Corrections

What We Do & Why

An active corrections committee is a vital link to correctional facilities, such as detention centers, prisons, and city or county jails. The committee shares information about AA with professionals and other workers in correctional facilities. We as a committee:

  • reach alcoholics who might never otherwise find the AA program by cooperating with correctional personnel;
  • finds alcoholics who need help (almost guaranteed in correctional facilities); 
  • serve inside our districts or travel to surrounding districts in Area 38: See Corrections Institutions List;
  • don’t all have prison experience – we are sober in AA;
  • know the regulations of the facility and we follow them, as they can vary;
  • help establish AA groups inside correctional facilities;
  • share what AA is and is not with personnel;
  • connect Inside AA members with Outside AA members
  • meet to learn from each other – Area 38 Corrections committee meets monthly online and quarterly at the Area assembly. See EAMO Events Calendar. Many district committees meet monthly as well.

Some Corrections Jargon

  • MODOC Missouri Department of Corrections
  • VIC Volunteer in Corrections can facilitate inside meetings in prisons. Annual MODOC training required and 2+ years of sobriety is strongly recommended.
  • IAC Institution Activities Coordinator is your “boss”.  They perform background checks on you and any guests you want to bring in. Along with your VIC training, they are resources to learn what is and is not allowed at the institution. 
  • Clearance IACs run background checks on applications for VICs and guests. If cleared, an official letter of clearance is sent to you along with a MODOC ID. These are required to enter the facility each visit.
  • P&P Probation and Parole office
  • Insider person in custody
  • Outsider AA members and volunteers outside the facility 
  • CCS Corrections Correspondence Service 

Carrying the Message to People in Custody

No Requirements to Serve

Sign up!

Prerelease Contact Outsider

The Corrections Prerelease Program connects the AA member being released from prison with Alcoholics Anonymous in their community. See Corrections Prerelease Program

Corrections Correspondence: Write to a person in custody

By mail, Insiders who have 6+ months to serve connect with Outsiders and share their experience, strength and hope. 

  • CCS Insider Request (F-73)
    • Insider completes form and mails to GSO (address is included on the form)
    • If facility rules allow, VICs take forms from the Insider, scan/email the form to corrections@aa.org or mail by postal mail.
  • CCS Outsider volunteer form (CCS3)
    • Outsider is matched with Insider request at least two states away
    • Outsiders may not want to use their home address. Some AAs use their district or home group mailing address as a return address.

Donate AA literature, Grapevines, Grapevine Subscriptions

  • Grapevine’s special annual inmate issues in July Back to Jail July 2022
  • Soft-cover books and pamphlets
  • Grapevines magazines
  • Send a Grapevine subscription to a person in custody

Start Informational Meetings

Probation and Parole Offices

Start an informational meeting at a P&P office in your district:

Attend Corrections committee meetings 

  • Area and district Corrections Committee meetings – we learn from each other. Gather experience from volunteers, committee chairs, longtimers who are currently serving or have served in the past.
  • Follow GSO’s Corrections Activity Updates and Box 4-5-9 newsletter. Sign up to receive at corrections@aa.org
  • Email corrections-chair@eamo.org corrections-altchair@eamo.org to keep the institution/volunteer listings up-to-date.
  • Request an email address for your district corrections chair through EAMO to stay connected with Area 38 Corrections activity.

Homegroups

  • Home groups can elect a “Corrections representative” to carry information from Corrections events and meetings back to the group.
  • Attend the Corrections committee meetings in your district and area
  • Sponsor an Inside AA meeting Correctional Facilities AA Group Handbook (CF-36)
  • Donate literature to our committee
  • Sign up for Corrections Prerelease and Correspondence

Some Requirements to Serve

Start an Inside Meeting

  • Groups or individual AAs can start meetings, rotating, weekly, monthly, etc. 2+ years of sobriety is recommended for individuals.
  • Open meetings make more sense in a correctional setting, so anyone interested in AA may attend.
  • Cooperation with the Professional Community (CPC) committees can pave the way for new meetings in facilities. Corrections staff are usually willing to offer full cooperation if they understand our purpose and function. The more they know about AA and our Traditions, the better. Cooperation with the Professional community (MG-11)
  • Videos are available for professionals to view at aa.org.

Meetings in County Jails, Transitional and Detention Centers

  • Usually easier to start- except since COVID. County/city jails have opened their doors to us more slowly.
  • Contact your county jail sheriff’s department by email or letter (sample letters are provided in Corrections Kit). There is usually someone who handles volunteers. These are very busy people, so patience is suggested.

Meetings Inside Prisons

Facilitating meetings inside a Missouri prison requires MODOC VIC training.

Visit Inside Meetings

  • Complete a guest application and submit to the IAC, who runs a background check before you can enter the facility. Entry requires clearance and presence of VIC.
  • Be a guest speaker or just attend as support. Your presence alone can have an enormous impact on Insiders – even if they never say so.

To get involved contact:

Sandy H

corrections-chair@eamo.org

Ken C

corrections-altchair@eamo.org

Additional Resources