LAHIC Corrections

Thank you to all who participate!

Every month AA members carry the message of Alcoholics Anonymous into a growing list of about 120 meetings per month. We bring the message inside at correctional, transitional, and re-entry facilities in L.A. County. 

We are grateful to everyone who has been to a panel on the inside. A heartfelt thanks to everyone who has donated money. You helped us bring Big Books and other AA literature to people who have no other way to get it. Thank you!

Facilities We Serve

Area 1: Transitional

Homes and facilities for people transitioning from incarceration back into society. Includes court-mandated recovery facilities for alcohol and drug addiction. There are meetings throughout the greater Los Angeles area. 

Jail clearance is not required to speak at Transitional & Re-Entry panels. 

Area 2: Juvenile

The Los Angeles County Probation Department manages the volunteer program VISTO, (Volunteers in Service to Others). We’re working to establish meetings at three of the facilities. 

Jail clearance is required to speak at any of the juvenile detention facilities or camps.

Area 5: Twin Towers

Twin Towers Correctional Facility is one of four Los Angeles County jails. All four are operated by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD). Jail clearance is required. Twin Towers is described as the “largest mental health facility in the country.”

 

Area 5: Men’s Central Jail

Men’s Central Jail is a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department facility for men. It is in the same complex as Twin Towers. Men’s Central houses inmates of all security levels, from the general population to high security. Jail clearance is required.

 

Area 5/6/7: Spanish

The Los Angeles Hospitals & Institutions Committee serves the Spanish-speaking population in all LA County Jail facilities. Weekly panels are conducted in Spanish.

We bring in a combination of English and Spanish Big Books and literature, depending on the needs of the people who are incarcerated. 

Area 6: CRDF

Century Regional Detention Facility (CRDF) is a women’s jail operated by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department located in Lynwood. CRDF offers Education Based Incarceration programs (EBI). Jail clearance is required.

 
 

Area 8: Metropolitan Detention Center

Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) is part of the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP). It houses both men and women. 

Clearance is required to speak at MDC, however they are not accepting applications for clearance at this time.

Area 7: PDC*

Pitchess Detention Center (PDC), also known as Wayside, is located in Castaic. PDC is also managed by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. It is an all-male county correctional facility with four different jails. PDC offers Education Based Incarceration programs (EBI) in one of the jails. Jail clearance is required.

 

Service Area Map

To obtain LASD or Visto Clearance, please email

AA-Corrections@lahic.org or attend the Monthly Meeting.

Additional Opportunities

For All Members of AA, No Jail Clearance Required.

Please share with all AA Groups & Members

General Service Area 05 Corrections Committee, Southern California Area Assembly

Our Mission: 

To encourage and guide all AA Members in our Southern California Area to be of service to the incarcerated, still-suffering alcoholics in one or more capacities.

 1) H&I Jail Panel Leaders: Please bring enough “Pre-Release Request” forms for incarcerated people to complete. Please bring the completed forms back to the next H&I meeting. You can also email or text cell phone photos of the forms to area05corrections@gmail.com or 626-806-4670.

2) AA Members who do not have jail clearance: You are invited to write letters to people who are incarcerated and arrange to take them to their first AA meeting. We have letter templates and other resources to assist you. We ask you to fill out an “Upon Release” form so we can contact you with people who are being released soon and want to go to a meeting. For more information, please contact us at area05corrections@gmail.com or text 626-806-4670.

REMEMBER: MEN CONTACT MEN AND WOMEN CONTACT WOMEN!

3) AA’s General Service Office (GSO) in New York has a service called “Corrections Correspondence.” Any AA Member may sign up here at  AA.org Corrections Correspondence.

4) AA  Members can join and serve on our Area 05 Corrections Committee. We meet quarterly. Please complete our Committee Survey to get started, or you can contact us at area05corrections@gmail.com or text 626-806-4670.

When sharing about corrections service, refer to an excerpt from a letter that our co-founder Bill W. wrote to a prison group in 1949: 

Every A.A. has been, in a sense, a prisoner. Each of us has walled himself out of society; each has known social stigma. The lot of you folks has been even more difficult: In your case, society has also built a wall around you. But there isn’t any real essential difference, a fact that practically all A.A.s now know. Therefore, when you members come into the world of A.A. on the outside, you can be sure that no one will care a fig that you have done time. What you are trying to be—not what you were—is all that counts with us.

Questions about speaking on panels? Visit our FAQs.

To become a panel leader, please speak with an Area Supervisor at our monthly meeting.

To request a new panel at your facility, please click here.