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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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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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Prison Renaissance program at San Quentin uses art to end cycles of incarceration

Jason Beal

March 26, 2021 |

KGO-TV |

Broadcast TV News |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, San Quentin, California

Three men currently or formerly incarcerated at San Quentin Prison founded Prison Renaissance to connect artists and writers inside prison to audiences and potential funders outside. They produced an art exhibit that was shown digitally at the Museum of the African Diaspora. By creating a rehabilitative program on their own without prison administration involvement, the men demonstrate their humanity and talents, while also generating income for the artists.

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How a Colorado town is untangling behavioral health care from the criminal justice system

Sady Swanson

March 22, 2021 |

Coloradoan |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Fort Collins, Colorado

Acting on a recognition that police and the criminal justice system are too involved in responses to mental health and substance abuse crises, UCHealth formed mental health response teams that partner with Fort Collins police on such calls. In about 80% of calls the teams handled, no arrests were made while people received treatment or were referred to needed services. This program plus one that diverts certain criminal cases into treatment, which can result in dismissal of charges, have built-in drawbacks but have begun de-emphasizing criminal-justice remedies when people need other help.

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Hot Trash

Nigel Poor Earlonne Woods

March 17, 2021 |

Ear Hustle |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, San Quentin, California

Prison visiting rooms provide an irreplaceable connection between incarcerated people and their family and friends from outside prison. The in-person visits, despite the many rules that complicate the simple act of conversation, offer a grounding in what's happening in the lives they left behind, along with opportunities to have an intense dialogue about past mistakes and regrets. Interviews produced inside San Quentin Prison reveal the mixed blessing of video visits, the only form of contact for a year during the pandemic.

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New legal clinic concentrates on cases of women languishing in the system for crimes against alleged abusers

Annie Sweeney

March 16, 2021 |

Chicago Tribune |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Illinois

The Women and Survivors Project provides legal representation to women imprisoned for crimes that stemmed from histories of abuse. Nearly all incarcerated women have suffered violent abuse. Many end up punished for fighting back or when their abuser forces them to participate in his crimes, but their defenses often get overlooked in court. The project so far has helped free five women by getting judges or parole officials to reconsider their cases, including one woman convicted of first-degree murder. It has dozens more cases in the pipeline.

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‘I thought I was gonna die in prison.' How COVID is opening NC prison gates.

Virginia Bridges

March 12, 2021 |

The Charlotte Observer |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, North Carolina

Three incarcerated people and a coalition of social justice groups sued North Carolina over its prison COVID-19 policies, winning a settlement that is accelerating releases from prison that began at the start of the pandemic. The state's prison population is already 17% lower than it was before the pandemic. Under the settlement, 3,500 more people will be granted early releases, which have begun to occur, under new criteria that changed prison rules to recognize the urgency of getting people away from a virus breeding ground.

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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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