Story Search Results

Advanced Search

There are so many ways to search the solutions journalism stories in this database. Explore our searchable fields:

Search Results

You searched for: -

There are 854 results for your search. View and Refine Your Search Terms

More States Consider Automatic Criminal Record Expungement

Kristian Hernández

May 25, 2021 |

Stateline |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States

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
Go to Original Story
Formerly Incarcerated People in West Virginia Find Community Support

Amanda Page

May 24, 2021 |

Yes! Magazine |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, West Virginia

Community reentry councils are helping formerly incarcerated people access the support they need to get back on their feet. The councils are a network of agencies and organizations that can aid in securing housing, employment, clothes, transportation, and even help with navigating food stamps and Medicaid paperwork. The collaborative reduces recidivism rates by giving formerly incarcerated people the tools and services they need to thrive.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Community-led alternative to criminal justice resolves conflict, fosters community and protects youth

Constance Garcia-Barrio

May 23, 2021 |

Grid Magazine |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Restorative justice healing circles run by Cookman Beloved Community Baptist Church in West Philadelphia have helped resolve hundreds of disputes among youth over the past 15 years using dialogue instead of courts. Bringing together people who were harmed, those who harmed them, and members of the community leads to negotiated agreements that provide justice and reconciliation without leaving young people with a criminal record. Restorative-justice approaches to school discipline in Philadelphia have dropped the numbers of arrests from 1,600 to 384 per year.

Read More
Go to Original Story
From LA jail, two inmates pioneer care for mentally ill peers

Francine Kiefer

May 18, 2021 |

The Christian Science Monitor |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Los Angeles, California

At the Los Angeles County Jail, two men incarcerated on pending murder charges created a homegrown approach to improving the care and conditions of confinement for people with serious mental illness. Their approach is simple: showing love and care for people whose illness makes them feel like outcasts. By helping fellow incarcerated men attend counseling and other programs, and by tending to their personal needs, the initiative has contributed to a significant drop in people harming themselves. Fewer restraints are needed, and the pods where the program operates are notably cleaner and calmer than before.

Read More
Go to Original Story
On Parole, Staying Free Means Staying Clean and Sober

Tammy La Gorce

May 14, 2021 |

The New York Times |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, New Jersey

People in two New Jersey counties who were at risk of abusing opioids while on parole were given extra support services, and an immediate trip to rehab instead of back to prison when they slipped up. The pilot program is New Jersey's version of Swift, Certain and Fair, a federally funded program to help people succeed while on parole. In some of the 30 states with SCF programs, copying the original and successful Hawaii model didn't work. But New Jersey's approach to helping people succeed instead of laying traps to send them back to prison was deemed a success with a small, focused pilot program.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Life after prison: Communities heal by helping former inmates succeed

Sean McDonnell

May 13, 2021 |

Akron Beacon Journal |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Akron, Ohio

People returning home to Akron from prison step into a community that needs healing, work that the formerly incarcerated can help with because of the lessons they can impart to younger people. But first they need their own healing. South Street Ministries and Truly Reaching You, two nonprofits run by formerly incarcerated men, help people in re-entry clear the barriers to housing and jobs that can doom them to returning to prison. They also provide peer counseling and mental health care.

Read More
Go to Original Story
As Formerly Incarcerated People Return to Their Communities in W.Va., This Network of 'Resource Brokers' Is There to Guide Them

Amanda Page

May 11, 2021 |

100 Days in Appalachia |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, West Virginia

The West Virginia Council of Churches formed a network of community reentry councils to help people leaving prison line up basic necessities, from housing to employment. The councils use their members' community connections as a bridge between prison officials, who won't release people if they lack plans for a place to live, and returning citizens, whose housing, counseling, and employment needs can determine the difference between success and another stint in prison on a technical parole violation. Grants from two foundations helped the Council of Churches expand its network during the pandemic.

Read More
Go to Original Story
People leaving prison in Michigan still face hurdles to getting an ID

Angie Jackson

May 11, 2021 |

Detroit Free Press |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Detroit, Michigan

Michigan prisons and the state's secretary of state teamed up to provide people leaving prison on parole with the one thing they often lack: valid personal identification papers. Without a Social Security card or state ID, people struggle to get hired, rent housing, or open a bank account. In the program's first six months, more than 1,200 people got IDs. That's only a third of those eligible. Private groups have taken up some of the slack. The state says it should provide get the service fully up to speed by late 2021.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Bringing a Veterans Treatment Court to Sedgwick County

Carly Willis

May 10, 2021 |

KSNW-TV |

Broadcast TV News |

3-5 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Wichita, Kansas

Kansas' only veterans treatment court started small, but it has proved the concept to Sedgwick County officials who want to copy its success. Veterans courts provide treatment in lieu of conviction and punishment for veterans charged generally with non-violent, less-serious offenses. The costs are much lower than for incarceration, with greater benefits to the defendants. National statistics show a 14% recidivism rate, much lower than for the criminal justice system overall. In Johnson County, 41 veterans have gone through the 18-month program; none have reoffended.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Huge success for Mother's Day bailout, as annual Philly effort blows past fundraising goal

Michaela Winberg

May 06, 2021 |

Billy Penn |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The Philadelphia Community Bail Fund freed more than 400 people from jail in 2020, thanks to $3 million donated amid the COVID-19 crisis and racial justice protests. Organizers of the Black Mama's Day Bailout, an annual targeted campaign that gave rise to the community bail fund five years ago, expected donor fatigue this year might limit their work. But they exceeded the 2020 Mother's Day campaign, freeing 25 women, in part from sales of art made by formerly incarcerated women in a partnership with an arts co-op. Cash bail penalizes people too poor to afford to remain free before trial.

Read More
Go to Original Story