jane attended a gathering where the founder of Friends Outside, Rosemary Goodenough, spoke about starting a chapter in Los Angeles County. The idea interested Martha Jane, who undoubtedly remembered the societal inequities she observed between her circumstances and those of her childhood friends on her father’s plantation. She started the new Friends Outside chapter in her San Marino home in 1972, and the rest is history . . .
Thank You
Thank you to the Office of Kathryn Barger, Supervisor, Fifth District, County of Los Angeles, for making it possible for Friends Outside Los Angeles to receive 10 tickets to see legendary singer/songwriter Al Green at the Hollywood Bowl in August! In the spirit of democracy, the staff’s names were put into a hat and the first five names drawn were given two tickets each. Congrats to Elizabeth Carnes, DaJohnai Vincson, Charles Biddle, Celina Ruiz, and Carla Ayala! The rest of us bought our tickets . . .
Program Spotlight
By Dr. Luis Barrera Castañón, Program Manager, Work Mindset Program
Friends Outside LA’s Work Mindset Program is built on a simple but powerful idea that no one is defined by their circumstances. A criminal record is part of a person’s past, but it does not define them or determine their future.
Operated in partnership with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Community Transition Unit, Work Mindset serves the incarcerated in three county jails. Participants complete assessments and workshops, and develop an employment plan for use during incarceration and after release.
Retention has been remarkable with participants staying, overcoming challenges and finishing what they started. Most importantly, they are also showing up to our offices after release to continue to pursue their employment goals.
“Angela” exemplifies the process. On release from jail, she faced many employment barriers including unstable housing, a limited work history, and anxiety about going to work. Our Work Mindset staff are supporting her every step of the way. Angela has registered with CalJobs, a state jobs website, and updated her resume. She is now exploring training and employment opportunities based on her employment goals. Angela’s case manager has observed Angela’s continued confidence and growth. Next, she will begin vocational training as a substance abuse counselor.
Work Mindset was featured in Star News, the official publication of the Sheriffs’ Relief Association:
“The program has helped multiple inmates that have been released and obtained gainful employment and Friends Outside [in Los Angeles County] has continued to manage them to make sure they stay on the path to success and a better life!”
— Officer Deanna Stark, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Community Transition Unit, Quoted in Star News, October 2025
Spring 2026 Issue
From the Executive Director
Dear Supporters,
At 54 years of service and counting, Friends Outside in Los Angeles County is the longest-running program of its kind in the County. We assist the incarcerated, formerly incarcerated, their children and their families with the goal to mitigate the “unintended consequences of incarceration.” Those consequences include broken family bonds, children who are at higher risk than their peers for physical and mental health problems, inter-generational poverty, and community destabilization. Although it costs California taxpayers approximately $132,860 per year to house a single inmate in a California state prison (based on 2023-2024 budget data), the average cost for our services is $6,000 per person with intended outcomes including employment in quality jobs, intact families, and increased presence of fathers in their children’s lives.
Inside Friends Outside, our quarterly newsletter, is intended to educate communities about the impact of the criminal justice system on our communities and the individuals living within them while sharing the success stories we witness almost every day. And while all services are provided at no cost to the participants, staff lets them know our motto—that our relationship with them is 50-50, that we will be with them every step of the way but they have to do their part as well.
Our work would not be possible without those who support us and we would like to hear from you. An occasional segment in future newsletters will be “Why I Support Friends Outside LA.” Please send your responses to info@friendsoutsidela.org so they can be considered for publication!
Mary Weaver, Executive Director
A Story of Personal Transformation
By DaJohnai Vincson, Program Manager, Dads Back! Academy
Program Spotlight: Project imPACT South LA
By Arthur Smiley, Program Manager, Project imPACT South LA
Rest In Power: A Tribute to Joyce Ride
By Mary Weaver, Executive Director