2026 – 2030 Strategic Plan

What PEP has proven with hundreds,
it is now built to deliver for thousands.

For more than two decades PEP has been one of the nation’s most effective reentry organizations. The next five years move that proven model from deep impact for hundreds to population-level impact across Texas, and ultimately the nation.

Partner with us → Read the plan
64% Reduction in recidivism CORE graduates reincarcerate at ~10% against a 28% national three-year baseline
13,834 People reached annually by 2030 Up from ~790 today, across three pathways
$23.8M Annual taxpayer savings by 2030 Up from $8.6M in 2026
~88% Fall in cost per participant $6,554 today to $728 by 2030
The inflection point

CORE works. CORE alone cannot reach the need.

At the centre of PEP’s work is the CORE program, a structured in-prison and post-release model that consistently delivers dramatically reduced recidivism, rapid employment and measurable taxpayer savings. It remains the gold standard.

But CORE’s impact is inherently limited by structural constraints: eligibility requirements, prison transfer timing, facility capacity, staffing intensity, sentence structures and cost. Those limits restrict access to a small portion of the incarcerated population.

Recent advances change what is possible. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s statewide tablet deployment, expanded in-prison incentivized housing units, and a strengthened post-release ecosystem now make it possible to extend PEP’s model to dramatically more people. What was capacity-constrained can now scale without compromising the integrity of CORE.

Lower-touch pathways deliver more modest outcomes per individual. But they reach thousands rather than hundreds. A meaningful reduction for thousands outweighs a deep reduction for hundreds — and the two reinforce each other.

Annual participants by pathway Scale comes from Online and Incentivized Housing while CORE volume grows and its integrity is preserved.
CORE Incentivized Housing Online (Tablets)
0k 3k 7k 10k 14k 3,800 4,710 2026 5,100 6,287 2027 7,000 8,483 2028 1,100 9,200 11,168 2029 1,600 11,400 13,834 2030
The plan

Read it section by section

01 The Opportunity Nearly 77 million Americans have a criminal record. Ninety-five percent of those currently incarcerated will return to society. Most face significant barriers… Read the opportunity → 02 What Makes PEP Work PEP is not a concept. It is a model with demonstrated outcomes, external validation, and a set of capabilities that are difficult… Read what makes pep work → 03 Three Pathways CORE delivers the deepest transformation but is structurally constrained by eligibility, transfer timing and capacity. Three pathways bridge the gap between impact… Read three pathways → 04 The Economics PEP has a proven, data-driven cost model validated against 2023–2025 actuals. As the portfolio scales, cost per participant falls sharply while total… Read the economics → 05 After Release Formation built inside prison is only as durable as the environment men return to. Without a structured bridge from the gate to… Read after release → 06 National Replication Texas is the mothership, the place where the model was built, tested and validated over two decades. PEPUSA is the mechanism for… Read national replication → 07 Partner With Us The next five years move PEP from proven transformation in CORE to scaled, population-level impact across Texas and ultimately the nation. Donors… Read partner with us →

This is more than philanthropy.

It is a high-impact investment in human dignity, family restoration and community revitalisation — one that drives public value through transformed lives, reduced incarceration costs, increased employment and long-term economic contribution.

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