Former Felon Builds One Of Washington's Most Successful Prison Programs

After serving multiple prison sentences and battling drug addiction for years, Ginny Burton made a decision that completely changed her life. Today, she has become one of Washington state's leading advocates for prison reform and successful inmate reentry. Burton's nonprofit, Out Impact, operates inside the Washington Department of Corrections and focuses on helping incarcerated individuals build lives free from addiction, crime, and repeat incarceration. Her abstinence-based reentry program emphasizes personal responsibility, employment, education, family reunification, housing stability, and long-term self-sufficiency. According to Out Impact, 54 of the first 55 participants released from prison have remained out of prison, representing a remarkably low recidivism rate. The organization estimates the program has already helped avoid millions of dollars in incarceration costs while costing only a fraction of what taxpayers spend to keep someone incarcerated. The Center Square spoke exclusively with Ginny Burton about her personal journey from addiction and prison to becoming an attorney and prison reform advocate. Burton also discusses her upcoming 300-mile walk across Washington, beginning July 19, to raise awareness and funding so the program can continue serving incarcerated men preparing for release. In this report: Ginny Burton's remarkable personal story Washington prison reform Prison reentry success Reducing repeat offenders Taxpayer savings Criminal justice reform Addiction recovery Out Impact nonprofit 300-mile walk across Washington Subscribe for more reporting on Washington policy, criminal justice, taxpayer issues, public safety, and government accountability from The Center Square. #PrisonReform #SecondChances #AddictionRecovery #CriminalJustice #WashingtonState #PublicSafety #GovernmentAccountability #TheCenterSquare #WashingtonInFocus #Recovery