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Part 2: “There is no Champion” — Granite State News Collaborative

Jordyn Haime

April 22, 2021 |

Granite State News Collaborative |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, North Conway, New Hampshire

White Mountain Restorative Justice offers juvenile and adult court diversion and victim-offender mediation programs. WMRJ aims to guide first-time low-level offenders through restorative justice processes to hold offenders accountable, repair the harm caused by crime, and prevent reoffences.

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Would You Dine in This Prison?

Alasdair Lane

April 20, 2021 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United Kingdom, London

The Clink operates in four British prisons, teaching haute-cuisine cooking skills and then helping its formerly incarcerated trainees establish productive lives once they're released. The training inside prison features restaurants that cater to the public, plus teaching the skills needed to find and keep a job on the outside. When graduates of the program showed the same inclination to commit more crimes as other formerly incarcerated people, the program provided more reentry supports that have contributed to much lower rates of re-offending. The program plans to expand to 70 more prisons in the UK.

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A NYC Reentry Program Offers Formerly Incarcerated People Healing, Dignity Through Meals

Lela Nargi

April 19, 2021 |

Civil Eats |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

Reentry programs for people recently released from prison rarely focus on nutrition, must less provide cooking demonstrations. But the Fortune Society hosts 200 formerly incarcerated people at a weekly demo as part of a program that provides farm-sourced, fresh, quality food in a daily hot meal plus nutrition lessons for the people it serves. The program recognizes that the terrible food people get served inside prison forms an unhealthy habit that can continue afterward. The lessons open people to new food experiences that are both healthy and a form of community-building.

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Meet the scientists building a prison-to-STEM pipeline

Christina Couch

April 19, 2021 |

PBS NOVA |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States

The movement to promote science education and careers among people who are currently or formerly incarcerated is making slow but real progress. Programs like the National Science Foundation's STEM Opportunities in Prison Settings, and the restoration of Pell Grants in prisons, provide institutional support. But progress can be seen in smaller programs like the Prison Mathematics Project, begun by an incarcerated math whiz whose Italian mathematician mentor inspired him to overcome barriers to education. Another sign of progress: More states are "banning the box" in college applications.

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Newark-based violence prevention group seeks to bridge gap between police, social services

Rebecca Panico

March 28, 2021 |

NJ Advance Media |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Newark, New Jersey

Newark's Community Street Team hires and trains formerly incarcerated people and people who have been victims of violence to mediate disputes before they turn violent. Street outreach interventions have been associated with large declines in homicides and assaults, although the programs can overlap with others seeking the same goal. Newark's team will now serve as the hub for a national effort, the Community Based Public Safety Association, to professionalize such work nationwide. The group will seek more public funding and try to raise the visibility of such policing alternatives.

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Libraries Are Key Tools For People Getting Out Of Prison, Even During A Pandemic

Sally Herships

March 28, 2021 |

NPR |

Radio |

3-5 Minutes

Response Location: United States, New Jersey

When people leave prison, they often gravitate to public libraries as a free place to get computer access and help in looking for work and navigating other aspects of life outside. New Jersey Public Libraries' Fresh Start program adds a layer of help by providing social workers and extra technology resources and training for the formerly incarcerated. Covid disruptions in libraries forced the program to conduct much of its work on the phone or in public, outdoor spaces, but that has posed other problems. Even so, the help some receive has put them on a path toward self-sufficiency.

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How Norway's Prisons Have Weathered a Pandemic

Ted Alcorn

March 12, 2021 |

Think Global Health |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Norway

When Covid-19 threatened to disrupt Norway's correctional system, the country's prisons and jails were quick to pivot their practices to protect those who were incarcerated. Although it helped that the country's correctional system was already known for being "small, responsive, and humane," more protocols were put into place to allow some who were incarcerated to complete their sentence at home, while others were provided with iPads to decrease isolation while visits were restricted. So far, only 60 cases of Covid-19 have been reported throughout the entire prison system.

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How COVID Impacts Education — Prison Literature Club Adapts During COVID Lockdowns

Annakai Hayakawa Geshlider

March 11, 2021 |

Rafu Shimpo |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, San Quentin, California

An educational program called ROOTS (Restoring Our Original True Selves) taught at San Quentin prison in Marin County, California, has transformed into the Literature Club due to the pandemic and has reached other nearby prisons. The Literature Club, started by the Asian Prisoner Support Committee in Oakland, pairs people who are incarcerated with people outside, and they exchange emails to update each other on their reading progress and reflections. "More than a reading group, it’s a supportive space where emotions are openly discussed."

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Oakland's Chinatown finds solutions to hate crimes

Heidi Shin

March 11, 2021 |

Public Radio International (PRI) |

Radio |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Oakland, California

With hate crimes against Asian Americans on the rise, Oakland's Community Ambassadors program serves the city's Chinatown by caring for the neighborhood and making people feel safe. Started as a way for formerly incarcerated people from San Quentin Prison to reconnect with the community, the program builds trust with residents who might be wary about asking the police for help and who may be so afraid of street crime that they don't leave home. Ambassadors walk the streets to help the elderly get groceries, check in with people experiencing homelessness, and hear the concerns of shopkeepers and residents.

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One Relationship at a Time: Restorative Justice Initiatives in West Harlem are Rewriting Legacies of Violence and Mass Incarceration

Ellida Parker Cheryn Hong

February 26, 2021 |

Columbia Daily Spectator |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

The largest police raid in New York City history did little to resolve a decades-long conflict between residents of two Harlem housing projects, nor did it address the underlying problems causing violence in the community. So two community groups, supported by grants from the Manhattan district attorney, have deployed intervention teams to de-escalate and mediate disputes. They also provide an array of services to give young people alternatives to fighting and to assist people who were arrested in the raids as they emerge from prison.

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