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

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  • As opioids land more women in prison, Ohio finds alternative treatments

    The Ohio Reformatory for Women is a prison that offers inmates a chance to enroll in Tapestry, an inpatient drug treatment program that tries to delve into the deeper causes women turn to drugs. It also believes in connecting women who are addicts with one another because “on the outside there’s not enough support.” The 18 month program is “about healing mind, body and spirit.”

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  • How to Build a Better Jail

    New York is shutting down the infamously isolated jail on Rikers Island in order to remodel with a newfound focus on how to integrate the jail into the community. Based off of the success of similar projects which prioritize the inmates environment in order to influence improved behavior, the outlook for Rikers Island also aims to incorporate needs of surrounding residents as well.

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  • California's Prison Education System Is Yielding Impressive Results

    A California nonprofit's report found that incarcerated students in a Cal State Communications class achieved a consistently higher GPA than their un-incarcerated peers. Journalist Ben Paynter explores whether California may offer "the national model for prison system educational reform." As of 2017, 34 out of the state’s 35 prisons offer inmates in-person college classes in lieu of the more typical remote GED certification or technical training courses.

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  • Montgomery's Renascence gives men on parole a chance for rebirth

    In Montgomery, Ala., a transitional program offers former inmates a place to live and support while they focus on staying clean and finding work. Officials say programs like this play a key role in reducing recidivism by addressing obstacles like learning to live again in society and making decisions, establishing a support network and basic things like getting a bank account and drivers license. It offers former inmates new paths that can help them avoid falling back into old ways and re-offending.

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  • Can religion solve El Salvador's gang problem?

    For many in El Salvador, finding religion can mean finding a way out of violent gang life. The country has become one of the most violent in the world following the civil war in the 1980s that drove refugees to the U.S., where their children formed gangs and then brought them back home when they were deported. Pentecostalist churches founded by former gang members have often stepped in where civil institutions have failed, offering a sense of belonging and sometimes jobs to those who want to leave gang life, but their longterm success in rehabilitation remains unclear.

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  • This Anti-Violence Program Has Been Proven to Cut Crime. Can It Work in Baltimore?

    Massachusetts' Roca program uses five sites in the state to teach young men in their late teens and early 20s coping strategies to solve personal problems and change their behavior. The program targets men with previous criminal problems who actively resist other services and therapy, and who are deemed at high risk of violence. More than 80 percent of its graduates, who number more than 850 per year, have no new arrests, and two-thirds hold jobs six months after finishing the program. Seeing this success, Baltimore has committed $17 million in private and public funds to open a Roca chapter.

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  • PASCEP workshop teaches life skills after incarceration

    In Philadelphia, a former attorney who was incarcerated for embezzlement founded the National Workforce Opportunity Network. The program has partnered with Temple University to provide services and job training for the recently incarcerated.

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  • Giving Building Materials and Ex-Inmates a Second Chance in Baltimore

    Ex-offenders who get re-entry training and job opportunities are significantly less likely to wind up back in jail. A manufacturer called Brick + Board in east Baltimore hires employees with histories of incarceration. The company helps ex-offenders while also giving construction materials a second life in new projects.

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  • Lifting Up Community Voices to Tackle Injustice

    This article uses the stories of five different activist women across the United States as examples of successes using the human-centered design strategy of centering the people most directly affected in the decision-making and healing process. The women work in a variety of justice areas (from housing equity to incarceration), but they all testify to a community justice model as being the most effective and empowering solution to past and current injustices.

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  • Mental health court could lower recidivism, cut costs

    For offenders with a co-occurring mental health disorder, the regular prison system is not viewed as an optimal environment. A mental health court would help lower recidivism and increase the offender's quality of life by treating their mental health issues in order to focus on the underlying issue contributing to the criminal acts.

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