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

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  • Restoring Prisoners' Access to Education Reduces Recidivism

    A piece of bipartisan legislation was introduced to the United States’ Senate in February 2018 that would give individuals in incarceration access to Pell Grants, thus increasing their college education opportunities. While the bill was not enacted, it is part of an ongoing process of reinstating access to Pell Grants for prisoners from the Obama administration, who gave limited access in its Second Chance program. This bill speaks to the largely bipartisan cultural shift that embraces the need to invest in correctional education in order to prevent recidivism.

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  • Changes Coming To Housing Program For Former Inmates

    The state of Montana helps former prison inmates find and pay for stable housing and to improve their job-hunting skills after their release. The pilot program is praised both by former inmates, for the support they received, and landlords, who now have an incentive to rent to this population.

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  • Male aggressors in El Salvador get prison, and masculinity class

    Preventing sexual violence against women begins with men. In a country faced with a high incidence of gender-based violence, Masculinities for Peace, a non-governmental organization, is working to change the norms of El Salvador’s patriarchal culture. Going beyond punishment to encourage long-term behavioral change, the NGO provides rehabilitative courses on masculinity to convicted offenders.

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  • DAs Have This Blueprint for Rethinking Criminal Justice

    Formerly incarcerated individuals, community leaders, and members of San Francisco’s District Attorney’s office, have joined forces to create a collaborative advisory board. The board meets to share re-entry challenges and successes, discuss the DA's work, and develop a deeper understanding of systemic crime in the city. From conversations about mental health to poverty, members are helping create new policies and opportunities for those still incarcerated.

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  • ‘We believe that they can come home and be a positive force for change:' How one program helps people transition out of incarceration

    In Wisconsin, the Alma Brothers Smart Reentry program works to reduce the rate of recidivism by building relationships with those being released from prison and reentering society. By providing each man in the program with a guide during the last year of his sentence and first year out of prison, the program is able to offer support, resources and opportunities that the former inmates may not otherwise have.

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  • Scrubbing The Past To Give Those With A Criminal Record A Second Chance

    Indiana's Second Chance law was passed in 2013 and allows people to petition to remove their misdemeanor convictions and arrests from public view. In Marion County alone, more than 11,500 people have visited the full-time paralegal processing all requests since legislators implemented the law. Many of those visitors speak with relief about the newfound opportunities that have come their way since the dismantling of that barrier. This is part of a growing movement in the US to reimagine the existing criminal justice system that creates far more problems than it solves.

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  • Building the Prison-to-School Pipeline in California

    Providing those experiencing incarceration with educational services has shown to reduce recidivism by 28%. While many prisons offer GED or higher education classes, the opportunities are still hard to come by consistently, so organizations like Underground Scholars help recruit individuals after prison to colleges. Looking forward, those pushing for criminal justice reform hope to overturn a 1994 legislation that banned incarcerated individuals from being eligible for Pell Grants, which could help drive more people from prison to school.

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  • Incarcerated fathers connect with children thanks to local program

    In Cuyahoga County, Ohio, the Passages program, part of its larger Fatherhood Initiative, aims to help men become more involved parents. The program, instituted in the hopes of reducing recidivism rates and creating stronger male role models in the community, provides participants with job training, emotional support, and the skills they need to be active parents for their families.

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  • This Detroit farm is helping former inmates stay out of prison

    When people are released from prison, they often have a hard time finding work due to time lapsed and prison records. RecoveryPark Farms in Detroit, Michigan aims to change this by providing job training in urban farming which benefits both the individuals and the community.

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  • In Licking County, Ohio, a Corrections Strategy That Offers Counseling, Art Classes, and Mindfulness Training

    Day reporting, which serves as an alternative to to jail or prison for many with substance abuse disorders, provides intense, holistic programming to help participants recover. The personal relationships built in the programs are particularly helpful according to participants, although relatively little formal research has been conducted about the approach.

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