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Pennsylvania training mentally ill inmates to help others on the cellblock

Katie Colaneri

August 01, 2017 |

WHYY |

Multi-Media |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Pennsylvania

Peer to peer programs have existed since the 1980s. These programs pair up a person with mental health illness, with one another. The concept, is relatively new in the prison systems, and is gaining traction in states like Pennsylvania.

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Meet a new breed of prosecutor

Henry Gass

July 17, 2017 |

The Christian Science Monitor |

Multi-Media |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Texas

Across the country, a small number of young prosecutors are changing the face of our current criminal justice system. They are moving away from the “strict law-and-order practices of the past,” and employing a more liberal approach: “eschewing the death penalty, talking rehabilitation as much as punishment, and often refusing to charge people for minor offenses.”

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Delivering Gourmet Pizza, and Jobs Training, in Cook County Jail

Serena Maria Daniels

July 06, 2017 |

Next City |

Multi-Media |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Chicago, Illinois

Recipe for Change is a program that teaches incarcerated people Italian cuisine skills, which is meant to help them gain employment when they reenter society. An estimated 200 people have gone through the program. Similarly, other programs are focusing on helping formerly incarcerated people gain employment.

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Why a $10,000 Philly tax break got almost no takers

Jane M. Von Bergen

June 21, 2017 |

The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia Media Network) |

Multi-Media |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

In Philadelphia, the city enrolled out a program that offered companies a $10,000 tax credit. The catch? Hire former prisoners who have crime records. To the surprise of the city, the program tanked. Now, the city created a similar, but revised program “ the Fair Chance Hiring Initiative.”

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Furnishing A Future

Quinn O'Callaghan

June 12, 2017 |

The Philadelphia Citizen |

Multi-Media |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Furnishing a Future offers furniture making classes to former inmates. The program was created with the intention of giving former prisoners job skills, who often leave prison with no work experience. “If these guys are trained in how to make a resume, and how to make it outside, but have no skills, they’re just not going to get a job.”

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Can this group of former offenders swing the Philly DA race?

Samantha Melamed

May 10, 2017 |

The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia Media Network) |

Multi-Media |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

How does an organization go about reducing incarceration rates, and eliminate racial bias? Hiring the people affected by the prison system: former inmates. That’s the strategy that ACLU is taking in Philadelphia.

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Here are the 3 steps everyone agrees we need to take to tackle recidivism

Christopher Wink

May 09, 2017 |

Generocity |

Multi-Media |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Activists, and lawmakers have been proposing ideas for prisoner reentry, or supporting former prisoners by finding work, housing, and healthcare, in order to reduce the trend of prisoners being released, committing another crime, and returning to prison. Philadelphia, which has a high recidivism rate, is one of the cities that is already implementing solutions.

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Where Some of the Most Housing-Challenged Philadelphians Find Help

Jean Friedman-Rudovsky

May 01, 2017 |

Next City |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Housing is one of the major hurdles former prisoners have to tackle when they get out of prison. Two judges know this, that’s why they created a re-entry program that offers prisoners numerous services. The results? “Over the past 10 years, only 13 percent of graduates and 21 percent of all participants were arrested or had their parole revoked — compared to a 41 percent revocation rate for other returning citizens in the Philadelphia area.”

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Last Days of Solitary

Lauren Mucciolo Dan Edge

April 18, 2017 |

PBS Frontline |

Documentary |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Warren, Maine

Across the United States, the use of administrative segregation is being rethought and reduced, as study after study shows it’s link to higher rates of violence and recidivism. At Maine State Prison, over the course of six years, the number of people in solitary went from 100 to 8, while also seeing a decline in fights, use of weapons, and emergency room transportation in the prison’s general population. The prison has instead started implementing individualized mental health programming and structured living units – opting to implement rehabilitation over punitive measures.

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Mentally ill man worse off after acquittal

Jessica Priest

April 08, 2017 |

The Victoria Advocate |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Victoria, Texas

“Two million people with mental illness are booked into jails every year.” Mental health courts, would take into accounts a person’s illness, rather than solely focusing on the crime.

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