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

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  • Criminal justice changes in Virginia prompt debate over how prosecutors are funded by the state

    July 06, 2021 |

    The Washington Post |

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    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Fairfax, Virginia

    Fairfax County, Virginia, boasts the state's most ambitious program to divert cases from criminal prosecution to treatment courts, including for drug offenses and involving veterans. But all of the work by prosecutors to deliver a more therapeutic form of justice ends up penalizing the county under the state's formula for funding of prosecutor offices, which rewards felony convictions. Because the true workload isn't reflected in the funding, Fairfax has faced staffing shortage, leading to conflicts with the police over inaction on certain cases. The state has begun a lengthy study of the issue.

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  • Back to Life

    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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  • The career where it helps to have a criminal past

    June 29, 2021 |

    BBC |

    Podcast |

    Over 15 Minutes

    Response Location: United States, Washington, District of Columbia

    All people between the ages of 14 and 21 in Washington, D.C., who are placed on probation for criminal convictions get assigned a probation officer, social worker, and a "credible messenger" – a mentor, usually with his or her own criminal past, who is paid by the city Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services to help ensure a successful probationary period. The cost is far lower than youth detention and is associated with a much lower rate of re-offending. The work is so intense that the highly trained messengers often need their own counseling to cope with the stress of turning lives around.

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

    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

    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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  • College-in-prison programs have many benefits, but barriers to access abound

    June 21, 2021 |

    Prism |

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    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Middletown, Connecticut

    College-in-prison programs like Wesleyan University's Center for Prison Education have a track record for improving incarcerated students' lives, lowering crime, and making prisons safer. But a number of factors compromise the number and effectiveness of such programs. Many fewer programs exist since incarcerated students were denied Pell Grants beginning in the 1990s. A 2015 program aimed at making financial aid more accessible poses a number of logistical hurdles. Prisons themselves can be inhospitable environments for attending classes and independent studies.

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  • The Everglades Experiment: Florida's First 'Incentivized' Prison Redefines Punishment

    June 21, 2021 |

    The Crime Report |

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    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Miami, Florida

    Two years into an experiment in "incentivized prison" management, Florida's Everglades Correctional Institution is considered the state's safest prison. An incarcerated journalist reporting from inside writes that by rewarding good behavior instead of only punishing bad behavior, the prison has expanded the classes it offers incarcerated men who can participate if they have a trouble-free record for four years. Separating men from the general population based on their desire to work toward their own rehabilitation and success once they leave prison has reduced stress and violence in the prison.

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  • Penn class helps the formerly incarcerated launch their own businesses

    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

    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

    June 04, 2021 |

    Colorado Newsline |

    Text |

    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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