[1] InsideOUT Writers was founded in 1996 by Sister Janet Harris, PBVM, who was serving as the Catholic chaplain at Central Juvenile Hall.
While speaking to the young inmates about what they were going through, she found them frustrated, hopeless, afraid, and wondered: "What outlets could she provide for them to process those feelings?
[4] In 1996, Noriyuki wrote a piece for the Los Angeles Times about Harris's ministry entitled Sister of Mercy.
[6] After Harris found new witnesses and persuaded the law firm of Latham Watkins to take on the case for free, Rocha was exonerated.
In 2003, Scott Budnick began volunteering as an InsideOUT teacher at the Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall in Sylmar, California.
[12] In 2011, IOW teamed with the Los Angeles Opera to perform stories written by incarcerated youths at Central.
When students get out of detention, InsideOUT provides case management, life skills training, continued creative writing classes, and mentoring, to build on what happens inside.