The prison service of integration and probation (SPIP) Ardèche-Drôme launched Saturday a call for volunteers who would agree to sponsor former convicts, reports France Bleu Drôme Ardèche. The goal? Help them reintegrate into society but also avoid any recurrence. In 2022, one-third of inmates reoffended within a year of their release from prison.

How does it work? Former detainees may request to be accompanied as soon as they leave prison. The sponsor and the sponsored person choose each other and decide for themselves the link they want to maintain. "The sponsor comes to support a person who wants to change but who is sometimes in difficulty," explains the director of the SPIP.

Launched in 2016 by the SPIP Ardèche-Drôme, this system has been developed in other cities such as Bordeaux, Saint-Etienne and Roanne. It could soon arrive in Switzerland, according to local radio. But while there were about twenty before Covid-19, only three sponsors are part of the program to date. Hence the desire to find new volunteers.

  • Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
  • Rhône-Alpes
  • Prison
  • Volunteer