Artwork stating 'Education Destroys Barriers', 'We Demand Treatment', and 'I Need A Chance'

Search Results

You searched for: -

There are 1295 results  for your search.  View and Refine Your Search Terms

  • Utah Co. jail has largest jail industries program nationwide, providing jobs and hope for inmates

    Nearly 10,000 people incarcerated in the Utah County Jail have found paid work in the community during their jail terms thanks to the sheriff's Jail Industries program. While the incarcerated people get to keep just 20% of their wages, and only people with low-level offenses may participate, about 70% who go through the program get offered permanent jobs when they're released, thanks to employers' satisfaction with the workers. Having a decent job is a critical factor in preventing future criminal offenses. Jail Industries graduates have shown lower than average recidivism rates.

    Read More

  • APD touts progress in preventing gun crime through intervention program

    When young people with criminal records get shot in Albuquerque, they may get visited by the police department's Violence Intervention Program: cops and counselors urging the victims to resist the impulse to retaliate. Shooting victims are offered social and health services meant to stabilize their lives. In its first year, the team contacted 149 people, nearly all of whom stayed out of criminal trouble. None got caught with a gun and only one got shot again.

    Read More

  • This running program gives a mental health boost to incarcerated women

    More than 1,000 women incarcerated at Oregon's Coffee Creek Correctional Facility have participated since 2015 in Reason to Run, a program promoting better physical and mental health through running. Participants receive eight weeks of training and then are eligible to compete in races, albeit within the prison confines. After their release, the encouragement continues with "run care packages" of sneakers and sports bras. Surveys show the women felt happier, healthier, and part of a positive group experience.

    Read More

  • People in Solitary Confinement and Volunteers Team Up to Garden, Imagine a World Without Prisons

    The Solitary Gardens project started in New Orleans and has been copied in multiple other places as a combination art exhibit and therapeutic link between incarcerated people and the outside world. People on both sides of the prison walls collaborate in pairs to design a garden that grows flowers and herbs chosen by the incarcerated person. The gardens match the tiny dimensions of a solitary-confinement cell. The healing herbs are used to help others, and the exercise overall gives incarcerated people a sense of connection to the earth, part of the project's prison-abolition message.

    Read More

  • Reforms are emptying Louisiana's prisons. This group makes sure no one goes back.

    First 72+ is a New Orleans reentry agency founded by formerly incarcerated people to help others as they exit prison. That help focuses on everyday needs for transportation, housing, and emotional support. As in many states, a large share of formerly incarcerated people get sent back to prison, often for lack of support on the outside. The name First 72+ refers to research showing how the first 72 hours after prison can determine one's fate. In six years, none of the 176 people, mostly men, served by the agency has returned to prison, a record that prompted the state to send more clients to the agency.

    Read More

  • Early Cure Violence statistics promising, city health official says

    In the parts of two neighborhoods where the violence-intervention program Cure Violence has been active since June 2020, and a third where it has been operating since January, more than 300 potentially violent incidents were averted through the work of Cure Violence's "violence interrupters." The interrupters mediate disputes and then help people get the social services they might need to stabilize their lives. Homicides, assaults, and robberies are down in those neighborhoods while up citywide so far in 2021. The city agreed to spend $7 million to launch the program, which some hope to expand.

    Read More

  • SEPTA is testing a new way to help people struggling with addiction on the system

    A pilot program in Philadelphia’s transit system is providing social services for people struggling with addiction. Loitering violations in and around SEPTA stations are on the rise in the wake of the pandemic, spurring the city to reach out to those experiencing homelessness and addiction instead of solely policing the vulnerable populations. The project will be implemented in several other stations around the city as well.

    Read More

  • How well is Cure Violence working in St. Louis?

    While homicides in St. Louis in the first part of 2021 increased over already-high numbers in recent years, three neighborhoods served by a new Cure Violence program showed significant decreases in homicides, assaults, and robberies. Cure Violence, a national program, puts "violence interrupters" on the streets to intervene before arguments turn deadly and to provide people with services they need. In one neighborhood, Dutchtown, interrupters say they prevented 87 incidents in less than seven months. The city now is trying to find the money to expand the program to more areas of the city.

    Read More

  • More States Consider Automatic Criminal Record Expungement

    At least 11 states have enacted laws that automatically seal certain criminal records, to help people find jobs and housing without long-ago mistakes posing unfair obstacles. Pennsylvania's 2019 law has helped an estimated 1 million people. Debates and criticisms focus on safety concerns; whether to grant law enforcement officials access to sealed records; and the limits of such protections based on types of crimes and how long ago they were committed. When expungement isn't automatic, the cost and complexity of applying for help can be so daunting that few manage to win a second chance.

    Read More

  • With policing in the spotlight, districts search for alternatives to SROs

    As New Hampshire schools debate the presence of police officers stationed in schools, one model they and other states can consider is found at Minnesota Intermediate School District 287. That district lowered in-school arrests dramatically by replacing school resource officers (SROs) with student safety coaches, trained in de-escalation tactics and crisis intervention. While some staff cite safety fears now, school officials say healthier relationships form between staff and students when help, not law enforcement, is the response to problems.

    Read More