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

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  • Slum gods: the Kenyans steering young radicals away from terrorism

    A new program from London’s Royal United Services Institute takes a hyper-local approach to ending violent extremism. While many efforts across the world are focused on deradicalizing current members of extremist groups, this program seeks out the most vulnerable populations to provide support and mentorship in order to prevent them from radicalizing in the first place. By using indicators that can identify those at-risk, the program funds mentors from the same neighborhood to step in and offer support and guidance.

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  • ‘‘You Got Your High School Diploma?''

    Five Keys Charter School was the first in the U.S. to open in a jail. Now, the school operates a bus, or traveling classroom, that parks in San Francisco's most under-resourced communities to offer residents, many offenders, a second or third or seventh flexible chance at earning a high school diploma. Journalist Elizabeth Weil writes, "The school was created with the understanding that incarceration is part of life for their students." The director of the Bard Prison Initiative adds that Five Keys uses the infrastructure of jail “to do positive good rather than just mitigate harm.”

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  • Native justice: How tribal values shape Judge Abby's court

    Across the country, tribal courts are seeking to break the cycle of recidivism and instead focus their efforts on rehabilitation and community. Judge Abinanti’s Yurok Tribal Court in California applies traditional Yurok values – responsibility, renewal, and restorative justice – in a way that builds compassion and addresses the deep trauma held by the people entering her court.

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  • For Red Hook, Justice Center is Much More than a Court

    The Red Hook Community Justice Center is a community center that also functions as a court hearing family, housing, and criminal cases. Defendants get on-site social services, like support groups and counseling, with an approach called procedural justice: cultivating public respect for the system by giving people a voice in it and by showing respect and transparency. A 2016 survey found 80% of local residents held positive feelings about the court, which was founded in 2000. People in the neighborhood can use the center's services even if they are not in a court case.

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  • How a laundry room revolutionized a New Jersey high school

    After high school principle Akbar Cook realized that students weren't coming to school because they were embarrassed about wearing dirty clothing, he created a school laundry room with 5 commercial-grade washers and dryers. He also started a program called Lights On that leaves the school open in the evenings on Friday's to offer a recreational space with warm meals for students who have working parents or have to take care of siblings. Grateful students say that Mr. Cook had a big impact on the school and the neighborhood.

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  • As Alabama grapples with solitary confinement, other states offer blueprints for change

    The use of solitary confinement, or administrative segregation, in prisons is facing pushback across the country. In Alabama, a federal judge tasked the Department of Corrections to investigate how other states are reforming their use of solitary confinement – especially for those with mental health concerns. Recognizing that isolation often leads to increased bad behavior, states such as North Dakota and Colorado have placed stronger limitations on the use and deployment of administrative segregation.

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  • A new approach: Lane County's efforts to find effective solutions to sex trafficking

    Lane County, Oregon is one of many of the state’s counties working to create a survivor-focused network of responses to sex trafficking. The Lane County Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children Multidisciplinary Team is seeking to strengthen existing organizations, like the Department of Human Services, Planned Parenthood, and mental health providers, by connecting them – creating a more efficient, effective response to a uniquely challenging issue.

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  • Reclaiming your voice and your career

    The Eris Conflict Resolution life-coaching company is using conflict mediation and resolution to help those experiencing sexual harassment in the workplace. The company works with both stakeholders and the businesses involved in one-on-one mediation, course modules, and the option of conflict mediation certification to give them the tools to end the harassment safely. Since opening, 19 of the 27 clients have seen the results they were hoping for.

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  • To catch sex traffickers and protect kids, Colorado is using a new screening tool statewide

    In Colorado, a state law requiring the use of a screening tool is being used to combat sex trafficking at the individual level. The screening tool identifies and offers support and protection to victims of sex trafficking – many of whom are runaways from the foster care system – and has led to multiple prosecutions of sex traffickers.

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  • How Miami-Dade's Mental Health Program Steers People To Treatment, Not Jail

    For nearly two decades, Miami-Dade's Criminal Mental Health Project has worked to decriminalize mental illness, diverting people from jail into treatment and social services with an approach that has helped cut the jail population almost by half and save taxpayers millions. Combining the services of health care providers, law enforcement, and housing agencies, the project pairs participants with peer specialists and puts them on a treatment plan that can get their criminal charges dropped or reduced. Another benefit of the project: lower recidivism rates for people with serious mental illnesses.

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