FOLA’s efforts to provide cost-effective services were recognized recently when FOLA’s program, the “Incarcerated Parents Project (IPP),” was a recipient of a Special Merit Award by the County’s Quality and Productivity Commission, an award that recognizes County Departments for innovative programs that demonstrate savings to the County. This award resulted from FOLA’s collaboration with the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. IPP moved on to the national level of competition, winning a “NACo” (National Association of Counties) Achievement Award in June 2013.
In February 2013, Friends Outside’s “PATA” (Placement and Transportation Assistance) program through which court-ordered inmates are placed into substance abuse treatment in lieu of all or a portion of their jail sentences, (and thereby addressing underlying problems which resulted or contributed to their incarceration), was designated as a “Promising Practice” by the Vera Institute of Justice (“Making the Transition: Rethinking Jail Reentry in Los Angeles County”).
In 2012, Friends Outside’s Executive Director (Mary Weaver) was named a “Fatherhood Hero,” by the White House, Office of Public Engagement/Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.