Volunteering For the Bureau of Prisons

How to become a volunteer

To become a volunteer, contact the facility closest to you and speak with the local Reentry Affairs Coordinator.


Citizen Volunteers

L to r: Director Charles E. Samuels congratulates Colonel Harold V. Huston (Ret.), FCI Ashland (KY) Volunteer, on receiving a 2012 Attorney General's Citizen Volunteer Service Award.

Citizen volunteers provide a variety of services in the following skill areas to assist in meeting the needs of the inmate population:

  • Academic
  • Vocational/Career
  • Interpersonal
  • Wellness
  • Mental Health
  • Cognitive
  • Character
  • Leisure
  • Daily Living

Within these essential skill areas, volunteers may provide and/or assist with specific programs, such as vocational training, alcoholics anonymous, narcotics anonymous, spiritual counseling, religious services, tutoring, and leisure time activities, as well as assist with marriage and family issues and with the preparation for and/or participation in mock job fairs.

Volunteer efforts supplement the services and programs offered by Bureau staff, thereby supporting community reentry efforts and promoting institution safety. For example, the Bureau's faith-based reentry programs use mentors to provide guidance to inmates in transition and promote accountability. The Life Connections/Threshold Program Mentor Training video is available here for review.

Inmate Volunteers

Dolls created at several facilities by inmates are donated to various charities.

The Bureau's community service efforts are conducted in cooperation with local municipalities, as well as community and faith-based organizations.

In the prison setting, inmates support other community service needs by volunteering for activities such as:

  • Training dogs for the blind
  • Designing hats from scrap material for terminally-ill children
  • Knitting and crocheting dolls and blankets for disadvantaged children or the elderly

BOP Staff Volunteers

Staff participate in a "Relay for Life" event.

BOP staff are involved in a variety of volunteer programs and activities in the community.

Numerous staff have been recognized by the Points of Light Foundation for their volunteer efforts in the Daily Points of Light Program.

Staff support and participate in activities of faith-based and community organizations, blood drives, a toiletries collection program for the homeless, and community-based crime prevention and drug intervention programs, just to name a few.

Staff also generously support the Combined Federal Campaign Program.