London Prison Ministry

The LPC Social Justice committee strongly supports the need to get involved in the criminal justice system as it affects current and former inmates and the families of both inmates and victims. All these people can be victims of criminal justice in one form or another.

Generational poverty, abuse, addictions, and mental illness can all be contributing factors to a person ending up in the criminal justice and prison systems. There is also often a stigma attached to anyone having a criminal record as they try to return to society and look for employment, housing, and the basic right to human dignity.

While there are several very good organizations working with these people, there are still gaps in service that SSVP can fill. One such gap may be the lack of coordination of all related services. One of our actions are the prison release kits we have prepared and made available to inmate upon their release from remand and sentences. Each release kit contains items such as a pair of socks, Handi-wipes, pen and notebook, toothpaste and toothbrush, com, deodorants and soap, juice, and snack as well as a couple of bus tickets.

We shall monitor the success of these release kits and explore other ways can help former inmates and parolees who are returning to society.

Criminal justice system
You often hear about people who are out on bail re-offending with the call for immediate jail terms without bail. While this issue is a real one that needs attention, the other side of it is the need for reforms in our current justice system. There are many people in prison awaiting their day in court and finding out if they will even be tried and found guilty. These individuals may be in remand for months before finding out their fate. The court system really needs to improve to speed the process up and this requires advocacy.

Racism and the justice system
There are some astounding stats regarding the racial demographic in our courts and prisons with a much higher ratio of inmates who identify as people of colour, including Indigenous. This is another area that we have the ability to advocate for change in.

It is our hope that the London Prison Ministry can be a leading force in bringing all related efforts together in one network that can share and care together for those affected by crime