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‘They only cut off half my left foot.' What happens when inmate care goes wrong in Georgia?

Max Blau

December 13, 2019 |

The Telegraph |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Georgia

Without federal oversight, prisons are left to their own devices to determine what sort of health care they want to provide. That, combined with limited funding and resources, often leads to low-cost privatized health care that doesn’t necessarily have safeguards or patient-centered interests. While an increasingly complex issue, the response of privatized health care for inmates requires reform, but won’t get there unless the sheriffs that oversee these prisons embrace them.

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For sheriffs, healthcare for inmates can be a burden. For one doctor, it has been the opportunity of a lifetime.

Max Blau

December 12, 2019 |

Atlanta Magazine |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Georgia

As prison populations have increased dramatically since the 1980s, prisons have outsourced inmate health care to private companies, like CorrectHealth, to save money. While it is the most incentivizing when it comes to cost, this is only possible because private companies have to have the lowest bid – meaning they skimp on spending for inmates in the long run. The result has shown to be not just a decrease in the health care services offered to inmates, but more litigation for companies providing allegedly inadequate care.

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Creative Freedom

Gwynne Watkins

November 18, 2019 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New York

New York-based nonprofit, Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA), runs theater programs for individuals experiencing incarceration as a way of improving mental health and reducing recidivism. While the United States’ criminal justice system has been focused on punitive measures, there’s been a trend toward rehabilitation across the country in recent years. Participants in RTA have shown a rate of recidivism of just 5% – compared to a 60% national average – but funding and sustainability remain a consistent hurdle.

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Pennsylvania will no longer hold death-row prisoners in endless solitary confinement

Samantha Melamed

November 18, 2019 |

The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia Media Network) |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Pennsylvania

Following an ACLU-led civil-rights lawsuit, the Pennsylvania Department of Correction has implemented huge changes to the treatment of death row inmates. In prisons across the state, individuals who have been sentenced to death no longer have to undergo strip searches, are allowed to have contact visitations with family and friends, can apply for prison employment, and socialize with others in their unit.

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On One Issue, Americans Are United. Too Many Are Behind Bars.

Tina Rosenberg

October 30, 2019 |

The New York Times |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Washington, District of Columbia

In such a divided country, many groups from lawmakers to advocacy groups are finding rare bipartisan cooperation around the issue of criminal justice reform. Two congressional representatives, one Republican and one Democrat, have found common ground, as well as the Justice Action Network, which forms bipartisan coalitions, one of which was instrumental in passing the First Step Act.

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A College Education in Prison Opens Unexpected Path to Freedom

Vanessa Rancaño

September 21, 2019 |

CapRadio |

Radio |

3-5 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Long Beach, California

California is leading the nation in prison education. “There are now in-person community college classes in all but one prison in the state, enrolling some 4,000 students." Nationally, 4 percent of higher ed institutions teach for-credit classes in prisons. “It's been the most amazing experience of my entire life, as either a free man or as an incarcerated human being." Evidence shows that providing people in prison with education reduces recidivism rates. “A major study by the RAND Corporation found taking classes in prison cuts the chances of getting locked up again by 43%.”

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This East Tenn. Program Aims to Stop NAS by Reaching Women Behind Bars

Jess Mador

September 17, 2019 |

100 Days in Appalachia |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Tennessee

In Tennessee, health officials are fighting against the the opioid epidemic by educating opioid-affected pregnant women about neonatal abstinence syndrome. Although several approaches have been implemented, the Voluntary Reversible Long Acting Contraceptive Jail Initiative specifically provides resources to incarcerated women since studies show "women serving time in jails face a high risk of giving birth to a baby with NAS."

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Two Rural Counties Take Diverting Paths to Jail Reform

Laine Kaplan-Levenson

September 16, 2019 |

70 Million |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Alamosa, Colorado

Two southern Colorado counties responded differently when drug abuse, poverty, and mental illness contributed to overcrowding in their old, decrepit jails. Pueblo County's sheriff has gone to voters three times seeking approval of a near-doubling of his jail's capacity. Alamosa County's sheriff did the same, and succeeded in a renovation that nearly doubled capacity. But those extra cells turned out to be unnecessary because that county's criminal justice and community agencies collaborated on jail alternatives, significantly reducing how many people get jailed.

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Jeffrey Epstein's Death Highlights Inmate Suicide Problem

Max Blau

September 10, 2019 |

Stateline |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Atlanta, Georgia

After several high-profile suicides at various prisons throughout the U.S, ten states have enacted new policies for jails and prisons in order to intervene before it's too late. From enhanced suicide prevention training to more comprehensive intake regiments to abolishing solitary confinement practices, states across the nation are learning how to prioritize mental health care for inmates.

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How New York and Milwaukee approach juvenile justice

Allison Dikanovic

September 09, 2019 |

Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

New York’s Close to Home legislation approaches the juvenile justice system through the lens of rehabilitation, moving those in up-state juvenile facilities to local, sometimes residential housing that emphasizes family and community. The approach has led to a 71% decrease in the number of youth placed in these facilities and a drastic increase in academic performance. Halfway across the country, as Wisconsin closes two of its upstate juvenile facilities, Milwaukee legislators are seeking to implement similar, community-centered programming.

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