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Some 'Most Impressive' Law School Applicants Are Convicted of Serious Crimes

Allen Arthur

August 18, 2021 |

Route Fifty |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, California

Starting in 2017, California has grown more open to licensing formerly incarcerated people to work as lawyers. State licensing authorities set high barriers to entry to the legal profession in their "moral fitness" license requirements. Vague rules can effectively rule out anyone with a serious criminal record. By clarifying its standards and making the process more transparent, the State Bar – aided by efforts to train licensing officials and by the California System-Involved Bar Association to educate prospective lawyers to pass the test – the system has evolved into a model for state-led change.

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Austin youth re-entry program has 15% recidivism rate, compared to 75% nationwide

Clare O'Connor

July 26, 2021 |

KXAN-TV |

Broadcast TV News |

3-5 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Austin, Texas

Jail to Jobs pays youth while they get trained for jobs in construction, manufacturing, landscaping, and cooking. The youth come from youth detention, the streets, probation, and foster care and their trainers are formerly incarcerated. Jail to Jobs, with four locations in Austin, has helped more than 600 young people find employment despite their pasts. Only 15% of its graduates have been jailed afterward, a lower-than-average recidivism rate.

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Can ‘Bad Men' Ever Change?

Amelia Schonbek

July 21, 2021 |

The Cut |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Portland, Oregon

Among the many restorative justice programs in the U.S., the Domestic Violence Safe Dialogue program was one of the few to arrange face-to-face dialogue between survivors and men who had violently abused women. This form of surrogate dialogue – the pairings are between strangers – helps two people who want to change but can't do it alone. After extensive preparation and led by a facilitator, the meeting gives survivors a way to hear they were not to blame for the harm done to them, and for the men to admit responsibility and help someone else in ways that traditional punitive justice often cannot.

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Key to disrupting Denver's homeless-to-jail pipeline? Permanent supportive housing, study finds.

Moe Clark

July 16, 2021 |

Colorado Newsline |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Denver, Colorado

Providing permanent housing with a menu of health and social services saved the city of Denver millions of dollars and stabilized the lives of hundreds of people. A three-year controlled experiment provided various services, including substance use and mental health treatment, to 724 people who had cycled in and out of jail and the streets. The half who were provided housing in addition to the services enjoyed far fewer arrests and emergency room visits. Most stayed in their provided housing and took greater advantage of routine health care. Social impact bonds financed the upfront costs.

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Back to Life

Tanya Hendel

June 30, 2021 |

Transitions Online |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Belarus, Gomel

People Plus has begun to fill a vacuum left by the Belarus prison system's lack of reentry services aimed at giving people a better chance to succeed after prison. The NGO provides its "resocialization" counseling for incarcerated people in the six months before their release. In its first six months, the program counseled more than 1,000 people, helping prepare them to find housing and jobs and avoid substance abuse, which in many cases proved successful. Its peer counselors stay in contact with clients after prison through meetings and online forums.

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Millions of People With Felonies Can Now Vote. Most Don't Know It.

Nicole Lewis Andrew Rodriguez Calderón

June 23, 2021 |

The Marshall Project |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Nevada

Thirteen states restored the right to vote to millions of formerly incarcerated people in the years leading up to the 2020 elections. An analysis of four of them—Nevada, Kentucky, Iowa, and New Jersey—shows the new rights were rarely exercised, ranging from 4% to 23% of newly eligible voters actually registering. None of the four states required prison, parole, or elections officials to notify eligible voters. Those and other information gaps and barriers teach instructive lessons as the 2022 elections approach.

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Clearing a Path from Prison to the Bar Exam

Allen Arthur

June 21, 2021 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

The Formerly Incarcerated Law Students Advocacy Association at City University of New York's law school mentors people whose criminal records serve as a barrier to pursuing a law career. FILSAA is part of a movement to nurture law-practice dreams and make them a reality by knocking down those barriers, including restrictive use of states' "character and fitness" requirements to become licensed to practice. Before that step, mentors can help people prepare for the LSAT and succeed in law school. Advocates say that lawyers with lived experience can serve clients better by earning their trust more readily.

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Penn class helps the formerly incarcerated launch their own businesses

Christina Griffith

June 16, 2021 |

The Philadelphia Citizen |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania's Restorative Entrepreneurship Program helps formerly incarcerated entrepreneurs plan a business launch with the help of teams of students from the schools of law, business, and social work serving as advisors. Success in business can help formerly incarcerated people avoid return trips to prison. Similar, longer-running programs in other states have helped their clients beat the recidivism odds. Clients of the Penn program received useful advice, but no startup capital, as they seek to start their own businesses.

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This Fitness Entrepreneurship Course Is a Second Chance for the Formerly Incarcerated

Kristi Eaton

June 09, 2021 |

Next City |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

People who spend their time in prison getting physically fit might seek to turn what they've learned into a job as a fitness trainer, once they're released. But felony convictions act as a barrier to such jobs. A Second U Foundation, founded by a formerly incarcerated man who faced such barriers, provides an eight-week course in running a fitness-training business. Of the 200 people who have taken the course since 2015, three-quarters have been hired by health clubs, while the others started their own businesses. Foundations and grants foot the bill so that the training is free.

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Colorado's Second Chance Center is redefining what success looks like after incarceration

Moe Clark

June 04, 2021 |

Colorado Newsline |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Aurora, Colorado

At the Second Chance Center, people emerging from prison get the necessities to survive, like housing, clothing, and food. But they also get deeper learning about how to repair their lives, thanks to an inclusive and empowering message from the staff, most of whom are formerly incarcerated. "They need to be seen," says one counselor. More than 7,000 have gone through the program, which boasts recidivism rates far lower than the state average. Now it's opened in downtown Denver to serve people coming out of the city and county jails.

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