(CNN) Jared Kushner said Monday that prison reform is "very close to my heart" because of his personal experience with the issue.

Kushner's father, Charles, served time in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to tax evasion, witness tampering and illegal campaign contributions.

"There was one issue that was very close to my heart because I had a personal experience, which was prison reform," Kushner said at CNN's inaugural Citizen Conference after outlining the sweeping mandate he was given by the Trump when he took office in 2017.

Kushner opened up about his prison reform focus by arguing that it makes more sense to reform people in prison instead of keeping them in prison and allowing them to learn "how to become better criminals."

Kushner, though, admitted that he had "one small problem" after he did his research on prison reform.

Read More