Montgomery

Riley wants faith-based groups to help prisoners

Gov. Bob Riley wants the state to involve faith- and community-based organizations in helping prisoners who are returning to society so the ex-convicts avoid a relapse into a life of crime. Riley is launching a program called the Community Partnership for Recovery and Re-entry, which will actively engage faith-based organizations and community groups to provide pre-release and post-release support for the ex-prisoners and the communities they are returning to as they complete their prison sentences. “Every year, about 7,000 Alabamians return from prisons to our communities,” Riley said. “Too many end up back in prison within a few years.” He also called for partnering with faith-based organizations in a comprehensive prisoner re-entry program in Plan 2010, his second term agenda that he unveiled in 2006.