Since 1972, Friends Outside in Los Angeles County (FOLA) has been a premier provider of reentry services across the Los Angeles area. The only known organization in the County that focuses on children and families through the lens of the impact of the criminal justice system on their well-being, FOLA also provides services to their incarcerated and formerly incarcerated loved ones.
OUR MISSION
“The mission of Friends Outside is to assist children and families, prisoners, and former prisoners with the immediate and long-term effects of incarceration, and to act as a bridge between those we serve, the community at large, and the criminal justice system, thereby enhancing the character of justice.”
Friends Outside’s services maximize returns on investment for the government, donors, and taxpayers through cost-effective re-entry services which result in strengthened families, reduced crime, and improved life trajectories for the children in these families. Its threefold budgetary and programmatic growth since 2011 reflects not only the need for its services but also the organization’s potential.
Friends Outside is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
OUR VISION
Because of incarceration’s high cost, negative impact upon families, and overall failure to deter crime, Friends Outside believes that society at-large is not well-served by its reliance upon incarceration as the preponderant response to criminal behavior.
WE BELIEVE
- The needs of families should be addressed whenever possible;
- Incarceration can be an intergenerational pattern which can be broken through the delivery of appropriate services;
- That the re-entry population is more likely to become productive members of society if they are able to maintain family ties, and receive appropriate, effective services;
- That society as a whole benefits by our services through increased public safety, cost-savings, and better outcomes for the children and families we serve.
OUR GOALS
Providing and improving links between families and their incarcerated loved ones, when mutually desired:
- Improving interpersonal relationships between families and their incarcerated loved ones.
- Increasing contacts between families and their incarcerated loved ones.
- Improving the quality of communication between families and their incarcerated loved ones.
- Increasing the rate of positive reunification between families and their incarcerated loved ones.
Providing and linking children and families, prisoners, and former prisoners with services:
- Increase the quantity and improve the quality of resources available to children and families, prisoners, and former prisoners.
- Reducing stress, social isolation, and social failure among children and families, prisoners, and former prisoners.
- Increasing self-sufficiency amongst families of prisoners, prisoners, and former prisoners.
- Establish and maintain working relationships with other community resources.
Reducing or preventing multi-generation crime:
- Ameliorating the unintended effects of familial crime and incarceration upon children.
- Improving parent/child relationships among families of prisoners.
- Improving the ability of families of prisoners to provide emotional and material support to their children.
Supporting responsible and humane treatment of children and families of prisoners and their incarcerated loved ones:
- Increasing public awareness of the unintended consequences of incarceration.
- Increasing the availability of and access to alternatives to incarceration.
OUR REPUTATION
Friends Outside’s reputation as a leader in the re-entry field has resulted in the organization being asked to participate in research projects and material for professional publications.
- Co-author, M. Weaver, Chapter 5: Your Adult Child, When the Parent is in Jail or Prison, “Grandparents as Parents: A Survival Guide to Raising a Second Family”
- Co-author, M. Weaver, Part 2, Chapter 6: Imprisoning the Family, Incarceration in Black America, “Black Los Angeles, American Dreams and Racial Realities,” Edited by Darnell Hunt and Ana – Christina Ramon
- Principal Investigator, M. Weaver (in cooperation with M. Belinda Tucker, Ph.D. and C. Petrucci, Ph.D.) “Examining the Needs of Adult Family and Close Ties of Incarcerated Persons in Los Angeles County,” UCLA Center for Community Partnerships
- Principal Investigator, M. Weaver (in cooperation with Nancy King, L.C.S.W.), “Released Aging Prisoners Project,” in cooperation with Independence at Home, a division of SCAN Health Plan
- Co-Author, M. Weaver, “Re-entry Employment Strategies,” an on-line Training for WorkSource Center Staff, in collaboration with City of Los Angeles, Workforce Development Division