Resources: Educational Resources
PARC corresponds with and mails a directory of these resources to prisoners, their friends and family members. We are often the first point of contact for people to connect with prisoners' rights organizations, community organizations, prison literature and arts projects, family and visiting resources, health care and legal resources, parole and pre-release resources, and the prison abolition movement.
Download a PDF copy of the November 2024 Edition here.
Please note recent updates since our last publication:
Compassion Works For All has closed (see listing in Religious Programs)
Missouri Prison Books: Now sending to Kansas, Illinois, and Indiana. Is banned in Missouri, since Sept 23, 2024
The Pathfinder Network: correct phone is 503-892-5396
Providence Books Through Bars c/o Paper Nautilus 19 S Angell Street Providence RI 02906
Women’s Book Project 3501 Aldrich Ave. S, Minneapolis MN 55408
PDX Books Through Bars: ships up to 3 books for free to anyone incarcerated in all states except Wisconsin. General topics/genres only. PO Box 11222; Portland OR, 97211
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Compassion Prison Project Compassion Prison Project (CPP) creates trauma-informed prisons and communities. We do this through trauma-awareness education and programming. CPP’s Trauma-to-Transformation day-long workshop kicks off a powerful 16-week compassion-based curriculum titled Trauma Talks. Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are addressed and tools are given to support the healing process. For those with access to Edovo on their tablet, please be sure to watch our podcasts featuring the top trauma experts in the world, thought leaders and motivational speakers. Our evidenced-based Trauma Talks 16-week curriculum will be available to all learners in the Fall of 2024. Stay tuned for more content in the near future! Write for information if you want to support getting our Trauma Talks program into your facility (especially if you don’t have Edovo) or if you’d simply like to get on a waiting list for a non-romantic pen friend who can provide support and encouragement. |
Educational Resources, Rehabilitation Programs |
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Compassion Works For All Provides monthly Dharma Friends newsletters, and also the following resource lists; Personal Health and Nutrition, 12 Step and Buddhism, Buddhist Resources, Christian Spiritual Resources, Hindu and Yoga Spiritual Resources, Other Spiritual and Psychological Healing Resources, Todd Fletcher's Buddhist Resource List, Ani Tendron's Recommended Buddhist Readings. |
Educational Resources, Religious Programs / Spiritual Resources |
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Cornell Prison Education Program The Cornell Prison Education Program brings together Cornell faculty and graduate students to teach a free college-level liberal arts curriculum to a select group of incarcerated at several correctional facilities near Cornell University. New York State only. |
Educational Resources, College and Higher Education Courses |
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CURE-SORT CURE-SORT (Sex Offenders Restored through Treatment) has information, resources, contacts, and support to individuals, families, treatment providers, and professionals who work with issues of sexual abuse and its prevention. CURE-SORT is an issue chapter of Citizens United for the Rehabilitation of Errants (CURE). Provides info nationally. We are not a treatment program. We do not provide legal assistance. |
Educational Resources, Rehabilitation Programs |
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Education Justice Project The Education Justice Project (EJP) is a comprehensive college-in-prison program at Danville Correctional Center in central Illinois. Students earn transferable University of Illinois credit. EJP also publishes multiple reentry guides: Mapping Your Future: National Edition and A New Path: A Guide to the Challenges and Opportunities After Deportation. Mapping Your Future includes advice about housing, employment, healthcare, substance use and more, with resources for formerly incarcerated individuals throughout the US. A New Path is a guide for people getting deported to Mexico and Central America and is published in English and Spanish. EJP also prepares specific reentry resources for Illinois residents (Mapping Your Future: A Guide to Successful Reentry in Illinois), availalbe in both English and Spanish.) All resources can be found on their Reentry Guides website. |
Educational Resources, College and Higher Education Courses |
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Hudson Link for Higher Education in Prison Hudson Link empowers currently and formerly incarcerated people to realize their academic and economic potential by managing degree-granting college programs and providing essential re-entry support. Established in 1998, Hudson Link has transformed over a thousand lives, helping incarcerated people make a positive impact on their own lives, their families, and communities, resulting in lower rates of recidivism, incarceration, and poverty. Working with nine college partners, Hudson Link provides funding, management, and organizational support for academic programs leading to college degrees at six correctional facilities, including Greene, Green Haven, Shawangunk, Sing Sing, Sullivan, and Taconic. Hudson Link also provides released students with ongoing alumni services, as well as transitional housing through our New Beginnings housing program.
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Educational Resources, College and Higher Education Courses |
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Human Kindness Foundation Prison-Ashram Project The Human Kindness Foundation's Prison-Ashram Project sends free books and newsletters to people in prisons and jails all over the U.S., including We're All Doing Time by the late Bo Lozoff. HKF encourages a way of life based upon three common principles taught by the great sages of all religions: Simple living, a dedication to service, and a commitment to personal spiritual practice. Write to request materials in English or Spanish. Limited materials also available to addresses outside the U.S. |
Educational Resources, Religious Programs / Spiritual Resources |
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Impartial Impartial is a US criminal justice non-profits that serves people who want to make a criminal justice impact. The way we do that is through our programs. One of those programs is working with prisoner artwork and/or stories about their artwork. To the extent that the inmate/third party is allowed to receive compensation or donate their artwork, we offer ways to auction, exhibit or other means to optimize artwork. Artwork starts conversations in a unique way. Knowing your artwork story often enhances the viewer's experience. Write directly to Impartial for more information about sharing your artwork. We serve everyone in the US.
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Educational Resources, Prison Writing / Arts Programs |
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Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program Organization supporting education model that brings together campus-based college students with incarcerated students for a class held inside jail or prison. This is a training center for Inside-Out education programs all across the country. it does not directly teach students. Write to find out if there is an Inside-Out program in your state. |
Educational Resources, College and Higher Education Courses |
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ISKCON Prison Ministry ISKCON Prison Ministry (IPM) donates books about: karma, reincarnation, mantra meditation and bhakti-yoga. These books teach you how to live a godly life and find internal peace and joy, no matter what your external circumstances are. We have books in English and Spanish. If you need books in another language, please ask us and we’ll see if we can get it for you. In your letter be sure to tell us if you are allowed hardcover or only softcover books, and how many books at a time. We also donate books, CDs (lectures and music) and DVDs, to chapel libraries; you can give our information to your chaplain. If you are allowed to receive CDs yourself, let us know that as well. |
Educational Resources, Religious Programs / Spiritual Resources |