When Blueprint first asked what technology could do for Adopt an Inmate, we knew exactly where we needed help.

Matching.

Creating thoughtful matches between adopters and people in prison is at the heart of our work. It is also one of our most detailed, labor-intensive processes, and we have always believed it deserves that care.

Now, after months of collaboration with a talented team from UC Berkeley’s Blueprint, we are preparing to launch a new matching app designed specifically for Adopt an Inmate.

More than choosing the next name on a list

One of the things that makes Adopt an Inmate unique is the intention we bring to every match.

When someone applies to become an adopter, we do not simply assign them the next available person on our waiting list. We consider the information each person has shared, including common interests, age preferences, location, available methods of communication, and other details that may help form the basis of a genuine connection.

From there, we create a small list of potential adoptees for the adopter to consider. The adopter reads about each person and ultimately chooses one person to contact.

This process takes time, and rightly so, because it matters so much.

The relationship that follows may last for years. For someone in prison, it can mean encouragement, friendship, consistency, and a connection to life beyond the walls. For an adopter, it can become an opportunity to know someone they might otherwise never have met, and to discover how much two people can share despite vastly different circumstances.

A meaningful relationship cannot be guaranteed by an algorithm. But the process of finding promising connections can be made more efficient, consistent, and manageable.

That was the challenge we brought to Blueprint.

Chosen as a Blueprint nonprofit partner

Blueprint is a student organization at the University of California, Berkeley, that develops technology for nonprofit organizations.

Before a project began, Rick and I participated in several meetings to explain our organization, the matching process, the challenges our volunteers face, and what we hoped technology might help us accomplish.

We were thrilled when Adopt an Inmate was chosen as one of Blueprint’s nonprofit partners.

Once work began, we met frequently with the Blueprint team to discuss features, review designs, answer questions, test early versions, and work through the many specifics involved in translating a very human process into an effective digital tool.

Our goal was never to automate matching at the expense of thoughtfulness.

It was to automate the repetitive and time-consuming parts while preserving the integrity and intention that make our matching process distinctive.

How the app works

The new app guides prospective adopters through the application and selection process.

Adopters provide information about themselves, their interests, their preferences, and the kind of connection they hope to form. The app then uses that information – along with the details provided by people on our waiting list – to identify a small group of potential matches.

The adopter can review those individuals and choose one person with whom they would like to begin corresponding.

The app also helps us apply our guidelines more consistently and collect the information our team needs without relying on so many separate forms, searches, emails, and manual steps.

There will still be human oversight, especially as we begin using the system. Technology can help us manage the process, but people remain at the center of every decision and every connection.

The app does not create the relationship.

It helps bring two people to the point where one can begin.

Preparing for launch

We are now in the final testing phase and preparing to launch the app publicly.

That work will be a major focus of Buzz Fest 2026, our tenth annual volunteer gathering. During the weekend, our team will test the adopter experience, look for bugs, review the wording and instructions, and make sure the process works as intended from beginning to end.

It feels especially fitting to prepare this new tool during a gathering that commemorates ten years of volunteer work.

For a decade, volunteers have donated countless hours to matching, correspondence, data entry, outreach, troubleshooting, and all the behind-the-scenes work required to keep Adopt an Inmate moving forward.

This app does not replace that work. It grew from it.

It reflects what our volunteers have learned through years of creating matches by hand: what information matters, where complications arise, what safeguards are needed, and why efficiency must never come at the expense of care.

[Add an update after Buzz Fest about the testing, any changes made, and the anticipated launch date.]

A new tool, with the same purpose

Our systems have changed considerably since Adopt an Inmate began.

Our waiting list has grown. Our reach has expanded. Our volunteers are working with more information, more requests, and more complex processes than ever before.

But our purpose remains simple.

We want people in prison to know that they have not been forgotten.

We want adopters to enter these relationships thoughtfully and with genuine intentions.

And we want each connection to begin with the best possible chance of becoming something meaningful.

The Blueprint app will help us do that work more efficiently – but still one person, one choice, and one human connection at a time.

We are profoundly grateful to the Blueprint team for choosing Adopt an Inmate, listening carefully to our needs, and building a tool that honors the heart of our mission.

Learn more about UC Berkeley Blueprint and its work using technology for social good.

Help us prepare for launch

It is not too late to support our Buzz Fest 2026 campaign.

Your contribution helps make our annual volunteer gathering possible and supports the work our team is doing to test, refine, and prepare this important new tool for launch.